Staley got her ears pierced for her birthday a month and half ago. She anxiously waited for those first 6 weeks until she could change her earrings. Having received a plethora of new earrings for her birthday, she couldn't wait to try them all out. On the exact 6 week anniversary of getting her ears pierced, Staley picked out the new earrings she wanted to put in. I helped her remove her earrings and clean her ears. I helped put in the first new earring and as Staley went to put in the second one on her own, she passed out cold. Luckily I was standing next to her and caught her as she went down.
After thoroughly scaring us both, we put some more protective measures into place for future earring changes. I was in charge of changing Staley's earrings while she sat on the floor. We thought it was safer if she didn't even watch in the mirror and always waited a minute or two before having her stand back up. Two weeks and several earring changes later (yesterday), Staley wanted to put in new earrings for church. She picked out some cute dangly heart earrings and she sat down while I put them in. A few minutes later, she walked into the bathroom to do her hair. She looked in the mirror, saw a speck of blood on her earlobe from changing her earrings, and passed out again. This time I wasn't close enough to catch her and she hit her head on the wall twice as she went down. Those 10-20 seconds before she came around lasted forever.
As reassurance for both Staley and I, I took her to the doctor this morning to discuss these two episodes. Although the doctor was not overly concerned, she did note that kids who are prone to these episodes often experience more of them through adolescence. Staley already gets light headed anytime she sees her own blood. She freaks out about losing teeth, getting shots, or having splinters removed. She's passed out twice now over changing her earrings. And we now know that this will probably get worse before it gets any better.
Those two episodes were very scary for both Staley and I. We now know for certain that Staley will not be pursuing a career in the medical field. She should probably never try to give blood. She'll need to be extra cautious if she ever gets cut or injured when she's out playing with her friends. And we won't be changing her earrings again until she's 16.
There are parenting firsts that bring so much joy. This was not one of them. But those earrings sure do look cute!
