Big Girl Bed Battle Wound

(Note: This post may seem like too much information, but remember that it's ultimately a keepsake for our family, so I apologize in advance if this seems a little gross to be blogging about...I promise to spare you some of the details.)

After a few months back in her crib, Adair finally agreed to move to her big girl bed.  After some discussion, we decided to go for it without side rails.  She did great the first night and over the next week she only fell out a couple of times.  I really thought she was getting the hang of staying away from the edges...until this morning.

At 6 a.m. Hank and I woke up to Adair saying, "Mommy, there's something on my pillow." from the top of the stairs.  (This cheerful little voice usually greets us with, "Mommy, Daddy, the sun's up!", so this comment was certainly out of the ordinary.)  I jump out of bed and head upstairs.  When I get to her room Adair showed me her pillow and I thought "hum, that looks like blood".  Not having taken a very good look at Adair, I was puzzled...then I look at her face and her mouth is covered in dried blood.  Upon further investigation Hank and I discovered a huge gash in her cheek and more blood on the floor, her pajamas, lovies, sheets, etc..  Apparently, she fell out of the bed in the middle of the night and bit the inside of her cheek. 

Her little mouth is very swollen and bruised, but she isn't bothered by it one bit.  In fact, she must have been sleeping very hard, because she doesn't even remember it happening.  I, of course, feel like a terrible mommy for putting her in a situation where she was injured.  This afternoon we bought and installed two lovely mesh bed rails.  They do nothing for the aesthetics of her room, but will do wonders for our comfort level.  I am sure Adair will sleep more soundly, as will Hank and I, not having to worry about falling out of the bed.  Perhaps we will conquer the bed without rails in a couple of months, for now, we are surrendering to them and healing from our first (and hopefully only) battle wound!