* Note: I am way behind on my summer posts - having two kids home full time can do that! I am working on catching up on our fun summer, so you may find new posts hidden in older ones. Happy reading!
There are a lot of things that you have to go through as a parent, some you fear more than others and others aren't as bad as you expected. So over the weekend, I got to deal with one of those dreaded parental moments: when your kid breaks a bone. Morgan, who was working so hard through her frustration to learn the monkey bars, fell off onto her left side. Right in front of me. I could have lunged and caught her. But I didn't. I was trying to encourage her to practice and work on it. Boy, that really backfired.
The fall was just enough to fracture or badly bruise her elbow. In these kind of situations, the ones you fear as parent, you think you would automatically know if it's a serious injury. I immediately sensed it could be something bad, but wasn't really sure. But because she said her arm hurt as soon as she stopped crying, and then sat ashen-faced on the park bench while I got Sasha in the stroller, I was starting to worry. It was also 5:30pm and she was both tired and hungry. So, what could cheer her up? A Happy Meal from "Old McDonald's!" I rarely go there and when I do, rarely get her a meal with a toy, but I was going all out and even got us a milkshake to share. That will do the trick, right?? And of course Sam was out of town. Fortunately, he was driving back from Corvallis and would be home within the hour.
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| The day after: Mo & her splint = no photos please! |
An hour later, after watching some "My Little Pony" and nibbling on a cheeseburger, Mo still refused to straighten her arm, and I wasn't sure if it was her forearm, elbow, or shoulder that hurt. When Sam got home he used some of his sports experience to check her arm and since it hadn't improved, we called the nurse, who told us to head to urgent care. Morgan wanted me to take her, so Sam stayed home with sleeping Sasha and waited anxiously by the phone. 7pm on a Saturday night at urgent care is not a great place to be. We had wonderful care and everyone was really nice, but it was packed! By 10:00pm we were told she had probably fractured her elbow and they sent us to the fracture clinic next door for a splint. She was pretty scared but did so good. I was trying to hold it together and be as brave as my little girl, which wore me out. By the time we got home we were both exhausted!
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| Home with her cast = first smiles! |
And as Murphy's Law usually works, the next morning, Sam and I left the house at 6:30am to run a 10K race! Fortunately, Auntie Erica came to watch the girls, and there is nothing like cousin Avery to make her feel better! On Monday, we went back in and they put a cast on it - she chose bright pink!! She was very self-conscious about her arm at first and wouldn't let me take a picture or let others see it. But once Papa Ron & Grandma Dinda brought her ice cream, and her neighbor friends brought her cookies, Morgan realized that she could handle the extra attention!
The good thing is that she hasn't really been in pain since they immobilized her arm, and with the cast, we don't have to worry about her injuring it more. She is also right-handed, so that is a blessing. Hopefully, she will only have to wear the cast for a couple weeks and be back to her old self! And I have to say, this whole ordeal was not as scary or traumatic as I had always pictured it in my mind. There have been times when the kids were sick with fevers and those were much harder to handle. I am just thankful for good medical care and a very resilient little girl!
