Nursemaids Elbow
Saturday afternoon, Isaac and I decided to stop by my mom's house so we could wish Geni a Happy Birthday.
While we were there, we tried to get Grace to take a few more steps.
She started to walk and then grabbed on to my and Grandpa Rick's outreached hands for support.
When her feet slipped and fell out from under her, she fell awkwardly on her left arm.
Grace started crying pretty hard, so Grammy took her into the other room, gave her a binky, and tried to calm her down.
I went to get her, because she always feels better when Mommy is holding her.
She stopped crying but wouldn't move her arm at all. It was just pinned down by her side.
Isaac and I left to go home, and Grace cried when we would moved her arm to strap her in the car seat.
We got home, took her sweater off, and checked for any bruising, redness, swelling, etc.
Her arm looked completely fine except that she wouldn't move it.
We poked it, squeezed, it, and lifted it, and Grace was fine.
She was even happy to see Ca$h and was laughing at him.
When we bent her elbow though, she would cry in pain.
Even though she seemed alright, Isaac and I were completely freaking out, wondering if her arm was broken.
We couldn't decide what to do, but ultimately took her to the emergency room at St. Rose Dominican Campus just to be safe.
We didn't want to risk hurting her by putting her shirt back on, so I grabbed her blanket and off we went.
I kept telling Isaac, "the worst thing that can happen is her arm may need a cast."
It was also possible that she just sprained it or something and they'd just send us home.
"SHE'S GOING TO BE FINE."
I think I was really trying to talk myself into being ok.
Although I was trying to stay calm on the outside so Grace wouldn't be afraid, I was going crazy on the inside.
Not knowing what is wrong with your child is the most frightening feeling in the world.
I've had knots in my stomach before, but NOTHING compares to the sinking feeling you get when you are worried about your baby's well-being.
Grace was her awesomely-good-never-cries-always-happy-super-cute baby when we were in the emergency room.
(I think she's so good when we take her places because she enjoys people watching.)
We weren't there for very long before the nurse called us back.
I guess they put us on an expedited care list due to Grace's young age.
They took her weight (23 lbs 4 oz), temperature (98.6 degrees), and pulse.
Everything seemed to be normal.
We were taken back to our "room" which is really just a hospital bed with curtains around it.
The doctor came in and explained to us that Grace most likely had what they call "nursemaids elbow".
This is when one of the ligaments around the radius bone slips off.
Apparently, it's super common among children under the age of 5.
Their ligaments aren't yet strong enough to support their bones when they're moved in certain ways.
The doctor moved her little arm around and she started to cry.
He bent her elbow and pressed on it, and said he felt a "pop".
He said that he'd seen this many times and that it's actually most common in girls' left elbows.
Since Grace was crying and upset, the doctor said he'd come back in 10 minutes to check on her.
She kept crying, so I pulled up The Hot Dog Song on my phone and let her watch it over and over.
I knew she was ok (and let out ThE BiGgEsT sigh of relief ever) when she used her left arm to reach for my phone and grabbed it.
Thank goodness!!
Grace was back to her normal self just like nothing had happened.
About an hour after we arrived at the hospital, we were already on our way back home with a perfectly healthy baby.
Although it wasn't that big of a deal, this experience was terrifying and traumatic for me.
The thought of something hurting your little one is horrible.
I haven't been able to stop hugging and kissing her even more than usual since it happened.
Here's to hoping we don't have to visit any more emergency rooms for a while!!
