Ugh. Well, apparently I pulled Rachel's elbow out of socket, otherwise known as "Nursemaid's Elbow", this morning while taking Russell to school. Bad Mommy! His school is on a very busy street and we have to park on one side of the busy street and cross it to get to school. There is a crossguard and it is safe, blah blah blah. Well, this morning Rachel decides to take a turn for the street and cross it herself in the middle of traffic. Of course, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back as she tried to pull away. I felt a pop in her wrist, yuck. She cried and I knew something hurt, but she wasn't full out wailing. So, we took Russ to class and went home. She is nursing that arm like I have never seen. Bad Mommy! So, I make my calls to the pediatrician, of course they are full for the day, so off we go to see somebody in town rather than on base. (Which in a lot of ways is so much easier, not to mention closer!) Here's a heart breaker - when I had to move her from her car seat to home or vice versa, she'd cry and say "I sorry, Mommy. I sorry." Ooh, Bad Mommy!
It turns out the in town Dr. was very nice and all the retired folks in the waiting couldn't say enough things about her. So, we did learn of a new Dr. to ask for when we can't see our treasured Dr. Bruno. During all the waiting to see the Dr. and take xrays, Rachel just looks pathetic. Bad Mommy! She's in her stroller, not moving her left arm, trying drink juice and eat a snack. She didn't want any help (stubborn booger!) and she finally manages to wedge her snack in her left hand to hold it steady so she could eat with her right. (That part was amazing - seeing her cope and adjust, smarty pants!) We took xrays of her wrist an elbow - all was clear. But, just like the Dr. said, if it is Nursemaid's Elbow, then usually after they move the elbow for xrays, it pops back in and she is immediately better. It was almost instant! And sure enough, she was right. But, the xray is done also, especially the first time to make sure it is nothing else (like Tyler Hurley's broken bone!!!).
So, the after xray talk, she explained that it will probably happen again and taught me how to properly move her arm to put it back in. The movement is very simple, not extreme - basically folding the arm in to the body (which the kids do usually by themselves) and rotating out and up to the 'swan' position and then lower the hand to give her '5'. And now that I have seen how she will feel better instantly, I will know if it doesn't work we go straight to the ER and demand xrays. All in all a good lesson to learn. But still, the guilt that you hurt your child is tough. And I know, it was better than getting hit by a car, it still makes you feel horrible.
1 comment:
This is funny, well not funny, but you know what I mean. My mom did that to Josh when he was about 3 or 4, I can't remember. He was being crabby and she was trying to distract him and attempted to hold his hands and swing him, well he pulled against her and out popped the elbow, which we did know what had happened of course. He cried for a minute then just acted kinda lethargic...no more playing. So we walked back home, the hole time he was holding his wrist (which is a common expression of the nursemaid's elbow). We get home and he won't play, he wants to watch a movie. So we sit and watch a movie for about 15-30 min and then when i tried to take off his jacket he just screamed. So, that was when we knew we had to take him to the hospital (of course it was a Sunday). The doc was awesome and totally explained what it was and how she would fix it. She said the classic test is to hold out a lollypop toward their injured arm, and they will try to take it with their non-injured arm, then they pop it back in and hold the lollypop out to the injured arm and they will grab it immediately. That is just what Josh did. The doc said its called nursemaid's elbow from the days when nursemaids and nannies took care of kids and they would be holding their hands to cross a street or something similar and yank them back, and that's when it happens until about the age of 5 when the bones fuse permanently together, or something like that....anywho, you are not a bad mommy! you are FANTASTIC!
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