Well, yesterday we made a little trip to the ER.
The girls were sitting with Jim watching you tube videos...videos of homes with Christmas lights set to music...Kadence wanted more space so she swung her arm toward Sabrina. Jim stopped her by grabbing her wrist and Kadence yanked her arm away from him. She immediately started crying and we thought someone pinched her and she was crying so hard that she couldn't explain what happened. She finally said "Daddy did it" and we tried to put it all together. Jim said he felt a crack when she pulled away and thought her wrist cracked...so being good parents, we thought that Kadence was over exaggerating her injury...because her wrist cracked. Then she kept crying and wouldn't straighten her left arm. She would point to her wrist and then her elbow...we were confused and didn't know what to think.
In our house, when we don't know what to do medically...we call Nana. She is a nurse after all, although she delivers babies. She came over and after checking Kadence out...she thought we should take her in. She volunteered to drive Kadence and I to the ER while Jim got Ashlyn ready for her choir concert in an hour and a babysitter for Sabrina (Aubrie was going to the concert).
After figuring out how to put a coat on a child with a hurt arm...and putting a seat belt on her, we were on our way. She did NOT want to go to the doctor!! She fell asleep on the way there and then cried when she woke up. She cried in the triage room and the nurse asked, "Does your arm hurt" and she said "No, it is feeling better. Me go home now?" Then the nurse asked her "what happened?", Kadence responded with, "Daddy did it."...try explaining that to a medical professional. I was waiting for child protective services to be called. We were taken in right away and the doctor knew exactly what was wrong..."Nursemaid's Elbow"....a partial dislocation of the arm.
It is very common and very painful. The child life specialist and doctor worked together to gain her trust with Dora books and bubbles. The bubbles were a HUGE hit!! The doctor then asked to see her good arm, she showed him and gained some more trust. Then he asked to see her sore arm...she cried when he started to straighten it and then he did a quick twist...a small pop...and then she needed a hug from Nana and Mommy. We waited for her to calm down a bit and then the bubbles were being blown again and she started popping...this time with both hands.
It was a miracle, just like that and her arm was better and she was a new child. They don't expect any long term issues, although it could happen again with more ease since her tendons are stretched out a bit after this. We do feel better, and Daddy feels a little less guilty, now that many people have come forward saying it happened to them to...including one of our hospital nurses. It makes us think twice before pulling arms, swinging kids around, and just simply playing. We are a little over-anxious....okay, Mommy is a little over-protective and anxious and tries to protect her from everything...don't grab that, don't hang on that, don't hold anyone's hand...ugh.
We made it to Ashlyn's concert and Kadence is happy...a great ending to a stressful evening!!
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