Sunday, March 03, 2013

Mom of the Year

Last Thursday started out really awesome but then took a turn for the worse.  Miles and I were up at the base for a playdate with some friends.  He was climbing all over the jungle-gym but wouldn't go down any slides, which I thought was strange because he LOVES slides.  He's always asking "Slide?".  So I climbed up and asked him if he wanted to go with mommy... "YES!"  I sat him on my lap and down we went.  When we got to the bottom he started crying and I thought he was scared.  The slide was fast and sort of jostled us back and forth.  

The incriminating slide:



 I tried to make him stand but he wouldn't.  So we sat down and had a cookie, and I gave it a few minutes.  We tried again and he still wouldn't put weight on it...I made him try to walk and he limped.  I thought it was a sprain, so I called the clinic to see if he could be seen.  The clinic was closed for training so I decided the ER would be our best bet.  (But I was for sure thinking they would tell me I was overreacting and it was just a sprain)  The doctors took all the necessary information, then we waited...and waited.  After an exam they sent us off to radiology.  God bless the pour soul who had to help me that day.  Miles was SO ANGRY (no wonder...he hurt and we were twisting him all around to get xrays) and screamed a scream I have never heard him yell.  I was teary the whole time, trying to calm him down while pinning his tiny thrashing body on the table so the radiologist could get a good shot of the bones.  After xrays were over we headed back to our curtained corner and waited some more.  The doc came in and told me "well...it's broken". 

You can see the break on his tibia.  It goes diagonal from top left to bottom right, near the bottom of the bone.  You can also see my fingers trying to hold his foot still.

I was STUNNED!  And then I immediately felt horrible.  I had made him go down the slide...on my lap...and then I'd made him try to walk it off.   Mother of the Year right here.  They sent down a guy from orthopedics to wrap Miles in a temporary splint with orders to return the following morning to get his real cast.



The next morning we showed up to get the cast...we let Miles pick the color.



After the cast was on they had to cut down both sides to allow for swelling.  We'll go back this Friday to get it cinched back up and re-wrapped.  

   
Daddy and Miles after 2 hours of casting

 He has done ok with it all, considering.  His patience is definitely impacted.  He can't get around as easy and that frustrates him.  We have watched Cars 2 six times in the last three days...his request...and spent a lot of time snuggling (which although I hate the reason...I'll take snuggles when I can get them!)  Our good friends Rebecca and Kelly got him a present to play with, it's a racecar track that is only about 1.5ft tall so it's the perfect height for him to play.  He has already started crawling around...he just drags the casted leg behind him.  He hasn't tried to walk on it yet - but I'm sure the time will come - he is a stubborn little guy.  



Thank heavens for baby legwarmers!!  It is still chilly here and we can't fit any of his pants over the cast so he's been in shorts and a legwarmer on the non-broken leg.  

4 comments:

kaelee said...

When i was 11 or so i fell off the monkey bars at a ward party while hanging upside down. I landed with my arm outstretched, to catch me. I didnt want anyone to know i was hurt, so i held it and jumped on the tramp, and swam, but it kept hurting worse and worse. I started tearing up, so my little sister called my dad to come get us. He took me to the ER and i was SO SURPRISED when the doc told me it was broken. Although i was crying i felt pretty tough for not letting on at the party that i was hurt. Im surprised hazel hasnt been badly hurt yet. She has taken some epic falls. But she has had x rays, and they were horrible.

Unknown said...

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you hadn't taken him on the slide, how long would it have taken you to figure out something was really wrong? It sounds like his leg was already broken before the slide, but he was still playing around. He's hardcore!

Leonora said...

Happens to the best of moms, and it sounds like you handled it like a pro. Probably about two years ago, after sooo many weeks of Lily getting out of bed 10 times within the first 2 minutes of putting her down, I told her - apparently much more firmly than I had the last several weeks and 9 times - to stay in bed and not get out. The next morning, her sheets were wet. My directions had been so firm she had been afraid to run to the bathroom in the night. Even during potty training, she hadn't wet the bed. It's not a broken leg, I know, but I felt so terrible! Miles doesn't seem too bothered by the cast, but I hope he heals quickly!

Sheila said...

We've all won that kind of Mom of the year award. We're hard on ourselves, but things happen. Kids are hardcore too. They just keep going. Miles will figure out how to walk with that thing. When Jackson broke his leg, he had the cast almost exactly in the same place and all the way to the hip like that. He walked on it like it was normal. :) Here's to Mom's of the year! Love and miss you guys. Give Miles a hug. And if he wants to see it, there's a picture of Jackson's blue cast somewhere in my blog history.