Elbow grease
The morning after we brought Maeve home from the hospital, I was in a sleep-deprived haze when I heard a knock on the bedroom door a little after 10 a.m. My mother-in-law greeted us with a phrase I really wasn't expecting to hear.
"I think Emmie needs to go the ER," she said. "I think she dislocated her elbow or her shoulder."
That certainly got my attention. I snapped awake and asked what happened. Turns out, Emmie was being almost 2 years old and decided to throw herself on the ground while Grandma was holding her hand. Ahh, the joys of noodle children.
Josh jumped up and got dressed and I went downstairs to investigate. I found her watching "The Wiggles" and eating a snack with her left hand, refusing to use her right arm at all. Grandma said she wouldn't move it and cried when she tried to check it out. She also had three large butterfly stickers affixed to each cheek and her forehead, but I didn't even think to ask why. They seemed to make her happy, so I rolled with it. Besides, I was too tired to care why she had them there.
Sure enough, she gave me a tear-filled "No" when I tried to look at it. Seeing as there was no way I was dragging three-day-old Maeve to the germ-infested Children's Memorial Hospital ER, Josh and his mom took Emmie and I stayed home.
I must really have been tired, because this all seemed very natural and I didn't worry about it at all. She was in capable hands and I was dealing with the Nursing Nipple Pain of Death, so my mind was a little cloudy.
Less than an hour later, they were home and Emmie was no worse for wear. My mother-in-law said the nurses were kind of mean, but the urgent-care people popped the elbow back in and she was good as new. Sure, there was some crying, but again, I was so tired I forgot to be overly concerned about it.
A little Motrin and a nap and you would never know she suffered. Grandma is scarred for life. Daddy was stoked about yet another great parking spot. Mommy was just glad someone was here to take her to the hospital so she didn't have to leave the house.
And of course, now she's prone to having this happen again. And again. And again. I hope Josh took notes on the proper way to pop it back into place, because there's no way I am paying the $100 co-pay for that every few weeks.
"I think Emmie needs to go the ER," she said. "I think she dislocated her elbow or her shoulder."
That certainly got my attention. I snapped awake and asked what happened. Turns out, Emmie was being almost 2 years old and decided to throw herself on the ground while Grandma was holding her hand. Ahh, the joys of noodle children.
Josh jumped up and got dressed and I went downstairs to investigate. I found her watching "The Wiggles" and eating a snack with her left hand, refusing to use her right arm at all. Grandma said she wouldn't move it and cried when she tried to check it out. She also had three large butterfly stickers affixed to each cheek and her forehead, but I didn't even think to ask why. They seemed to make her happy, so I rolled with it. Besides, I was too tired to care why she had them there.
Sure enough, she gave me a tear-filled "No" when I tried to look at it. Seeing as there was no way I was dragging three-day-old Maeve to the germ-infested Children's Memorial Hospital ER, Josh and his mom took Emmie and I stayed home.
I must really have been tired, because this all seemed very natural and I didn't worry about it at all. She was in capable hands and I was dealing with the Nursing Nipple Pain of Death, so my mind was a little cloudy.
Less than an hour later, they were home and Emmie was no worse for wear. My mother-in-law said the nurses were kind of mean, but the urgent-care people popped the elbow back in and she was good as new. Sure, there was some crying, but again, I was so tired I forgot to be overly concerned about it.
A little Motrin and a nap and you would never know she suffered. Grandma is scarred for life. Daddy was stoked about yet another great parking spot. Mommy was just glad someone was here to take her to the hospital so she didn't have to leave the house.
And of course, now she's prone to having this happen again. And again. And again. I hope Josh took notes on the proper way to pop it back into place, because there's no way I am paying the $100 co-pay for that every few weeks.
posted by Amy at
5:17 PM
7 Comments:
When I was little, my favorite thing in the world was to have my dad hold me by my hands and swing me around, and about 1 out of every 10 times he did this my arms would pop out like that. Thankfully, its really easy to learn how to fix the issue.
My son has dislocated his elbow several times since he was about 17 months old. Twice from just falling on it at the park. We finally got tired of paying the copay and had the last ER doc show us how to do it. The hardest part is keeping them still, but it was super easy to snap back. My dear daughter has also done this once before the age of 15 months by herself in her crib. For some reason this wonderful trait seems to run in my family!
Christopher used to do this all the time. Before the age of 5, the cup that holds the ball of the elbow joint is not as deep and it can be a common occurrence. To pop it back in is fairly easy. Heck, ask your pedi at Maeve's next well check and he can show you.
Oh my goodness! Look how chill you are as a mom of 3 :) Glad all is good now.
yes I must say I admire how you kept your cool. Sleep deprivation certainly puts a spin on how you react to situations. Poor little Emmie, hope it doesn't happen again.
My youngest daughter was very prone to this happening. The first time it happened to her (they call it "nursemaid's elbow") she was about 2. It happened about 3 more times, and finally quit sometime between ages 4 and 5. It's just something to get through, and they tried to teach us at the ER how to pop it back in, but of course the next time it happened, I couldn't remember how to do it, and I was scared I would do it wrong... AHHHHHHHH!
You are indeed calm. Love the "parking spot" thread in your recent posts. Sometimes it is the tangible, little things that we need to celebrate. May your weeks ahead be ER free...
Leanne (http://ironicmom.com)
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home