Up until today, I thought Lily calmly eating her own poop in the bathtub would be the thing that would scar me for life.
Dislocating my son's elbow tops that.
It was AWFUL. After changing his diaper, I pulled Ty up by his arms to a sitting position (which I do all the time). But this time it caused his left elbow to pop out of place. I knew something was wrong when he starting crying, and wouldn't let me touch him. He screamed and shook when I tried to move his elbow. I knew immediately what had happened, as I read quite a bit about nursemaid's elbow while working as a parenting teacher (and one of my best friend's kid had it happen to him). While I tried to calm Ty down with fruit snacks and "Dinosaur Train," I frantically Googled what to do. During an emergency, all knowledge goes right out of my head. Dr. Google suggested I call my pediatrician. 20 minutes later (!) the nurse called me back, and told me to come in at 2:45 (!!). This was at 10:45.
When I asked what I should do in the meantime, she suggested some Motrin and ice. Yeah, I don't think so, lady. I was not about to let my kid cry in pain for another 4 hours.
So I packed up the kids and hauled ass to the ER. In less than an hour, Ty was fine and slurping on a popsicle. Now he and Lily are sleeping, and I'm drinking my guilt away with a white chocolate mocha.
In conclusion, I want to apologize to my mom. I'm sorry I teased you for so many years about dislocating my shoulder when I was little. I will never laugh about that again.
I'm not sure what was up with my bones when I was a toddler, but my parents dislocated my elbows on a fairly regular basis.
ReplyDeleteI only know this because they told me - I've no recollection at all and my arms work just fine.
You're an amazing mother. I'm so glad that Ty is better & you're indulging in a white chocolate mocha. Don't be too tough on yourself, sweetie.
Thank you! I told Steve that I think I'm more traumatized than Ty was. :) I always tell the story of how my mom dislocated my shoulder when I was three. Ohh, how the tables have turned-- now Ty will be telling this story when he gets older!
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