These are the days that being a Mom really stinks. When your child is in pain and there is nothing you can do to make it stop.
Last night while I was driving to my staff Christmas dinner I got a phone call from home. When I answered all I heard was Julia's screaming on the other end. Apparently while riding her big tricycle in the kitchen she wrecked. Her inner upper lip was bloody and she was favoring her left arm. But since she could still move her arm, we thought nothing of it. She did get up several times during the night with an "ouchie arm".
This morning she was still favoring the arm and asking for a band aid. However when I approached her with a band aid, she didn't want me to touch her arm. And then there was the fact that she didn't want to do anything except cuddle on the couch. Huh? This is not my constantly curious daughter.
Thankfully I was able to get a doctor's appointment at Noon. When the nurse asked her what happened she stated "I wrecked on my motorcycle. Papa sang to me". (side note: I had no idea about the singing. When I called Steve after the appointment he confirmed that yes, he did semi-sing to her. How sweet!) After her exam it was decided that she needed x-rays. So...off to the Radiology Associates.
We sat for an hour waiting for Julia's turn. She sat on my lap the entire time, talking here and there. She asked what we were doing. I told her we were waiting to get pictures taken of her ouchie arm. "Ok, Mama. I get pictures of my arm ouchie". When it was time, she politely announced to the waiting room "I get my arm ouchie picture!". At least a bit of her spirit came through! She was a champ during the x-rays. Because of her bravery, she earned two Tinkerbell stickers, a purple star ring and a green bracelet.
It was determined that she had a bubble fracture on her humerus bone. Thank goodness it wasn't a break! Our nurse practitioner was able to get us a last minute appointment with a pediatric orthopedist. Because she is such a busy girl and we didn't want it to end-up breaking, the orthopedist decided a cast was in order.
Our nurse was fabulous and got her to laugh when he told her about his cats. He did give me some crap about wearing my Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt (he was wearing Redskins scrubs) but that's what happens when people are jealous - right?! Anyway, he gave her a choice of green, orange, pink or purple for her cast. She firmly chose purple. At first she thought it was neat. Then it started to get hard. Then came the "Band aid off, please" request. Oh, well. The cast will be removed on January 2.
Right now the only thing we can do is cuddle (the cats have camped around her) on the couch and give her Tylenol. Whew...it's going to be a long three weeks. We keep telling her that she has a really cool band aid and that we are so proud of how good she was today. She was such a trooper.
This past spring it was two stitches at the corner of her mouth. Now it's the fracture. My nerves are just starting to calm themselves. As my friend Teri says "I just want to wrap them in Bubble Wrap". These are the times when it is so hard to be a Mom. When your heart goes on your sleeve. When you try not to cry because you want to be strong for them. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
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