Monday, July 5, 2010

I fell down!



Never in a million years did I think I would be sitting in the ER with the sweet baby girl waiting to see if an x-ray was going to reveal the need for a cast. I thought for sure this experience would be exclusively a mommy-Lukie moment. Luke causes himself bodily damage just by the mere act of walking. Maddie is always steady on her feet and pretty coordinated for her age. I guess that is why I let my guard down.

We were in the process of getting ready for the pool. Maddie was playing in her room and I had just brought the pool bag with our towels down to the main floor. The next step was making lunches, having our mid-morning snacks, and then out to the pool. All of a sudden I heard something loud pounding down the stairs and I knew instantly that it was Maddie. She had tried to come down the stairs holding a baby and a blanket. My heart stopped but I ran to the stairs. She was laying on her stomach at the bottom of the stairs and she was screaming. At first, I thought she had hurt her leg or foot but then it became clear it was her arm.

We went to Scottish Rite's Emergency Room. I love them. They were so good with her. It takes her awhile to warm up to strangers and I was nervous she would spend our time there screaming as strangers tried to treat her. But she never even cried or uttered a whimper. All of the staff took their time as they examined her and did the x-rays. Even putting on the cast was smooth sailing. She received many stickers because she was such a good girl!!



So, she has a buckle fracture, also known as an incomplete break, which is a common injury in kiddos. Because her bones are softer, it bent in on itself and didn't break completely. Generally, it takes about three weeks to heal. You can imagine that I'm beyond relieved. Her injuries could have been really, really bad. I'm SO extremely grateful.

As for Maddie...


she is taking it in stride. Kids are crazy resilient! "I fell down." She has talked about this a few times today. We are giving her ibuprofen regularly for the pain and she just compensates for the cast as she plays. Of course, she likes to point out that the cast is pink. This seems to please her immensely.

Again, I can't even express how thankful I am. This was scary but she is going to be okay and that is all that matters. Whew!

1 comment:

Julie Tiemann said...

Oh man, hearing the story makes me even sadder. Sadder for both of you. I can totally imagine how your heart stopped when you heard that sound - ugh!

On the plus side, three weeks will fly by I bet, and her cast is SUPER cute. :) And no one's going to mess with her for the next three weeks, that's for sure!