Another trip to the emergency room for us . . .
Sunday started out to be such a great day. We made a huge breakfast; bacon, eggs, juice, coffee, the works. Then we took the kids to the Sagebrush Arts Festival and Aria painted a shirt and made her own necklace. . . . then off to Penny's to buy her a new winter coat.
Then home for lunch time . . . I am in the kitchen making Aria a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Mike is getting the baby to put him in his high chair to eat. Then I heard the thud . . . just a weird, undescribale sound. Then I hear Mike freaking out and the baby screaming. While on his way into the kitchen carrying baby Devin, Mike stepped on a building block and it rolled his ankle and he fell . . . he twisted his weight to protect the baby as much as possible, but, he smacked his head on the floor. The carpet at least, it was not tile thank God.
After awhile the baby starts to calm down and we try to feed him. He won't eat and he starts screaming again. That's when we decided to take him in to be examined. It was Sunday so of course the only place to go is the ER.
Being that he hit his head, they did X-rays and CAT scans on his neck and head, and everything looked fine. Devin just wanted to sleep. After a bunch of tests they tell us they can't find anything wrong and he is probably just sore from the jolt and just give him Tylenol.
So I decided to take the day off work Monday to stay home with him and comfort him. All day he just acted . . . different. Not like him at all. He is usually so active, and he would not roll over or sit up, and when I would move him or lift his legs to change him he would cry in pain. I decided that we could not wait for his follow up appointment the next day, something was wrong, we had to take him in that night.
When we get to the Children's clinic, we notice that his upper left leg is really swollen. Doc decides to do some X-rays, and about an hour later cannot find anything wrong. The X-rays looked fine. But, he had a feeling that we should not go home yet, there was something wrong . . . so he told us we needed to stay in the hospital overnight and get some more, better, higher technology X-rays in the morning.
Knowing that your baby is in so much intense pain, and not knowing what it is or what to do about it is one of the worst feelings in the world. I don't think I have ever felt so sick or helpless. And poor baby Devin, he just does not know what is going on, he is scared, hurt, and just wants to sleep but people keep poking him and pulling on his leg!
I stayed with him that night ... on one of those little fold out plastic chairs that could double as a sled . . . I was afraid to take my eyes off him, but he slept peacfully.
The next morning we took him down for more X-rays, and I could not be in the room, so all I could do was stand by the door and listen to him cry in pain for a half hour while they x-rayed his entire body.
A little bit later the results are in . . . a broken femur on his left leg. . . one of the hardest bones to break in the body. One of the first things that was said after that was that when ever there is an injury in a child, especially one so young, Child Protective Services needed to be called and a report needed to be filed. I broke down and cried like a baby in front of everyone in the hall, I didn't care. . . I couldn't help it. Not only does my 11 month old have a broken bone, but there is suspiscion that we did it intentionally. Ouch. Of course, it is procedure, they have to investigate every case to protect the ones that are really abuse cases, and I am grateful that they do.
You all know how I feel about child abuse!
The doctor says he will need what is called a spica cast . . . one that goes down his whole left leg, part of his right leg and clear up his belly. It is like a mini body cast. They had to sedate him to put the cast on, and it took about an hour.
A little bit before that, while Mike was out getting some stuff from home, a gal from CPS came in to interview me. She asked me where I worked, where Mike worked, if we are married, if there were any other kids in the house, etc. Then she told a story about a case she recently worked. A few months ago some parents brought in a 5 month old with a broken arm. They kept changing their story as to how it happened . . . then when they did more X-rays they found several more broken bones in this poor little baby. I can't imagine. And I told her that with tears in my eyes. After the interview, she said she believed that we did not intentionally hurt our child and that she just had to file the report so that no kids falls through the cracks. She said she would have to talk to Mike too.
We thought we would get to go home on Tuesday, but no, we had to stay another night in the hospital. Mike stayed with Devin this time so I could go home and spend some time with Aria.
We got to come home this morning. He has been given Tylenol with Codine. It knocks him out. He slept for four hours this afternoon. We got some sleep too. . . needless to say sleep has not something we have been getting a lot of the last few days.
We are getting used to carrying him with the big, bulky cast on . . . he is twice as heavy and it is really awkward cuz he legs are stuck out at a weird angle. He is so uncomfortable and there is nothing we can do about it but prop him up with pillows and give him lots of love. Changing a diaper is a whole different experience! The cast will be on for 4 to 6 weeks.
I have spent a lot of time asking why and how this could happen to us. Then I remember it could be worse. He could have a head or spinal injury, he could have a worse of a break. It is just a small crack in the bone, not even a complete break. The doc said it was very small.
I think of parents dealing with kids who have cancer or le
ukemia or something, or people with out health insurance or full time jobs, and I am thankful for what I have. It could always, always be worse. And these few weeks will go by so fast. We are strong, and we can handle this!
This too will pass.
