Bryce's First Big Boo Boo

You may remember my post about comparing children in which I talked about how Bryce has never been hurt. Well, that is not the case any longer.

Yesterday I received a call from the daycare just before I was getting ready to go get the kids. It is never a good thing when I see the daycare's number come up on my caller id. When I answered, the owner of the daycare said "I am very worried about Bryce." My heart sank. She explained that he started screaming and wouldn't stop. She said that it appeared that his arm was injured, since he would scream and wince in pain every time they touched it.

We jumped in the car and less than five minutes later we were at daycare. The assistant director was sitting on the floor with Bryce and he seemed calm. His arm was bent and he was just holding it in front of him. The second I touched his arm he started screaming again, so off to the hospital we went. He was fine the whole car ride there, but when I moved his arm to get him out of his seat he started screaming again.

Luckily we didn't wait long once we got to the hospital. A nurse practitioner came in the room and explained that it was most likely nursemaid's elbow. Basically, it is a dislocation of the elbow, usually caused by someone pulling on the child's arm. She tried to alleviate it with a special maneuver, but she didn't feel it pop back, so she ordered x-rays. We also watched to see if Bryce started moving his arm again, which he didn't. We went and had the x-rays done, and then a doctor came in and tried the maneuver again, but he was also unsuccessful.

The x-rays came back normal, so the doctor tried the maneuver one last time. Again, it was unsuccessful. He said he felt a little pop, but not like he normally does. Unfortunately, Bryce still wouldn't move his arm. We put goodies out in front of him, but nothing enticed him to move it. The doctor said it could still be nursemaid's elbow, but he didn't think it was since Bryce still seemed to be in pain. He decided to put him in what he called a "long arm", which is a cast over the back of his arm, secured by ace bandages.

He said that he could have broken cartilage in his elbow, which can't be seen on x-rays. He told me to take the cast off in 24 hours to see if he would move his arm. If he does move it tonight, then it was nursemaid's elbow and it is fine. If he still won't move it, we have to replace the cast and take him to the orthopedic doctor on Monday.

Bryce did great the whole time. He didn't cry much, except when they were moving his arm for the x-ray. Even when they were putting the cast on him, he just sat there smiling through most of it. Of course all of the ladies at the hospital just loved him...it must be those blue eyes.

We got home after 10 last night. He had some cereal since he hadn't eaten dinner, and was still a happy boy, even though it was way past his bed time.

We had a birthday party to go to this morning, but Bryce had to stay home since it was a pool party, and he can't get his cast wet. He didn't seem to mind though. He was having a great time hanging out in his pajamas and his hat.

My poor little guy. I just hope tonight when we remove that cast he is able to move his arm with no pain. He has already been through enough in his first year and a half of life, and the thought of him having to have more procedures for this breaks my heart.

The owner of the daycare is so upset about this. She is upset because his teachers have no idea what happened. She apologized a million times when we picked him up. She called us at the hospital, and she also called today. I certainly don't blame her. I realize it is impossible to have an eye on every child at every second in a daycare environment. Heck, I can't even have my eyes on both of my kids every second when I'm home. As long as it isn't a case of one of his teachers pulling his arm, I understand that accidents happen.

So now we wait, and hope that he moves that little arm when we take the cast off tonight.