Ouch!
(Read here for the beginning of Joshua’s story)
Friday morning, more than two days after the fall, I finally took Joshua in to get his arm looked at. Thankfully, Chad was off that day, and he was able to take Nathan and Emily. The pediatrician wasn’t overly concerned given how mobile and not in pain Joshua was, but she ordered x-rays as a precautionary measure.
We headed over to Onslow Memorial for his x-rays with instructions to return when we were done. The x-rays were quick, and the staff was great with Joshua. Two big thumbs up for Onslow’s radiology department.
If you’ve followed me for very long, you know that Joshua is not my easiest baby. He is determined, stubborn, and wants to be into everything. All day Friday, though, he was amazing. He handled all of the poking and pulling and x-rays like a champ. He didn’t cry once. Maybe it was that he finally had me all to himself. I have no idea why he was so good. Whatever it was, though, he was the best little guy.
After the x-rays, we headed back to the pediatrician’s office, where we discovered that Joshua had broken his arm. We were all surprised, frankly. He was acting like he had maybe twisted his elbow, but nothing that serious. A quick glance at the x-rays, though, showed that he had indeed broken both of his forearms just a few inches below his wrist.
We were sent off to the orthopedic surgeon’s office, where Joshua acquired his sweet Duke blue cast. For the next five to six weeks, the poor little guy will be essentially one-handed as his right arm heals. He doesn’t seem to mind it and is already adjusting and figuring life out with one hand. I’m the one who is not looking forward to the next few weeks.
I do feel badly that it took me over two days to bring him in to have his arm checked out. I even made sure to wear a little bit nicer clothes to the doctor’s office to perhaps prevent any phone calls to social services to report negligent parenting. I’m glad, though, that we’ve figure out what was wrong, and that Joshua is now on the road to recovery. Now to figure out how to keep a 21-month-old’s cast even marginally clean for six weeks…
Has your little one broken a bone yet? How did you both handle it?
Hey Brynn,
It’s, Jenn I had a friend tell me that the glad press and sil works really well, in keeping the cast clean and dry. You might want to try that.
Thanks for the tip – that sounds like it might help keeping the cast clean!