Tuesday, May 13, 2008

I guess that makes me the nursemaid

Was outside with Kate this afternoon and had to come in to go to the bathroom (what else is new). I was holding her hand when I told her, and in a tizzy she went boneless and collapsed to the ground. When the intense crying/screaming started, I assumed it was just 2-year-old in action and slung her in my arm like a sandbag and hefted her in. She stood in the bathroom door, holding her hand and saying "Arm hurts! Arm hurts! Kiss it, Mama!"

I still thought it was just drama, but when we went back outside and she wanted to snuggle instead of run around like a crazed weasel, I started realizing something was up. Pete came home and within a few minutes we realized she wasn't using her arm at all and if we touched or moved it she sobbed anew. We knew we had to act when she wouldn't lift that arm to take the wrapper off her Dum Dum sucker (desperate measure to cheer her up).

Apparently, hand-holding+boneless toddler = nursemaid's elbow. Poor girl had a pulled elbow. After about a 40 minute wait, it took them about a minute to fix it. Within 5 minutes she was totally back to normal, and very happy that her arm felt better. And I felt like the world's worst mother. Although, as Pete kindly pointed out, it really was more of a "joint effort."

Har dee har har.

2 comments:

Kate said...

Ohhhh. Poor thing(s) - that means both of you! The waiting to get it fixed is the worst part! And then it's instant and you wonder why your baby had to be in pain for so long.

Meigan said...

Wow - I'd be freaked out! I'm glad she's doing ok. I love how dads always have a way of keeping things light, don't you?