Baby's first... broken bone (and cast)

On Sunday, Sydney had tumbled when we were out on the sunporch and had landed near the leg of one of the rocking chairs. He has been raised under the "walk-it-off" pain management, but we noticed that he actually cried. After a minute or so, he had forgotten the injury; however, we noticed for the rest of the day that he was favoring that arm and that he wasn't applying weight to it when getting up off of the floor.

He was still able to sign the words DRINK and MILK. He played just fine and demonstrated no problems when lifting and carrying things. He didn't react at all when we picked him up by his hands/arms into the air, like we often do. However, we noticed that he struggled to operate his baby fork and spoon when we attempted to get him to eat. There were NO signs of swelling. 

Last night, Sydney and Mommy were outside walking around the neighborhood before bedtime and Sydney had stumbled in the grass, landing on his sore right arm. Again, he cried; carrying on for a few minutes this time.

When I mentioned to Mike that he had fallen again and that his arm appeared to be bothering him, I asked if we should call the doctor. Mike, personally, thought that it was un-necessary, but if I felt that it was best, that we should, by all means, take him in or at least call the nurse to bounce it off of her. (I didn't want a potential baseball career flushed down the toilet at the age of 14.5 months because of an injury that we ignored; although, if you saw the way that he throws, you'd guarantee that a baseball career is NOT in his future because he throws like his mom... and sometimes forgets to let go of the ball, just like Mommy.)

Being that he has had little-to-no appetite for most of the past few days and has had a lingering fever on-and-off for 4-5 days, we thought that perhaps it was time to call the doctor. So, they suggested that we bring him in this afternoon. We figured that while we were there, we would have them take a look at his hand/arm, too.

Sydney protested the thermometer in his armpit, but we assured him that it was MUCH BETTER than a rectal one. Through his protesting and wiggling, they did manage to detect a fever. The doctor, who we've never seen before, rubbed us the wrong way when he made a point to show Sydney his fancy stethescope and waive it in front of his face before attempting to use it to hear his heart; at that point, Sydney was just mad that he offered a "toy" and then played "keep away." The doctor asked us some questions and eventually, looked inside his mouth where he announced that he had infection in his throat that looked a lot like strep throat. He did say that strep is almost unheard of for this age group, but he swabbed it anyways. As for the arm, he pushed and pulled, twisted and bent it; Sydney growing more agitated all the while.

Sydney was sent for Xrays. It took FIVE adults (including Mike and I) to hold him down for a series of 3 xRays. (It was QUITE TRAUMATIC for him! I think being restrained was the worst part of it and the fact that he doesn't understand what the heck is going on.) Then, we were sent back to see the pediatrician for the results of the strep test and xRay. 

Turns out, it was NOT strep, but a virus. They said that the fever should come down by Friday, but if it doesn't, that we should bring him back in. Then, when they showed us the xRays, we discovered that Sydney had a fracture on his radius, near the wrist, but NOT near the growth bones. Dumb-founded, we were sent to an orthopedic doctor who was waiting for us upstairs where they decided to take one more xRay. (Lucky for Sydney, right?) This time, he got to nurse, sitting on Mommy's lap while we did the xRay, which was A LOT less scary when just Mommy and Daddy were there and he wasn't being forced, against his will, to lay still.

All in all, the orthopedic doctor talked with us for a minute or so and announced that we'll cast it for 3 weeks. (A Greenstick Fracture on the radius bone, we're told.) We were told that kids, so young, heal VERY QUICKLY. He pressed on it rather roughly and made him flinch, wince and cry. 

Shortly thereafter, a nurse and a orthopedic physician's assistant came in to cast him. The nurse was SUPER with Sydney. "Sydney, we're going to put this funny sock on your arm." She talked to him appropriately for a toddler. "Now, we're going to put this tiny sock on your thumb." Then, they used a gauze-like foam to hold the sock in place before wrapping a roll of wet fiberglass material around his "funny padded sock". He cried a little bit when the physician's assistant tried to hold his fingers still. (I'm guessing that had he not just been traumatized in the xRay room, he would have been perfectly fine with this procedure.)

We're told that we have to keep it clean, keep it perfectly dry and keep it on (for three weeks). "Little kids, like these, are great little Houdini's and somehow manage to get these casts taken off on their own. If that is the case, bring him in for a new one and he'll get one past his elbow so he can't take it off."

Once we got home, it was evident that Sydney WAS right-handed. Now, it will be interesting to see if he'll eventually go back to the right hand after learning to adapt with his left for the time-being.

We managed to get him to eat a few bites of watermelon, which he insisted upon feeding himself with his baby fork and his left hand. As for the rest of dinner, no dice. I guess I can be thankful that he is still being breastfed and gets nourishment there since he has had almost NO appetite. After dinner, we got him to snack on a few Cheerios and a few goldfish crackers. (It's better than nothing at all, I suppose.)

 Basically, all he wanted to do was (lethargically) lay around and watch Sesame Street while we finished our dinner, as well as the rest of the night. (We watched the "Wing in a Sling" episode where Big Bird had fallen, hurt his arm and needed an xRay; I thought that would help him to understand.)

He moaned and whined a bunch today. (Reminds us how thankful we are that he has been so healthy and happy all of the time.) I don't blame him for whining, moaning or his loss of appetite: sore arm, sore throat, fever and a handful of trauma at the clinic. We got a few smiles out of him today; he was MUCH BETTER if we kept him entertained. He also discovered that he can "knock, knock, knock" with his cast as he goes up the steps, which he thought was kind of funny.

OH, YEAH... and when they weighed him... with a soaking wet diaper, shorts and socks on, he weighed exactly 20 pounds. (YEP, been stuck at that weight since February!)