The day after we got back from my sister's funeral, Atalia got croup. If you are familier with croup, you know how terrible it sounds. It sounds like they can't breath. Terrifying. It was hard for Atalia to sleep, which means it's hard for the parents to get any sleep. This was hard, with my sister's passing still so fresh and all I wanted to do was give her a call and vent about how croup is no fun.
Atalia was doing better by the weekend and I decided to stay a week at my dad's with Atalia, as my mom was still up in Northern Idaho with Bryson and the kids.
Sunday night, Atalia was playing in the same room that my dad and I were in and I was talking to my brother on the phone, when Atalia came up to me and started to whimper. I got off the phone to figure out what was wrong with Atalia. She kept pointing to her arm and I asked if she hurt it. She said yes. I asked if she fell down and hurt it (remembering a faint bump I heard when I was on the phone) (it's amazing how mommy ears are always alert) and she said yes. I watched her arm closely. Usually, I give her a kiss and she goes right back to doing whatever she was doing previously, but she wasn't doing that. I started to piece it together that it was more serious.
When Atalia was about 1-1/2 years old, she woke up one day whimpering. We got her out of her crib and couldn't figure out what was the matter, she's not one to just cry and cry. I noticed she wasn't using one of her arms. I tried to bade her to use it by putting crackers next to it, but she would use her other hand instead. My brothers have a history of getting their arms pulled out of their socket as kids. So much so, that the doctor finally showed my dad how to do it himself. That was a long time ago, but that stuck in my head as we took her to the doctors. They immediately identified it as Nursemaid's Elbow, when a ligament at the elbow flips to the wrong side of the elbow (at least to my understanding of it). They popped it back in place and then she was fine, maybe a little sore, but using it right away.
Anyway, she was acting like she did when she had Nursemaid's Elbow before, holding her arm a certain way and not using it. I felt pretty certain that that was what was wrong. My dad and I took her to the ER. Finally, (after many nurses and interns) when the doctor saw her, he was hesitant on what to do. He ordered her to get some x-rays. Arg! I just wanted him to pop it back in place! The x-rays were tough because she was in so much pain when they contorted her arm into different positions for different angles of x-rays. The x-rays didn't show any breaks or anything. I thought, "Okay now just pop her elbow back in place, please!" The doctor decided to take more x-rays. Still nothing. Then still hesitant, went in to try to pop her elbow back in place. He said he didn't feel the distinct pop you're supposed feel with Nursemaid's Elbow. I was trying to hold my tears in for seeing Atalia in pain. He splinted her up and recommended that we see an Orthopedic Dr. I was very frustrated because I felt like I knew exactly what it was (but also respect that I am no doctor). It was over and done with when it happened to Atalia the first time.
She really is so sweet, even when she's in pain. Breaks your heart even more. They had a dry erase board in our room and Poppie would draw pictures for her while we waited for our doctor. He also would dance for her, which was very entertaining and sweet.
It was late when we got back to Poppie's house and she slept fairly well with her splint. The next day she played like nothing had happened, just not using that one arm. At one point, I thought maybe they popped it back in place on accident with the second set of x-rays that they got of her arm and that's why the doctor didn't feel a pop. So, I took her splint off to see how it was doing. She would slightly hold on to some toys, but it was still really bothering her, so we put her splint back on.
I'm from out of town, so I have no doctor. My parents are newish and don't really have a doctor yet either. I called the Orthopedic Doctor that they recommended and discovered that they don't take our kind of insurance. I was really feeling at my breaking point after that. It's been trial after trial for almost a month now.
I found that our pediatrician office in Salt lake also has like a sister office in Logan. So, I decided to take Atalia there and get a second opinion. They didn't except our kind of insurance either. I almost burst into tears when they told me. I had no car and had to wait for my dad to pick me and Atalia up (he had to drop us off and go back to work) and my phone was about dead too.
We tried a clinic that my mom knew of and after a long wait, they could fit us in. There was a mix up and we ended up having two doctors at the same time (one thought the other had already gone home for the day and then just ended up staying in the room with us). They listened to me very well and heard me out about everything that had happened. The senior doctor (I think) has four kids (one little girl Atalia's age and size) and he felt very confident that it was the Nursemaid's Elbow, having dealt with it a lot. He went in and popped it back in place. He said he felt the distinct pop. I was overcome with joy and gratitude. He said there was a chance it didn't pop back in place all the way and to watch it for a couple of days.
Atalia's now managed to somehow do this to herself two times without anyone knowing exactly how she did it. Atalia was definitely still sore for a while and had grown quite attached to her splint, wanting to still wear it everyday. In all, she had the Nursemaid's Elbow for three or four days till finally I found someone to fix it.
I decided that 2012 really sucks.
Sorry for all the reading!
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