Like Mother, Like Daughter

My brave little girl!

Well I never officially blogged about my own hand accident because my left hand was out of commission for several weeks and typing was really hard one handed...but here we go again! Riley's turn this time. 

On Monday, Riley and I were running errands while Jackson was at school. Usually we head home after dropping him off so she can nap. However, it was housecleaning day so I like to stay away and come back to the magical transformation! 

After admiring all the pets at Petco and picking up some food and a new bed for Abby, we walked to my car. My car was parked right in front of the store so I let Riley walk--she had been running all around the store already and I could tell she was tired. Why didn't I pick her up? WHY?! Hindsight is 20/20. As I carefully held her hand and the bag of goodies in the other, she let go. This girl does not like holding hands so we have been practicing lately. Again, why was I practicing when she was already feisty from needing a nap?! She ran off towards the end of my car and I caught her just in time--she almost was in the big parking lot area. Shaking, we walked backed to my car. 

I was holding her hand again. I opened the passenger door just as she let go and BUMP--ran smack into the door as it opened. She fell to the ground and looked like a little doll. I scooped her up and she was crying. I could see the bump starting to form on her head and I could hear my heart beating between my ears. It felt like the day I fell down the stairs carrying the glasses. We sat on the bench in front of the store where I tried to calm her by nursing. She fed for a bit between cries. She has never cried so much. It was heartbreaking. Finally she was calm so I put her in her seat, still checking on that bump. It didn't look so bad--a little bruise and small bump. I guessed her tiredness caused the "overreaction." Each time I asked her, "Did you fall and hit your head?" she would burst into tears. So I stopped asking and we proceeded on our next errand. 

After picking up Jackson we headed over to the public library. The kids had fun choosing books and we sat and read one while we were there. Riley seemed fine until a little boy (20 months) came up to her to hug her. She pushed him away. He did it again, only this time he squeezed her and they fell over. Riley started that same cry as before--a hurt cry. She didn't get up so I picked her up and we quickly checked out our books. She settled down faster but she still seemed upset...

After we got home I realized that Riley wasn't ok. She was playing with Jackson and started screaming when she was trying to push up from the floor. She doesn't really crawl anymore but she was trying to stand up and couldn't. So then I watched her VERY closely for the next 30 minutes. I couldn't see anything visible on her hands and she was using them fine to eat, drink, play...everything but push up. I tried to get her to play "kitty kitty" with me -- a game she usually loves which involves crawling like a kitty -- and she wouldn't. She looked at me like I was crazy. I could tell it was her right hand that was bothering her so I called her doctor...as I was on hold I decided I didn't want to wait another second and grabbed the diaper bag, snacks, Ipad, and kids...we were headed to Urgent Care.

Luckily there was only one patient ahead of us -- randomly one of Jackson's preschool teachers. The doctor examined Riley thoroughly -- even checking her ears -- and everything was normal. Her bump by this point had almost disappeared. She pushed, pulled, and touched Riley's hands and Riley didn't squeak. So then we decided to X-ray because I kept saying that Riley couldn't push up without pain and she never cries, especially like this. 

I sat with Riley on my lap as the technician tried to hold her hands, one at a time, down for the picture. She screamed. It was awful. She was sweaty and had puffy eyes after the 10 minutes of trying to get two good X-rays. I was almost about to give up but I really wanted those scans! I just knew something was wrong.

The doctor said there wasn't a fracture and she was perfect. Maybe a sprain at most. I couldn't believe it. We were sent home with instructions to give Advil for pain.

Riley finally fell asleep on the way home--poor thing hadn't napped all day and it was 3:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m. the doctor called to say that she had sent the X-rays to Children's Hospital and there was a fracture. Because babies/kids still have bones that are fusing together, the fracture looked different. When I saw the X-ray it looked like a bump off the bone just above her wrist--and that was after zooming in on it. So I can see how she missed it. 

So I packed both kids, more snacks, and books and off we went to Urgent Care Part II. They were waiting at the door for us and had everything prepped. Riley's temporary soft cast was put on quickly and the kids  happily found treats in the treasure chest at the end. Jackson thought it was really cool seeing sister's bones on the X-ray. 

A follow up with our pediatrician was recommended but really that just meant a referral (oh the joys of HMOs)...so he faxed it in thankfully. We went to Rady Children's Orthopedics yesterday morning to see if Riley's cast would be soft or hard and for how long. We are very familiar with this department as that's where we go for her hip check ups. This kid!!!

I used a legwarmer to cover her splint/soft cast so she wouldn't rip it off.

Of course the DVD I was given at Urgent Care (I had to drive back two days later since their  CD burner was down) did not show up on the computer at Rady's. So...more X-rays. 

Her second X-ray...two fractures, not one!

Jackson and Riley were so patient as we waited in one area, then another, and another, plus one more...they really have a system to keep you moving and waiting. 

We had such caring and sweet nurses! They said Riley was the happiest baby they had ever seen in a cast--of course this was after she was finally able to eat--they made her fast until the doctor had looked at her arm--four hours is a long time for a growing girl. 

Lucky to be their Mama!

And there's no stopping her even with one arm--she is getting around just fine and seems to be pain free. Such a tough little girl! 

So three weeks in the pink cast Jackson chose for sister. She fractured two parts of her arm above her wrist: torus fractures to distal radius. A pretty common injury with children apparently. The impact from her little fall caused her baby soft bones to crack. Poor girl! We will be sponge bathing in the meantime and trying our best to keep this active girl's cast dry.

Meanwhile we have a family vacation lined up in almost two weeks...so I made an appointment with Orthopedics to have her arm rechecked and if needed, we will put a waterproof cast on it for our vacation. We also have her final hip check up that day so we made them back to back. The fun never ends, I tell ya!

THANK YOU to everyone for your love and concern for Riley!!!

I am worried she will get the cast wet while eating...ziplock works great!

Jackson practicing his moves--he has seemed so grown up lately!

Hullabaloo time!