Nursemaid's Elbow

We sadly left Cape Cod yesterday afternoon, and because the trip all the way back to PA is such a long one, decided to stay overnight with our dear friends, The Bilodeau's, in CT. Traffic getting off the Cape was murder, but we made it in time to share a great BBQ chicken cook-out with Brandon, Liz, Luke, and Kyle.

We got all the kids bathed and ready for bed, and Liz and I prepared to tuck ourselves in on the couch with some wine and conversation. After about 10 mins, it became clear that the extra nap Maggie took while we were fighting Cape Cod traffic meant that she was NOT going to sleep anytime soon.

The four of us were sitting in the living room, watching Maggie play. She was trying to creep and pull up on the couch. Dan had her standing in front of him, and she was bouncing and laughing. Suddenly, she lost her balance, and swung to one side. To catch her before she fell, Dan grabbed hard onto her left arm, and it twisted sharply.

Poor Magoo let out a shriek! She was really crying, and I knew she was in alot of pain. Now, you have all heard me talk about how Maggie DOES NOT CRY. This is NOT an exaggeration. She whines a little when she's tired, but only cries when she is in a considerable amount of pain. The screams after the "almost fall" were close to what I heard in the 2 days immediately after surgery. She wasn't using her left arm at all; it hung limp at her side as her right hand clawed at my arms in pain. She screamed louder every time I touched her left arm, and couldn't even tolerate an ice pack. After about 30 mins of being inconsolable, we decided to take Maggie to the urgent care facility down the street.

We piled in the car, and Maggie continued to scream. It felt like we drove for 2 hours, though I'm sure we got there in less than 10 mins. At one point, Maggie had moved her arm to get away from the ice pack. I carefully lifted it back up, and she let out a howl! I felt terrible, but knew the ice was the best thing to do.

All I could think on the way there was Maggie's nutritional deficits, and how it might affect her ability to withstand injury. I thought back to her discharge from the NICU, when they were so concerned about Osteopenia of Prematurity (thinning of the bones). It was all I could do to keep from crying. I sang "Winnie the Pooh" over and over again, in the hopes of quieting her down.

By the time we arrived, Maggie actually seemed better. By the time we filled out our paper work, Maggie was using her left hand to pull at the ID bracelet we got during check-in. By the time the doctor came into see us, Maggie was banging her left hand against the chair we were sitting in.

Kind of like when your car makes that awful noise, but stops immediately when you take it into the shop....

After I finished apologizing to the doctor, "Really, she's completely fine now. I'm sorry to be wasting your time.", he explained that Maggie had suffered a "Nursemaid's elbow". When Dan caught her by the arm to prevent her from falling, the little bones in her elbow separated, and the ligaments slipped in between. The pinched ligaments hurt like crazy, and often render the arm immobile. Much of the time, the doctor needs to "reset" the joint (pop it back into place). Occasionally, the joint can self correct. Apparently, when I lifted Maggie's arm in the car to put the ice pack back on, I inadvertently fixed Maggie's elbow. (Go Mommy!)

We were discharged with instructions to "keep an eye on it" and give Maggie Tylenol as needed. She was sleeping peacefully in the car before we were 3 minutes down the road.

The irony of the situation was not lost on me: The first "emergency" we had with Maggie had NOTHING to do with feeding issues, GTubes, or really anything related to her prematurity.

And who'd have thought that it would take an Emergency Room visit to push us even further into the realm of "normal" babyhood?!?!?!

~Sara