No More Monkeys...

-Rory hit me down the stairs!

-I tripped down the stairs and fell into the wall!

-Rory was jumping on the couch and hit me, and I fell down the stairs and into the walls!

Alex' story continues to change, but one thing remains constant: Alex has a fractured humerus.  I believe Rory's story, because it is consistent with what I've been trying to discipline them NOT to do the past few weeks.  They were jumping on the couches and the coffee table.  Alex lost her balance and fell off the couch, landing on her elbow.  Dave was in the middle of a recording session and I in the next room when I heard Alex bump.  At first I thought it was a regular little accident, but it became evident pretty quickly that she probably had a broken bone.  After giving Alex a blessing, Dave kept Rory with him down in the basement... my sweet little SIL, Julia, came down to take care of Rory a little later.  I drove Alex to the ER, because all the instacares had already closed.  It was so hard not to let my emotions get the better of me... Alex was in so much pain and every little bump or slight turn caused her excruciating pain.  Getting her OUT of the car was a whole new level of hard.  Without her cooperation and her on the verge of a panic tantrum, I had to lift her out of the car.  She almost passed out as I carried her to the ER... it was so hard not to sob, but try to stay calming for her.  

They were really sweet in the ER, and they got Alex in almost immediately.  She stopped crying as nurses, techs, and doctors came around... she was too embarrassed to cry.  I wish she weren't because people just assume children will show their emotions and feelings and act accordingly.  I had to constantly remind everyone to be gentle or inform them that Alex was hurting because of what they were doing... she just would not show them anything.  I mean, that takes a lot of will-power to stay that stone-faced and not cry out in pain as the stupid intern twists her arm back and forth (I stopped that immediately).   He tried to make up for it by giving her a little winged unicorn with blue hoofs, wings, and horn.... man, did he ever guess right.  While she didn't quite forgive him... and wouldn't play with his gift in his presence, she cuddled with and cooed at her new baby unicorn in his absence.

One of Alex' coping mechanisms has always been to "shut down" and if it gets bad, shutting down can go so far as to fall asleep (Rory's the same way... maybe many children do this).  That's what she did repeatedly in the ER (you could tell she wasn't passing out... she was lulling off to a strong sleep).  

They couldn't put her in a cast without an orthopedic surgeon looking at it first... so they made a cast-like splint, put her in a sling, and sent us home with a nice pain Rx.  She was still in pain all night.  After three times of getting up with her, I just stayed in bed with her.  She rested easier after that, and while she continued to wake up in pain, she was happier.  I woke up in the morning to her hand caressing my face (yes, my girls actually caress my face when they're happy) and her saying, "I love you Mommy".  Yeah, kinda hard not to spoil her rotten when she's hurting and is THAT sweet.

The next morning I made an appointment with the doctor they referred.  Because of swelling dangers, she can't wear a cast for this first week... so they made her a nicer splint, and we'll go back in one week so they can put her in a cast (for 6 weeks more).   This is going to be so hard for the rest of the summer not being able to take her to teh water park, or the pool, or ANYTHING having to do with water.

Here she is at the orthopedic surgeon's teh next morning

So tired... she didn't sleep at all the night before.