Bandaids and Kisses

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Most of the time, that’s all it takes to cure the tears, but it wasn’t enough yesterday.  The day started off good enough.  Cole slept in a little, probably due to the last of swimming lessons Wed. night.  The lesson went ok.  Pat came along to take Cole down the slide.  He did what I was afraid I would do, which was to spend a little too much time under the water when they came down.  Cole cried a little, snuggled with me and wanted to go again.  I think Pat took him down 3 times.  By the second trip he had it figured out.  I’m just glad I didn’t have to do it.  I’d love to go down the water slide, but not pregnant holding a 2 year old.  I think Pat was unimpressed with the lesson but it was the last day, so the kids basically went down the slide and played.  Last night he told me he would have felt awful if he hadn’t gone after yesterday (Don’t worry, I’ll get there.) 

Anywho, our day started off just fine.  We headed over to feed calves, chickens, and ducks.  Then I finished the touch up paint in the baby’s new room.  I left Cole with Grandma and headed out to run a couple of errands.  I was back for dinner and after that decided to let Cole play with his new pool.  I picked up a little inflatable pool with a slide the other day for him to use over there.  He was having fun getting in and out and us helping him down the slide (it’s a little steep).  As he was getting out, he caught his right leg on the edge of the pool, twisted his left leg and fell down.  No big deal right?  Wrong.  I heard something pop, but wasn’t sure if it was him or the pool.  I picked him up, told him he was ok and noticed he wouldn’t use his left leg.  I thought maybe he did something to his ankle, but he started moving that ok.  THen I thought maybe it was his knee.  We (my MIL and I) put him down for a little bit, but something just wasn’t right.  I called the Dr. and scheduled an appointment.  We got to the appointment and the doctor started feeling around.  When he got to Cole’s knee, he started to cry, so we were sent for x-rays.  They did the 2 x-rays that were ordered and decided to do a third.  I saw the x-rays and thought, huh, that looks broken.  I’m not expert at that kind of stuff, so I thought maybe he was wiggly and that’s why they were going to do the 3rd one.  Then we headed back to the Dr.  The whole time I’m carrying him around on my hip jostling him around.  He’d fall asleep as soon as we were still, but wake up crying every time I moved him.  The doctor came in the doorway and with a not so nice tone asked did he really slip and that no one twisted his leg or did anything to him because his leg was broken.  At this point I started crying.  He came back in and apologized, but that’s part of his job and with that kind of break it had to be reported to child services.  If I didn’t feel awful enough that my child is hurt, I have someone questioning me.  I know that it’s part of their job and I had nothing to worry about, but it sure doesn’t make you feel good.  Part of me wanted to say I have had this kid in here at every scheduled appointment.  I’ve watched him get shots monthly for RSV, put him through physical therapy and put him in a remolding helmet even though you said it probably wasn’t neccessary.  I’ve enrolled him in classes, swimming lessons, and take him nearly weekly to story time and you have the nerve to accuse me of breaking his leg!?!?  I didn’t say it, and I understand why they have to ask.  I know people who seem like great parents who do anything for their child, who turn out to be abusers.  It’s sad, but it happens.  But I digress.  We were then sent to the ER to wait for the orthopedic surgeon.  Keep in mind that I am still carrying him around, but knowing his leg is broken and I’m upset and he’s upset.  Pat met us at the ER and we waited a couple of hours for the surgeon to come in.  The put an IV in and Cole slept for a little while.  The surgeon came in and explained what they would do and showed us the x-ray.  He has a twisted fracture in his femur right above his knee.  They put him in a hip cast so the poor kid can’t move.  He’s taking it like a trooper.  So far we’ve just been giving him Motrin for pain and he’s been tolerating that well.  We do have a prescription for stronger stuff, but hopefully won’t be needing it.  The cast makes him extra heavy, so it will be interesting for me to try to carry him around.  We put up the pack n play downstairs with the basinet so at least I can get him out of bed.  I haven’t attempted a diaper change on my own yet.  I’m waiting for Pat to come home to help with that.  He was up at 6 this morning and we layed in bed watching TV for a while.  Now he’s propped up on the couch and starting to get antsy.  He wants up very badly.

The cast goes up above the diaper so he can’t move his hips either.  He has 2 diapers on.  A small one tucked into the opening of the cast and a bigger one to hold it into place.  It doesn’t look like we’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.  We can’t get him strapped into his car seat completely because the buckles don’t fit between his legs.  I may mess with Pat’s car seat and see if I can’t get that to work.  I hate that car seat, but I think the crotch strap may come up higher than the one in the van.

My sister had asked what we need.  Other than someone to carry him all over the place, here are a few suggestions.  No, we aren’t looking for gifts, but if you feel like you want to do something, here are some suggestions.

• Ideas on how to entertain a 2 year old that can’t move.
• Books, we have a ton, but anything with cars, trucks, or tractors would keep him occupied for a while.  Smaller size books are easier for him to handle laying down.
• The movie Cars.  We haven’t seen it yet and I’m not sure that he would sit through the whole thing, but I’m guessing it would kill at least a half an hour with him saying car every 5 seconds.
• Other short videos, Veggie Tales, etc. would probably be good.  If anyone has DVDs or videos we could borrow, that would be great.  I’m not huge on parking him in front of the TV, but I think we’ll be watching a lot more of it.

He’ll be in the cast for 6 weeks.  Pat will help as much as he can, but they are also in the middle of haying and building another barn, so he can’t be here all the time.  My parents are coming out today for the weekend and my sister may come out early next week.  Anyone locally that wants to stop by is more than welcome any time.  I used to hope this baby would show up a week or 2 early but now I’m really hoping it doesn’t.  I have seven weeks of pregnancy left.  Carrying 2 helpless kids doesn’t really appeal to me at the moment!

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