Actually, he is broken, literally : (

It's been a bit crazy around these parts.

Dylan has had 3 casts, 1 Urgent Care visit, 1 Ped visit, 1 partial ER visit, 1 Ortho Walk-in Clinic visit, and 1 Ortho appointment in the course of 10 days.

Wow. I actually didn't realize how crazy that list is until I wrote it all out. Five medical visits and 3 casts.

The Fall

It all started on December 29th. Mr. GG had just arrived home from work so I took a minute to use the restroom. I could hear Dylan saying "more Daddy, more Daddy," or something like that, while Mr. GG kept saying "just a minute" (he was trying to take a picture of the Christmas present I got him and Dylan, matching car shirts). Then I heard a loud crash and instant tears. 

I immediately knew it was a big deal and ran out from the bathroom to hold my baby. (I still take him away from Mr. GG when he's really upset. I know I shouldn't, but I do.) Mr. GG explained that he fell of the back of the couch onto the hard wood below, primarily on his head. So we both worked together to try to calm him down. But it wasn't working. So we tried walking outside and looking at Christmas lights. It worked a little, but only for moments at a time. So we tried counting trash cans. We had more success with this as he would count through tears. But as soon as we finished, the cries would be as loud as ever. So we sat in the car for a little while. He loves sitting in the car. That worked for a bit too, but it was cold and rainy, so eventually we needed to go back inside.

We sat on the couch for a bit and he calmed down. But I moved to get him a little closer to DH (I was worried DH was worried that Dylan would never love him again after the fall...he can be a bit dramatic) and that set off another bout of screaming. 

So we called the appointment line and decided to take Dylan to Urgent Care (more than 20 minutes away, in the rain). Dylan kept saying that his arm hurt and we thought maybe he had dislocated his shoulder or something. He was totally coherent, so his head seemed fine. We gave him some Tylenol and headed out.

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Urgent Care

We waited over an hour to be called back and Dylan was wildly trying to run around the Urgent Care center the whole time, fully using both arms. When we went back, the doctor said he didn't even want to X-Ray him because he was acting normal and using both arms.

Over the next couple of days, he kept saying "hurt" and asking me to kiss it. He pointed to his forearm and usually had me kiss his hand. Then Thursday night, the 1st, he must've knocked his arm on something (no idea what...we were all standing nearby) and that started another 30 minutes of inconsolable crying, but this time in front of my entire family. Everyone was upset seeing him so upset. At one point I asked him a question and he said, "Okay mama" in the most pitiful cry voice. So sad.

So I took him in again Friday morning to the Ped and she squeezed above his wrist, he winced and she said that if it was a sprain, it wouldn't still hurt so it was pretty definitely broken.

X-Rays showed that BOTH the radius and the ulna had fractures, but luckily both were simple and not displaced so good prognosis and easy casting. We had to drive to a different facility to get his cast, but I high-tailed it over there to get there before closing so we didn't have to sit in the ER.

Cast #1

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The Aftermath

I waited two days before attempting a bath and let's just say, it didn't go well. I felt like an idiot. I should've known better. We blow-dryed the cast for at least 40 minutes (on cool), but it was still soaked. I called the nurse's line, but they had at least an hour wait for a call back and it was already 6:00, so we headed to the ER. Finally, after we had gotten pre-screened, she called back and said we could go to a walk-in ortho clinic in the morning instead of waiting in that packed, flu-ridden ER. Yuck.

Both of the first two casts were tiny short casts, but when we finally met the actual orthopedist on the following Tuesday, he said he actually needed a full arm cast so that the bones wouldn't rotate. I was really worried Dylan wasn't going to sleep for the entire next three weeks, but he has adapted fantastically well!

He will tell you he fell off the couch, the blue couch, that one (pointing). And that he broke his arm and got a cast. Then he says hurt and all better. And also careful couch. (His language is progressing at lightening speed...so fun!)

So it was all a bit traumatic for mom and dad and I still feel a little wary of the sideways glances of other parents whose kids have two perfect, functional arms, but we're doing okay. Just no more baths!

(Dylan does drink as much juice as he wants because he's a peanut and because he rarely drinks more than 2 oz at a time, but after trying Trader Joe's juice, I'm not a fan, just FYI.)

He just decided to randomly lay down in the middle of the floor. I think because the dog was. Then he still wanted to look at the TV. (I'm sure it was something educational.)