On Sunday July 3rd we had a picnic and swim-rific afternoon in South Haven with our friends. While we were changing into swimsuits and lathering up with sunscreen, Max wandered off and, in true Max fashion, decided to climb the biggest, most scary slide he could find. Ok, it was the only slide around, but it is very big and scary. He made it up the steps just fine, but struggled with the coming down part. One leg went down the slide before him and the other got stuck behind him. Someone reached out to steady him, but it just scared him and he jerked away causing him to fall all awkward-like off the other side of the slide. He stretched out his left arm to catch himself, but couldn’t get his right arm down fast enough. His full weight – all 28 pounds of him – came down on his bent-backwards left wrist. He screamed bloody murder and Daddy was close by (but unfortunately not close enough to keep him from falling) to pick him up. He held his left arm as Daddy brought him to me. We dismissed the giant, non-Max-like fit off as being super tired from not having a nap that day and settled him down. He quit crying and went on his way. He played fabulously the rest of the day and acted as if nothing happened.
Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday went on as normal so I wasn’t overly concerned. By the end of the week though he was really favoring that wrist and protecting it. By the beginning of this week that turned into bawling his little eyes out every time it got touched. He’s very sensitive to us holding his hand, putting his bent wrist through his shirt sleeves and catching himself when falling (which he does a lot). He’s still using it for everyday tasks like eating, holding Monkey and picking up toys, but he’s very careful about how he moves.
Since it seemed to get worse instead of better I took him to the Ped’s office today. His nurse practitioner was super sweet and gentle as she examined him, but she decided to make a complete diagnosis she’d need X-rays. He wailed his way through 3 x-rays while Tummy Baby and I waited safely in the other room. After another short wait, the doctor was able to confirm that he broke his arm (it’s a distal radial fracture for you medical types who thrive on big words). He was given a splint to immobilize his wrist until we can see the Orthopedic Specialist that we’ve been referred to. The doctor said she suspects he’ll end up in a cast to ensure that it heals properly, but we don’t know that for sure at this point.
But don’t go feeling bad for him! For now, he couldn’t care less that he’s hurt. He’s being a real trooper. After the first 5 minutes he forgot about the splint and went about business as usual. He’s been slightly cranky and clingy and has been waking more frequently at night than normal in the last week or two. I guess that could be contributed to pain, but he’s a mama’s boy and, at this age, it could just be a phase he’s going through. I’m not convinced that he’s in miserable pain the majority of the time.
Do keep us in your prayers though, folks! Having a baby in a cast doesn’t sound like much fun to me – especially since he just developed a HUGE love for swimming. He likely won’t be in it for long if he does have to have it though. Babies heal very quickly. In just the week and a half since his fall, the doctor could see new growth and healing taking place near that fracture.
