Chasey Our Tough Cookie

The boys and I were in the basement playing and Chase and I were sitting on the slide that goes with our swing set. Jason hasn't put the swing set together yet so the slide was laying on the ground flipped over (to make a long hump). Chasey fell off the back of it (no more than a 2 foot drop) and caught himself with his arm. He cried like I have never heard him cry before. He finally calmed down when Aunty Ling stopped by. I told her what had happened and she looked at Chase and said, "Did you fall down?" Chasey looked back at her with his big eyes and immediately started crying again, bottom lip poking out and all! He eventually stopped crying and I forgot about it until the boys started playing ball and Chase went to push himself up and his arm collapsed beneath him. Laura was kind enough to offer to watch Colby so I could take Chase into the Emergency Department (we have an employee discount with Children's so it's cheaper to take him there than it is to an Urgent Care). I gave Chase a dose of Motrin and by the time we arrived he was his cheerful little self. The doctor happened to be one I worked with 5 years ago when she was a resident (someone I haven't seen in 5 years). She was very nice and did a quick assessment of Chase, who was eating up the attention and laying on his Chasey Charm. She concluded he had a nursmaid's elbow (a dislocated elbow) that he had relocated himself. It's a common injury. She said, we can do X-rays if you want but I am pretty sure that's what is going on. I left the hospital feeling a little foolish. Over the weekend Chase seemed fine but on Sunday he fell down and began to cry in a way that was completely different than his usual cry. He is such a tough kiddo, he never cries! I decided to take him in on Monday to the pediatrician. I gave him a dose of motrin and we were out the door. The doctor did a quick assessment, checked the chart and saw I was a nurse and immediately concluded that Chase had a "sprain" (thinking I was some overly paranoid mom). When he said the work "sprain" something clicked inside of me and I knew...babies don't get sprains, they don't whine or complain or limp unless something is really wrong. The doctor recommended we wait a few more days, I demanded X-rays. The doctor told me we wouldn't have results until the next morning. That night at 7pm he called to tell me Chasey had a fracture. I've never fully realized the value of a mother's instinct until that moment. We went the next day to Children's to get the cast put on. Chasey asked me to take it off a few times the first couple of days but within a week he stopped noticing it and did everything he was doing before (being his crazy self!). Fortunately babies bones heal very quickly so we only have to keep it on for 3 weeks. And a nugget of knowledge that the ortho doctor gave me - babies and young kids don't get sprains. If they are limping, complaining, crying or acting in a way that is unusual...something is wrong.