06.11.10

Yesterday evening was out of the ordinary for us. We had to take Ayla to the Children's Urgent Care. Dean was giving her a piggy-back ride but had her by the hands while she hung down his back. He bent backwards to let her off and when she got to the ground, she just layed there for a few seconds and then started crying her "hurt cry." We couldn't figure out what happened...she cried for an hour while we tried to narrow it down to where the pain was. This is so unlike her. When she gets hurt, she'll cry for a couple minutes and be done with it. We knew it was somewhere in her right arm. She finally calmed down but refused to use that arm so we decided to bring her in.

Turns out, it's something called nursemaid's elbow. The info sheet they gave us says this:

"Nursemaid's elbow is also called subluxation of the radial head or a pulled elbow. It is an injury to a ligament that keeps the two bones of the forearm in the correct place.

When the annular ligament is torn, a part of it slides upward and becomes trapped in the elbow joint. This is very painful.

It's caused by a strong force on the elbow. This often occurs when and adult pulls on the child's arm or the child falls away from an adult while being held by the arm."

They assured us that this is very common for kids under the age of three. It can happen when they're being swung by their arms or picked up by their hands instead of under the arm.

The doctor said she just had to do a one-second manuever to pop everything back in place. She also said that Ayla would scream and cry because it would hurt. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to watch but she did great...didn't cry or scream...but her little lip did stick out for a few seconds afterwards. Within minutes, she was using her arm again. We were told to be gentle with it for the next few weeks because once this happens, it can easily happen again. So in my mind, being gentle=not touching it at all. I'm so incredibly paranoid about it. The doctor said if it happens two or three more times, they would just show us how to pop it back in. I can hardly deal with a skinned elbow and they want me to pop bones and ligaments back in place?

Today, she seems totally fine...she hasn't shown any discomfort in that arm. They said it might be sore for a few days, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. Thank goodness.