Fractured

Well, it has happened. Three kids and seven years into our parenting, and the youngest one has inaugurated us into the realm of ER visits and broken bones. Somehow, Caelum was playing at a friend's house out on the driveway with a large bouncy ball. We think he was trying to jump onto it, and didn't make it. His left leg twisted under him, creating a spiral displaced fracture of the tibia.

Here is our journey through our ER visit:

Waiting...got him all propped up and semi-comfy while we waited for the doctor and X-ray team.

Waiting with entertainment...the kind nurse brought some toys, but he couldn't play with them, so she brought him movies instead.

The Break. The picture says more than I even need to say. It's a doozy.

Not happy about the IV. But it was very needed as they had to give him morphine for the pain--which by the way made watching Finding Nemo quite a psychedelic experience, I'm sure. When the pain started coming back in the middle of the night, he kept saying he wanted to go to the aquarium! They also used the IV to give him three other drugs to knock him out while they manipulated and casted the leg.

And here he is, all knocked out and casted.

The Cast. Toe to thigh. No walking. No pressure at all in fact. No getting it wet, especially with leaky diapers or blowouts. For the next 6 weeks. When he actually wakes up enough to realize all of this, he is not going to be a fan of this plan...neither is his mother.

As far as accidents and ER visits go, it definitely could've been much worse, so for that I feel blessed. Praise the Lord we have gone 7 years without this stuff, and praise Him that this wasn't terrible. I will remind myself of that while I lug my 34-pound toddler with a 5-pound cast around for the next 6 weeks. I will also visit my chiropractor more often.