Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Good News and Bad News (Or, I am a Bad, Bad Mom)

Good News: I went to the perinatologist to get to the bottom of this placenta previa thing, and it turns out that it moved. The baby's head was kind of making it hard to tell whether it was a problem or not, but we confirmed that the placenta isn't in the way anymore and that I won't have to have a c section. It's a Memorial Day miracle! Too bad location of placenta has no bearing on swelling of legs.

Bad News: While I was being a bad mom yesterday and neglecting my kids while talking on the phone, Holden decided to ride our Chinese scooter with no break and a bent wheel down our STEEP driveway. He came inside asking me to just put a bandaid on a scraped elbow, but he was holding his arm in a funny way. He said his wrist hurt. He was shaking and crying more than is normal for a scraped elbow. To be fair to myself, I did all the right things: I had him rest, put a bag of frozen peas on his arm, and gave him ibuprofen. I rule. (Mike did point out that those things are common sense in the world of first aid.) It was hard to know if I should take him to urgent care because he wasn't completely swollen and had some range of motion. Usually I take my kids in and then feel stupid for doing so and it all turns out to be nothing. But I took him anyway. He was in rare form: making jokes in the waiting room, being really brave, just taking it all in stride. And then, just when I was wondering why on earth we had even seen a doctor, we were told that Holden had BROKEN HIS ARM. No sprained or bruised wrist, but a bona fide broken arm. I honestly asked the doctor if he was joking. So now I am one of THOSE moms who lets her kids go out and break their arms. My unsullied record of strict safety precautions is forever tarnished. Although I should have been prepared for this, after the whole Taiwan head-meets-doorknob fiasco. I guess you really can't ALWAYS keep your kid out of harm's way.

6 comments:

  1. I did the same thing, but I waited a week to take my daughter in. She was only 18 months and wasn't quite communicating how badly it hurt. Boy did I feel awful. And stupid. And then she put her hand in the sink the very next day, so we had to get an entirely new cast less than 24 hours after we got the first one. I'm sure the Dr. wanted to report me to DCFS.

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  2. Congratulations on your Memorial Day miracle. I am impressed with your first aid common sense.

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  3. that is great about the placneta! As for broken arms, I think you would be a bad mom if you had not allowed your kid to break his arm. I remember in grade school the teacher would ask "Has anyone ever broken a bone" I hated not being able to raise my hand. You have spared your son this embarassment. You are a GOOD mom!

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  4. All right, I am seriously loving your blog. Great writing.

    Not to worry, my daughter had "one of the worse cases of mono" for a good 3 weeks before I took her in. (Hey, don't all teens sleep a lot?) AND, I let my then 2 yr. old son nearly die of dehydration because it was snowing outside and I just could not bring myself to brave the drive...I had no idea.

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  5. oh no! Poor Holden. What a crazy thing to have happen. I'm glad about the baby and the placenta though, that's good at least.

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  6. Man, I wish I could write like you, Carly. You always make me laugh. What a talent! Sorry about Holden's arm! Sounds like he's a pretty tough kid. Savannah can work up a bucket of tears over a near invisible scratch. Hope he heals up soon!

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