While visions of CPS danced in my head
A trip to the ER
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
I'm a good mom. I love my kids and as you may have noticed from a previous article, the worst threat is to "beat you with a pickle". So when my 18 month old daughter woke up and couldn't move her left arm, I was concerned to say the least.
I racked my brain to figure out what might have happened to her. The only thing I could think of was last night. After a bath, we chase her around and "catch" her with the towel to dry her off. Well, last night durring the game, she suddenly burst into tears and cried. Nothing I did calmed her down. My poor baby finally settled into a whimpery-whiney mode and told em she wanted to go to bed. I was a little worried at first, but when she stopped crying and went to bed, I didn't think about it too much.
And thin at 6:30 this morning, she woke up fussy and didn't want to move her arm. I had visions of taking her to the Dr and CPS storming in. I got to the walk-in clinic and as if to justify my fears, the nurse on duty pulled me over. "I'm sorry but you have to take her to the ER. We don't have the facilities to care for her." *huh?!* "They will need x-rays and social work. We don't deal with that"
Then to drive the point in, she called over and then escorted me to the ER (What? So I wouldn't run away?) The screening nurse was nice and told me it seemed like a case of "Nursemaid's Elbow". Basically, they thought her elbow was dislocated. Ahhhhh! Now they really must think I hurt my baby! But they wanted x-rays to be sure before treating her.
X-rays on a baby are not ever easy, but when they have to pull her arm out and it hurts THAT bad. Well, she just broke down and sobbed. She didnt' stop crying for 20 min after we finally left X-ray. The doc saw us in the waiting room chairs and came over to look. So that set off a whole new round of screaming and sobbing. They gave her some motrin for the pain and set us in a freezing waiting room.
20 min after that, she shifted and then started moving her arm. Fisrt she wiggled her fingers, and then a few min later she pointed to the door ("Let's go, mom.") i encouraged her to point at some things, touch body parts and to give me a high five. Everything seemed to be in working order. Wheew.
Turns out that the doctor had popped it back in when we were out in the chairs, but the shock of popping it back upset her far longer than the actual pain had been going on. No calls to CPS were made and they cut us loose.
I looked it up onliine and realized that abuse would have likely dislocated a shoulder first. Link This link says that..."Nursemaid's elbow is a common condition in young children and generally affects children under five. It occurs when a child is pulled up too hard by the hand or wrist.
Nursemaid's elbow is often seen after a person lifts a child by one arm up a curb or high step. The child generally begins to cry immediately and refuses to use the arm. The child holds the arm in a slightly flexed position (slightly bent at the elbow) against the abdomen. The child will move the shoulder, but not the elbow. Often, the child will stop crying as the immediate pain subsides, but will continue to refuse to move the elbow."
So it fits. It's not ususally thought of as a sign of abuse and it's likely that hers was caused by the 50 or so games of "ring around the rosy" with her 4 year old brother. He was yaniking and spinning her around all day. She had fun and enjoyed it, but I made them stop when she started to cry. I wrapped her in the towel and probably re-injured the elbow by causing pressure on it? I may never know for sure.
But I do know that I'm a good mom and I didn't do anything wrong that caused her pain.
I racked my brain to figure out what might have happened to her. The only thing I could think of was last night. After a bath, we chase her around and "catch" her with the towel to dry her off. Well, last night durring the game, she suddenly burst into tears and cried. Nothing I did calmed her down. My poor baby finally settled into a whimpery-whiney mode and told em she wanted to go to bed. I was a little worried at first, but when she stopped crying and went to bed, I didn't think about it too much.
And thin at 6:30 this morning, she woke up fussy and didn't want to move her arm. I had visions of taking her to the Dr and CPS storming in. I got to the walk-in clinic and as if to justify my fears, the nurse on duty pulled me over. "I'm sorry but you have to take her to the ER. We don't have the facilities to care for her." *huh?!* "They will need x-rays and social work. We don't deal with that"
Then to drive the point in, she called over and then escorted me to the ER (What? So I wouldn't run away?) The screening nurse was nice and told me it seemed like a case of "Nursemaid's Elbow". Basically, they thought her elbow was dislocated. Ahhhhh! Now they really must think I hurt my baby! But they wanted x-rays to be sure before treating her.
X-rays on a baby are not ever easy, but when they have to pull her arm out and it hurts THAT bad. Well, she just broke down and sobbed. She didnt' stop crying for 20 min after we finally left X-ray. The doc saw us in the waiting room chairs and came over to look. So that set off a whole new round of screaming and sobbing. They gave her some motrin for the pain and set us in a freezing waiting room.
20 min after that, she shifted and then started moving her arm. Fisrt she wiggled her fingers, and then a few min later she pointed to the door ("Let's go, mom.") i encouraged her to point at some things, touch body parts and to give me a high five. Everything seemed to be in working order. Wheew.
Turns out that the doctor had popped it back in when we were out in the chairs, but the shock of popping it back upset her far longer than the actual pain had been going on. No calls to CPS were made and they cut us loose.
I looked it up onliine and realized that abuse would have likely dislocated a shoulder first. Link This link says that..."Nursemaid's elbow is a common condition in young children and generally affects children under five. It occurs when a child is pulled up too hard by the hand or wrist.
Nursemaid's elbow is often seen after a person lifts a child by one arm up a curb or high step. The child generally begins to cry immediately and refuses to use the arm. The child holds the arm in a slightly flexed position (slightly bent at the elbow) against the abdomen. The child will move the shoulder, but not the elbow. Often, the child will stop crying as the immediate pain subsides, but will continue to refuse to move the elbow."
So it fits. It's not ususally thought of as a sign of abuse and it's likely that hers was caused by the 50 or so games of "ring around the rosy" with her 4 year old brother. He was yaniking and spinning her around all day. She had fun and enjoyed it, but I made them stop when she started to cry. I wrapped her in the towel and probably re-injured the elbow by causing pressure on it? I may never know for sure.
But I do know that I'm a good mom and I didn't do anything wrong that caused her pain.
