Nursemaid's Elbow

Say what?! 

We had quite the eventful evening that required a trip to Overlake Urgent Care to find out why Jackson wasn't moving his left arm much, and seemed to be in pain when we touched/moved it. 

When I got to daycare, he seemed in good spirits but right before getting him out of his high chair there, he started to cry.  I thought, given his mouthful of fish crackers, perhaps he'd bitten his tongue or cheek, but when his left arm was limp when I tried to put his coat on, I started to get worried.  Since he'd seemed fine just minutes before though, I thought maybe it had fallen asleep and that maybe he was experiencing "pins & needles", so we headed home.  By the time we got there, he still hadn't moved his arm much and was upset getting out of his car seat.  After a quick call to daycare to confirm that he didn't fall or seem hurt at all there, we decide to head in to get checked out.

As a mom, it's so awful to see your kiddo sick or hurt and, aside from his cyst removal, this was right up there in terms of worst mommy moments.  I immediately started assuming the worst - was it broken?  Would he need to be in a cast/sling?  If so, how would we keep him entertained and occupied while it healed? 

The doctor came in and immediately said that based on the placement of his arm (limp and resting on his thigh) it looked like "nursemaid's elbow" or closed posterior dislocation of the elbow, which is apparently very common in young kids.  It can occur when hanging or swinging by the arms, bracing a fall, etc.  Daycare couldn't really think of anything he'd done that would have caused him to hurt his arm, and he seemed fine earlier in the day, so it'll remain a mystery as to how it happened.

The good news is though that with about 30 seconds of work, the doctor was able to pop things back into place and Jackson was as good as new.  Seriously - within seconds of the doctor finishing, Jackson stopped crying and started reaching and grabbing for things with his left hand.  Thank goodness!  He even felt good enough to give the doc a few high fives, say goodbye and "dank que" (thank you). 

I'm so thankful that was all it was and that he's back to being our fun, lovable toddler.  I just don't know what I would have done if it was something worse.  I do know I would have given anything to take away his pain, though.  And I reconfirmed with Corey that this is exactly why J will not be playing football (or any sports for that matter) --- I can't stand seeing my kiddo in pain. It'll be chess or math club only for this kid! (Okay, not really, but I'm not ready to think about sports yet.)

All better, and with three stickers (on his shirt) for being such a big, brave boy.

And, a few videos of our happy, healthy boy from over the weekend:

Mama's kitchen helper.

 

 Dada is hilarious!