Mom of the Year!!

Not that I had any aspirations, but The Mom of the Year Award will definitely not be going to me this year! Let me explain...no, let me sum up. I'll give the condensed, then longer version. We found out Sat. at the ER that Sophia (almost 9 months) has a spiral fracture in her tibia (big bone below the knee). We're not sure how it happened (although we have a theory), and we think we know approximately what time it happened, but can't know for sure. It's amazing how much easier this would have been w/ a child that could speak.

So here's the longer version. Wed. night I had my open water swim class. Donald was home w/ the kids. While Sophie was playing in the living room (the baby proof room), and the kids were watching a movie, Donald went outside to put the cover on the pool. He said he was gone for 5 minutes at the most. When he returned, Sophie was beside herself, crying inconsolably. He got her ready for bed, she fell asleep while he was feeding her, he put her to bed. At 9:30 pm (I was home by this point), she woke up screaming. I got her out of bed, and she immediately threw up. So I thought, "hmm, must be sick." Gave her Tylenol, but still couldn't get her to calm down. She was acting like she was in pain. Anytime I'd adjust her position on my lap she would start screaming. Donald gave her a blessing and I took her to the ER. They checked her ears and throat, said she had an ear infection and sent us home w/ antibiotics.

Thurs. and Friday she was still very fussy, needy and not her normal self (even w/ the ibuprofen). She was having an especially hard time w/ naps and bedtime. By Sat. morning I was pretty concerned and exhausted (I'd probably slept a total of about 3 hrs. Friday night). Luckily Donald's flight had been postponed until Sunday, so he was home. While changing her diaper, Saturday morning, Donald noticed that one of her calves was really swollen. It didn't seem to bother her when he touched it, but he picked her up and she wouldn't stand on that leg.

This was a big aha moment for both of us. We started thinking back through the week about when she was fussy. So, we took her back to the Drs. They did multiple X-rays, found a spiral fracture and splinted her leg.

We have an appt w/ the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. They should cast it then. Sophie seems to be feeling great now that her left is splinted. It hasn't slowed her down much, although she gets mad that she can't pull herself up to standing anymore. We aren't 100% sure how she broke her leg (like I said, mother of the year), but since it's a twisting injury we speculate it's from her pulling herself up on the child's gate. She likes to pull herself up, then rest her foot between the slats. We think she must have done this and fallen, w/ her foot stuck.

To sum up. Sophie is doing great now, Donald is gone for a few weeks of training and I'm feeling like a bad mom b/c I didn't notice her swollen little leg sooner. Oh, and I just had a surprise visit from Child Protective Services. She was here to write up a "safety plan" for our house, but came in and said everything looked great and she didn't have anything to write. She said that due to the nature of the injury we would still have to talk to a couple more people and fill out some paper work, but that she had nothing but positive things to report. Good times!

In all of this I have noticed many things that I am grateful for: Our medical benefits are great! Being in the military, we don't have to pay a dime for all this. This experience also made me realize just how blessed we've been when it comes to our children's health and safety. Considering that we have 5 extremely active kids, I am amazed that Sophie was the first of the kids to have an ER visit for an injury. None of the kids have ever had a broken bone or stitches. Jillian is the only one that's ever had a hospital stay (not including birth), and that was for an allergic reaction. I have friends with children who struggle w/ health issues. Their strength is absolutely amazing to me. I honestly don't know how they keep their sanity. I was a completely drained, emotional wreck having to watch Sophie suffer, and she is fine, it wasn't even anything that serious.

My sweet little girl w/ a splint on her leg.