A Quick Trip to the ER

Is there really such a thing as a quick trip to the ER? Well, friends, from my experience on Thursday night, I'd have to say absolutely and thankfully.

As I was finishing up a evening of phone conversations - spreading the news of Baby V 2.0, female version to those who don't access the Internet on a regular basis (crazy, I know!) ... or should I say, those who feel they need to hear it from my voice rather than read it on my blog ... high maintenance, I tell ya! (Love you, Grammy and Mimi!) ... where was I?

Oh, yeah, I was getting off the phone, it was almost bedtime, and CPV and NHV were playing like daddies and their little girls do ... much rougher than I would play with her, but good for her nonetheless. Natalie was behind Chad with her arms stretched up toward his neck. He was crouched down reaching over his shoulder to grab her hands. As he stood up, there was a quick holler of pain from our baby girl. I instantly knew in my mommy heart that she wasn't okay. CPV set her down, and I attempted to soother her. Within a few seconds, I could tell her arm was hurting. But she did get calm, and as long as her arm wasn't moved, she stayed that way. Based on the few "test" moves I did of her arm, I thought it was her shoulder - come to find out, that is a a common mommy misdiagnosis for this injury.

A quick call to our awesome family doctor (N's pediatrician, my OB and doctor, C's doctor) confirmed that it was probably her elbow. More specifically an injury called nursemaid's elbow, which is a partial dislocation of the elbow. And it sounds much worse than it is ... I say this mainly because visually Natalie's elbow looked totally fine and once we immobilized the arm, she didn't appear to be in any pain. Of course,all of this caused a bit of deja vu for us because NHV had this same injury, on the same arm when she was 7 months old.

Anyway, Chad was feeling awful like it was his fault. I was feeling relieved that Natalie was calm and we knew what to do ... head to the ER so that doctor there could reset the elbow. The minute we walked through the doors, we were greeted, asked for some basic information, and escorted by a nurse to a examining room. No time spent in the waiting room! We had two nurses helping us - asking questions about medical history, taking vitals, evaluating NHV's condition. Within about five minutes a doctor came to reset her arm. This process was a little tough because Natalie cried due to stranger anxiety as much as the procedure itself. But she did great and settled right back down when it was over.

We spent another five minutes - without the doctor - getting Natalie to walk around, turn pages of a book with her reset arm, and reach to give us a high five. The doctor was back in a few minutes, checked to make sure she was, indeed, okay, and gave us discharge papers. It was as pleasant an experience as I can imagine for a trip to the ER!