Here’s the short version – Pearl is ALL OKAY NOW!
And now, the full version.
We had a busy morning yesterday! I was sitting on the carpet playing with and tickling Pearl when she rolled off my lap onto the floor. When she landed I heard a small pop – like when you crack your knuckles – then Pearl had a painful expression on her face. She was fussing and whining and saying she was sleepy, holding her right arm funny and not using it. We gave her a juice box and her arm was trembling while she held it and was obviously uncomfortable. We decided we should take her to have it checked out in case it was broken. Luckily we had friends staying over so Kate, Aleta and Steve graciously watched Enzo while we sorted out Pearl.
The medical group where our pediatrician is has a walk-in clinic open (5 minutes away) and we got in pretty quickly. While we waited Pearl was pretty upset, asking to go home and get in her crib. She was sleepy and tired and fussy. When the doctor felt Pearl’s arm it seemed that it hurt her most up near her shoulder so she had us get some X-Rays downstairs.
Our first set of X-Rays. Look at those Muscles!
Easier said than done! Pearl was pretty tired by this point and we headed into a dark room. Jill was asked to stay outside since they want to limit radiation exposure to women. I had to put on this heavy lead apron and that upset Pearl a lot. She fussed and cried and had snot running down her face – the lollipop we gave her had lost its calming effect. I had to hold her down on her back against a hard board and try to keep her very still so they could get a good picture. They took two X-rays and sent us back upstairs so the Doctor could analyze them.
Stickers! But all with her left hand.
Pearl had calmed down a bit when we got back upstairs, but was still tired and uncomfortable. She wasn’t using her right arm at all, and it hung awkwardly by her side. Jill and I were sitting and worrying about how we’re going to take care of Pearl with a cast on her arm. No swimming in the pool to cool off from the heat. No climbing all over the playground. It was hard to see Pearl so uncomfortable, but her spirits were lifted a bit when we found a box of stickers and gave her a second lollipop.
Well, the middle of the X-Ray was clear, and there were not apparent breaks in the middle of her arm, but her shoulder wasn’t clear enough since Pearl had been squirming too much. At this point we were told if they found a break, we’d have to go to the hospital to get a cast. We weren’t sure if we wanted to stay or go home for Pearl to rest or head right to the ER. We decided we might as well give it another shot at getting an X-Ray while it was right downstairs.
X-Ray #2. Shoulder to Shoulder.
Well this time we had Pearl sitting in Jill’s lap so Jill could hold her arms down for a head-on X-Ray. I stood over top and pinned Pearl’s head still, trying to keep her face up out of the photo. This was very difficult but I think somewhere during all this man-handling we popped Pearl’s shoulder back into place.
On the way back to the elevator Pearl was using her right arm again. Without any prompting she reached out to push the elevator button. She held her lollipop (#3) with her right arm and was smiling. We even managed to get a high five out of her. When the Doctor came back to say the X-Rays looked clear, it was obvious she was feeling much better.
All Better!
While we’re sitting there with the doctor Pearl quietly says “I’m sorry for throwing a tantrum. [I'm] feeling all better.” Wow! She was exhausted at this point having been at the Doctor’s office for over three hours, but in a pretty happy mood. When we got home she was excited to tell our friends that she got to go to the Doctor’s office and get lollipops and stickers. Phew! Pearl was a happy kid for the rest of the weekend and seems to have no lasting effects. We’re VERY relieved to have our healthy girl back.
-Morgan
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I also got up the courage to let Pearl play with Play-doh (up until now I thought she’d just eat the stuff)! I was pleasantly surprised that she just liked to smell it and we had lots of fun making numbers.
On Saturday we packed up the car and headed to Bailey Beach in CT for our cousin Ryan’s first birthday party!
It was a gorgeous day for Ryan’s big day and Enzo’s first trip to the beach!
Pearl had lots of fun in the water with Morgan and then got VERY excited about popping bubbles.
So there’s your latest Turner update.
Up/Down: We saw our friends Kendra and Shaun this weekend with their cute twins, Miles and Eliot. It was so nice to visit with them, but they are moving to Denver this weekend so we won’t get to see them for a while so it was a little bittersweet.
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