Isaac's First Trip to the ER

On Sunday night Larry and I left the boys with my parents so we could go to Bible study. When it was time to eat dinner, his left arm was hanging by his side and he tried drinking with his right hand only. My parents called us and said he wouldn't use his left arm and it looked swollen a bit. We rushed home and called the nurse on call. She suggested nuremaid's elbow, but we were not convinced. Nurse's elbow happens when a child is pulled by their hands and no one had done that. He had fallen out of a chair at 5:30, so we figured he fractured or sprained some part of his hand. As long as no one touched or tried to move his arm he was fine. We took him to the ER since he cried every time he was moved. (The nurse had suggested we wait until the next day for the doctor. Any parent knows you can't listen to your baby cry in pain all night, so we went to the ER anyway.)

We were in and out of Scottish Rites in an hour. It was amazing! I felt so bad for Isaac at first because everytime someone touched his arm he would glare at them and say, "NO!" When the doctor came he and twisted Isaac's arm a bit and I heard a click. He explained that Isaac had nursemaid's elbow, which is when the elbow gets dislocated. Within 2 minutes of that Isaac moved the pillow from under his arm and started moving all over the place! I couldn't believe it! They said his arm would be sore for a few days, but he has only had Motrin once since it happened and has not complained or shown any sign of his arm hurting. The bad thing is now that it has happened once it is likely to happen again.

Normally kids get this when they are pulled by their hands, but nobody did that. So it sounds like it happened when Larry and I left. Isaac was upset and started pulling on the door knob, throwing a tantrum. He must have twisted himself just right and dislocated his elbow. The doctors said it is very common.

I have to give a big shout out to my parents and thank them for their help! They called us right away and helped with the nurse on call to see what was wrong with Isaac. Then they stayed with Jared while the three of us went to the ER. Larry and I are truly blessed!

Of course, here are some pictures :)

This was while we were in the waiting room. My parents discovered he seemed happiest with his arm propped on a pillow.
This was after the doctor popped his elbow back in place. It was so wonderful to see him using both hands!