On Monday, July 6th, before lunch the kids were playing in the den and having a great time. One of them bumped into another and a chain reaction occurred which resulted in Abigail Grace being on the bottom of a pile of little people. Of course, that wouldn't feel wonderful to anyone - no matter how big or small the people on top of you were! She didn't appreciate the experience much, but was quickly consoled and went on playing, eating and napping during the early afternoon.
Every once in a while, however, she would grimace and fuss, which is unlike her. I gently poked and squeezed on her, trying to determine what was bothering her. Was it her new teeth coming in on top? Were the peas that she had eaten for the first time disturbing her belly? Then she pulled up to stand and it brought quite the response. After more messing with that sweet baby girl, there was definitely a difference in her reaction when I put pressure on the bottom of her right foot versus the left one. I decided to see if she would stand up again and she was not a fan of that idea . . . .
All of this seemed strangely familiar to the way my friend's son had responded when he had broken his leg as an infant. Time to make a phone call to my precious friend, Jen, and see if I was remembering correctly. The stories did sound quite similar, but Abigail's leg couldn't be broken, right?
Once we got to the Urgent Care Clinic, Dr. Brown sent us around to get x-rays when she once again wouldn't stand up and put weight on her right leg. When I got back there a friend from church was the one who took the x-rays. We had never had a broken bone with any of our kids and here I was getting x-rays of my 10 month old's leg! I thought I was going to burst into tears! Abigail was a trooper and did great the whole time, even though all of this was taking place right in the middle of her naptime. What a sweet baby girl!
Contrary to the radiologist's reading of her x-rays as normal, Dr. Brown was quite certain that there was indeed a fracture. He conferred with the orthopaedic doctor that was on-call and they agreed that there was a clear tibial fracture on her right leg above her ankle. So thankful that he was faithful to follow through and take care of my baby girl!
They molded a splint around her lower leg and wrapped it up with an ace bandage until we went to see Dr. Southworth the next morning.
When we got to his office, Abigail enjoyed a nice banana for breakfast and played until he reviewed the x-rays with us and had her little purple cast put on. He said that this is actually a common injury, was nothing to be worried about, and that it should completely heal within 2-3 weeks. The bone was not displaced and didn't need to be set - a "perfect" break. If you can believe it, we were actually in and out of his office in about 30-40 minutes, cast and all!
You can pray for speedy healing, of course, but also that she sleeps well at night. She has been waking up more often than usual. I am certain that when she turns over she is wondering what this rock is that is attached to her leg!
Regardless, Abigail has been wonderful, as always. She is still so happy - smiling, laughing and playing. She is still exploring everything around her and loves to play with her big brother and big sisters. She just doesn't like how it feels if she starts to stand up or puts pressure on the bottom of her right foot. There are a lot of little eyes around here that are watching her and making sure she doesn't do anything that will cause her pain :)
So, Abigail Grace has on a purple cast.
Maybe this one will be the last . . .
That would be great,
but with 3 other siblings we will have to wait
and see what the verdict will be!
