Brynn's Elbow Craziness

Last Tuesday was a VERY interesting day to say the least.  It started out pretty normal.  We went to school, stopped by the new house, and then headed to gymnastics.  After gymnastics we all came home and had supper and were just playing around before bed.  I was in Brynn's room hanging up some laundry, and Ryan and the girls were next door in Emory's room playing around.  Brynn was singing and dancing and making Emory laugh.  All of a sudden I heard her scream out and Ryan says "OH MY GOSH...SHE JUST DID THAT ELBOW THING AGAIN!"  Brynn wouldn't move her arm, she's screaming hysterically, I knew Ryan was really stressed, and I'm about to puke thinking about someone popping her elbow in and out of its socket...GROSS!

(Back up to when she was ONE - She fell weird on her arm and we had no clue what was wrong.  She wouldn't let ANYONE touch it and she wouldn't move it.  We took her to the ER and they immediately identified it as "nursemaid's elbow" or a dislocation of her elbow.  The ER doctor popped it in like two seconds and IMMEDIATELY she was back to normal Brynn.  It was the craziest thing.  But once it happens once, it's more likely to happen again).

SO...as soon as it happened Ryan was like "who can we call to pop it back??"  So at 8:30 on Tuesday night, we all headed over to a friend's house who worked as a nurse in Urgent Care and did this all the time.  She looked at Brynn's arm/elbow and popped it back.  Well Brynn's screaming "tell her to stop touching me!"  HA!  But unlike the last time, it just didn't bring relief.  So Casie popped it again.  She heard it pop back, but said Brynn was probably just terrified to move it because she thought it was going to hurt, etc.  So we left and headed home.  I fed Emory and put her to bed, and while I was doing that Brynn was okay.  She just laid in our bed and Ryan called an ER doctor friend who said to just keep it still (which was easy, because Brynn wouldn't move her arm to save her life!) and call our pediatrician in the morning.

We went to see our pediatrician at 9 on Wednesday morning.  She still wouldn't move her arm.  She would scream and cry if you got near it.  She would say in this pitiful voice "how I'm gonna go to the bathroom?  My arm is BROKEN!"  HA!  It was pretty funny, but sad too.  We knew she was hurting.  So they looked at it and sent us to get an x-ray.  That was a fun ordeal...(see pictures below...) The x-rays came back showing that nothing was fractured or broken, so that's good.  

Basically, she dislocated her elbow just like the last time.  Except this time around, it just doesn't want to stay back in place.  So she is supposed to wear a sling for a week, just to kind of keep it still and in place.  Hopefully, once the soreness and inflammation of it getting popped a bazillion times wears off, she will feel better and be back to normal.  

Heading into the doctor's office on Wednesday morning...

Then we got sent to x-ray...Brynn's new favorite place...NOT!  But I will say, the lady was AWESOME!  She was so sweet and patient, even when Brynn pointed at her and screamed "NO NO NO NO NO" to her face like a million times!  I wanted to laugh hysterically and cry hysterically all at the same time!  =)

I believe this is when Brynn was yelling "DON'T LET SHE TOUCH ME!"  (And I'm looking at this picture thinking, what the heck was I doing taking this while she was so upset?  Bad mommy...but maybe it will be funny to look back one day??)

This is when we went back up to the doctor's office waiting for the news from x-ray.  Then they brought her the little sling.  Notice she's sitting on Daddy's lap for everything...I am WAY too squeemish for this stuff...

Once she got some Motrin in her, she was a little better, but pretty somber the rest of the day.  We did take her to Chick-Fil-A afterward for lunch, and she perked up a bit.  Later Wednesday night we went over to my parents house to celebrate my Grandpa's 85th birthday.  She seemed a little better but definitely not quite herself.  My parents got her a little "Get Well Soon" balloon and she LOVED that, which helped!  Then we headed home and one of her sweet little friends brought her over a special card, which was so sweet.  Then the doorbell rang and Uncle Jason and Aunt Sarah, and Ansley and Charli showed up with Andy's custard for her!  That did it...she forgot all about her arm (other than she still didn't move it in the sling) and played and seemed like her old self.  I told Sarah that was a God thing that they stopped by, because Ryan and I were really starting to worry about her.  It was so good to see her smile and play!  And it was so sweet of all our family and friends to call and text and check on her all day.  THANK YOU EVERYONE!

She seems to feel a little better each day.  She even went to school the next day and was doing so well we stayed the entire day.  It almost seems like the more we get out and do, the more she forgets about it, and keeps going like normal.  She still doesn't really move her arm AT ALL, but they said once the soreness wears off she will be more apt to move it, and they really want it to stay stationary for a week anyway.  So we are praying and hopeful that she will be back to normal pretty soon!

And if last week wasn't crazy enough, on Thursday night we had some crazy storms and tornado warnings, and had to fall asleep in the basement!  Poor Emory was sleeping in a pack-n-play over by our basement "kitchen" cabinets, and we all had a "sleepover" by the TV.  (Oh yeah, I guess I need to note that our Mizzou Christmas tree is still up.  Mom, Lindsey, and Erika - you don't need to call me about this...we are planning on taking it down THIS very weekend!)

We are so thankful that even in the midst of a crazy, unexpected week, God is still in control and has a special plan for everything that happens in our lives.  And of course we are so thankful that Brynn is okay!