april vacation: part one

it's april vacation this week for bee. we didn't have any big plans for the week. i figured that we would just have a relaxing week, enjoy not having to get dressed by eight and do some special things. i decided that i wouldn't make exercising a priority for the week, and just have a break, have some fun.

monday started off beautifully. bee and i had a swimming date with one of her friends who we don't get to see enough of because of schedules. we had a lovely swim and then spent the rest of the morning playing. 

right at the end of the morning, just moments before i was about to give the five minute warning, henny took the littlest tumble from maybe two feet up. i scooped him up and hugged him for a bit. it was totally your typical fall, but henny's reaction wasn't. he was just crying and crying. i assumed that he was just tired out so we started gearing up to go. when i put him down to put his shoes on, i noticed that his left arm seemed to be kind of hanging there. i thought for sure that i was dreaming it up, but then another mother said that she noticed it too. i imeadiately started freaking out inside and bee and i ran with henny to the car. i sat him down in the car and called the pediatrician. they said to bring him right in to the office. 

as i sped to the doctor's i was anticipating the worst. i felt like i knew that his shoulder was dislocated. i just hoped that they could fix it quickly. 

when we finally saw the doctor she determined that it wasn't his shoulder, but that something was going on with his elbow. it was either nursemaid's elbow, or it was broken. she tried to pop the ligament back in, which is the remedy for nursemaid's, twice. it was horrible to watch the doctor twist henny's little arm, which was already in pain. both attempts didn't seem to work, so we were sent to the hospital for x-rays.

poor, sweet henny was so patient through the whole thing. sure, he cried on and off, but he mostly was just a quieter, sadder version of himself. he also fell asleep in our arms so many times throughout the whole ordeal.

of course once we got to the hospital is was a waiting game. waiting for the thorough check in at radiology, the x-ray, the call from the doctor for the results. and then the results of the x-ray were inconclusive! we ended up having to have the hospital pull henny's x-ray so that we could take him somewhere else to be seen. of course they were not happy to have us leave and they did not make it easy. 

finally, we went to an urgent care office and had excellent treatment. i was a little nervous at first. by now we were about 4 hours into the whole thing and had NO answers. i felt like we were grasping at straws. but the final doctor we saw felt convinced that it was nursemaid's elbow and tried the relocation again. and it worked! almost as soon as she twisted his arm and tried to pop that ligament back in, he moved his arm. i'm not much of a hugger, especially of strangers, but i wanted to snuggle with that woman! she was our hero! 

so, that was the first day of vacation and i feel like i am still recovering form it a little bit. i'm still on edge with henny, who is still feeling a little pain. through it all bee has been just amazing. she was with me for half of our hospital adventures, until D came and brought her to a friend's house. she made me so proud with the way that she totally put her own needs second. she didn't whine, she just sat coloring and chatting with me. she tried to comfort henny and told him he was brave. 

when we got home, around dinnertime, we all enjoyed some well deserved ice cream. and later that night, when i was overcome with love for bee for her compassion and maturity, i told her that i was going to spoil her all week  and that i planned on giving her ice cream every day of vacation.

so, that is the focus of april vacation. a lot of relaxing, some good family fun, plenty of loving and ice cream every day! and today we found the cutest way to treat ourselves, mini ben and jerry's, perfect for the kid's to split. as henny would say, "yummy yummy"!