The Natural State: Sickness

You know in the dead of winter when a lot of moms are stuck inside with their sick kids? You know... the flu, strep throat, or if they're babies, RSV? I've had my fair share of those winters, but somehow we were beyond blessed this go round. All season long I kept thinking to myself, "Aww, poor them. They've got another sick kid. I'm so glad we're healthy". Or, get this. I even thought this a few times "Well, if she'd just let her kids get dirty every now and then and be exposed to some germs so her kid could let it's immune system do it's job, they wouldn't be at the doctor so much". Wow! Who did I think I was?!

I got a nice dose of reality slapped in my face, that's for sure.

We made it through winter and were trudging right through spring when it hit us. The dreaded stomach bug.

It was May 3, to be exact and Caylee was the lucky victim. Fever, vomit, diarrehea... she had it all. She was out of school three days and then was good as new.

Usually when one girl gets something the other does too. But when it had been a few days I was feeling good about Baylee. Nope, I thought too soon. She had the same stuff and was out two days the following week.

I disinfected the house once both girls were back in school. We had track and field, the field trip, and were gearing up for the girls' spring musical at church. Grandparents were coming in and it was going to be a jammed packed weekend. I just didn't know how literally "jammed" it would be.

The musical at church was "Life School Musical". It was super cute, great message, and fun songs. They had dress rehearsal the Saturday morning before performance and needed to take their backpacks. We were already in the van when Brandon remembered to send the girls in to grab the backpacks. We're waiting patiently in the van talking about what all we need to get at the store while they're at practice when Bay comes out.

"Mom! I snubbed (the rest wasn't audible)..."

"You stubbed your toe? Oh, I'm sorry Baylee, that hurts!"

"No, my PINKY! AHHHHHH!!! MOM IT HURTS SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!"

And then I look back and see this.

Oh dear. That didn't look good. And it definitely looked more than another jammed finger. Apparently when Bay went running through the house to grab her backpack, she hit (and I mean HIT) her hand on the doorknob of the hall closet. Ouch! Thankfully, Brandon's parents were in and they were able to pick Caylee up from practice while we took Bay to the ER.

That girl is such a trooper. She wailed and screamed (and had every right to do so) for most of the 20 minute drive. But as soon as she stepped foot on the hospital parking lot, she stopped crying and turned into this poised little girl. It was pretty incredible to watch.

She, of course, had an x-ray and then the doctor came in. Here were his first words...

"Uh, has Baylee ever seen an orthopedist?"

Excuse me? Of course she hasn't! My mind immediately goes into overdrive thinking she has some rare bone disease.

He no more than finished his question and followed it up with "She has a salter-harris fracture on the growth plate. I don't feel comfortable setting it here, so I'm going to call Dr. Gordon and have him take a look on Monday."

Whew! Just a fracture. Only need an orthopedist because she's still a growing girl. Breathe, Cari.

Long story short, we take her to the orthopedist and he suggests we put her completely out to reset her pinky. It was headed in a 30 degree angle in the wrong direction!! Five days after the initial fracture my baby girl goes in for her very first "non-cutting surgery" (as we called it).

(This is at 5:45 a.m. waiting on Daddy to finish getting ready. She had to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m.)

(Waiting until her surgery time. That's a temperature sticker on her forehead.)

I stayed home while Brandon took Bay in early and did all of the paperwork. I got Cay ready for school, dropped her off at a friend's house, and headed my way. If there was one thing I learned about myself in all of this, it's this - I'm not meant to live in a commuter town and work in the big city. I about stroked out several times dealing with rush hour traffic.

Anyway, the procedure itself only took 30 minutes or so and everything went beautifully. The doctor refractured her pinky and set it back in place. She has a temporary cast on until next week and hopefully she can get a waterproof cast when we go back for a check up.