Adventures in Mommyhood: Baby #3: 28 weeks

What. A. Week.

Today I'm 28w5d pregnant. Things had been going smoothly. I was even starting to think maybe they were going a little too smoothly. Thankfully *sarcastic font* reality has set in.

On Sunday, the weather was perfect. Dan was mowing the lawn and I decided I would cement my nomination for Mother of the Year by taking my two little darlings for a walk to the park. Bella's finally at an age where she's able to climb up by herself (a must for this super preggo mama) and even go down the slide on her booty (as opposed to the previously preferred method of diving head first). Mia has been able to maneuver for some time....now she is quite the gymnast when it comes to climbing up and shimmying down the ladders and climbing walls (still scares the crap out of me watching her though....). We got to the park, the kids were happy, it was sunny. All was right with the world.

Then, I had a brilliant idea.

See, we had moved from the school playground to a park playground located directly behind it. The equipment was bigger and mostly not geared towards the littles. Mia was still able to withstand her rockstar status, but Bella was more limited as to what she could do. Well since this gear was a little bigger, I figured (you know, just to MAKE SURE the committee knew I was serious about my nomination) I would take Bella down the '"big girl" slide one time before we headed back to the house. It was, in theory, a perfect idea. Halfway down, however, something happened.

Bella's leg slid off my big mama thigh and got stuck between my leg and the side of the slide and twisted up and back some. It seemed like it was only for a split second, but I knew it hurt her. At the time, I had no idea how badly though....

When we reached the bottom of the slide there were already tears streaming from her face....mind you, the child can produce tears more quickly than my husband can fall asleep once his head hits the pillow.....it's a feat. Trust me. Knowing this, I can't gauge her pain level based on tears alone. Now the screaming.....the screaming had me a little concerned. I quickly examined her leg. No marks on ankle or knee. No bruising. No swelling. But so much screaming. So. Much. Screaming. I had done everything in the mom handbook and still.....screaming. I loaded the kids up and headed back to the house. Now, this park is not across the street. We walked a good 10-15 minutes to get there. So Mia and I listened to our poor baby scream the whole way home.

My nomination is slipping.

Once we got home, I picked her up and was able to console her and get her to calm down. She seemed hesitant about being put down though, I only assumed she was tired....and that her leg was still sore from the incident. I explained to Dan what happened and then I put her down for a nap. She was asleep immediately.....no crying. *Phew* Surely it was ok.

She woke up a couple hours later and I went in to check on her. I noticed she wasn't standing in her crib like she normally would be. I assumed her leg was still a little sore. I brought her downstairs and decided maybe I should test it out.....see the extent of the "damage". She wouldn't stand on it at all. And walking - not having it. Crying though.....there was crying for sure. I told Dan I thought I should take her to the ER to get it looked at.

Nomination.....hanging by a thread.

I went to the E-Care close to our house that I was pretty sure would have an x-ray machine. We waited patiently for her name to be called, all the while, she was laughing and making me feel a fool for even being there. When we were called back, they wanted to get her weight, she stood, but was still favoring "the" leg. When the doctor came in, after examining her, she was sure it was just a sprain, but *just in case* she wanted us to get x-rays.

We went to the x-ray room. I had already called Dan to inform him that my nomination was BACK ON! It was a sprain and we'd meet them at the snowcone place. Fast forward 5 minutes. Nurse comes in and tells me we will need to move to the next room where their "casting" stuff is. Confused. I ask "so it's just a sprain right? And you're going to wrap it for her?"

No. No it's not. It's a fracture. A spiral tibial fracture of her right leg.

Nomination. Dead.

They told me I'd need to see a specialist ASAP and that she would likely be in a cast for 4-6 weeks, but not to worry because these kinds of injuries rarely have lasting effects on their growth long term. Great. Bella, nevermind you can't walk (the thing you love more than cereal and do all of the hours of the day tht you're not sleeping), you will not be damaged later in life. While, as a mother, that is encouraging.....to my 18 mo old, she could care less.

We suffered through the frustration and pain the first two days. We saw a specialist on Tuesday who put her in a more useable (although still very 18 mo old un-friendly) cast, and informed us we would come back in 3 weeks after we got another x-ray. At that point, he will either remove the cast entirely, or if it's not totally healed, he will put her in more of a walking cast, so she can at least get around better for the duration. We, of course, are praying for full healing.

So, that's it. The whole shebang. On my birthday week and my 28th week of pregnancy with my 3rd child, I broke my baby's leg. It's been traumatic for us all. But my tough little girl is proving again, how amazing and adaptable she is.

She's back at school today (4 days post incident) and she seems to be doing well.

It's that point in my parenting life where I am forced to make a decision about what kind of parent I am going to be. Do you coddle your baby and make sure they want for nothing? Or do you let them figure it out.....and know that despite their frustration, they will be ok? That the hard times are temporary and that "this too shall pass"......I think both kinds of parents are important. And lucky for our Boo, she has both. Her mom is hard on her (within reason) and makes her do for herself - tries to distract from the temporary handicap and highlight what she's still capable of doing, but daddy is there to cuddle and sympathize with her....and make everything better.

Turns out, we're all going to make it through this. Contrary to our initial reaction.

So.....there you have it. The committee has been notified to withdraw my nomination. I guess I'll just try again next year. Maybe I can make it a full 2 years before I break my next baby.