Carter's First (And Hopefully Last) Broken Bone

This morning started at 4:45 am for me because I met with some running buddies for an early morning run. When I got home the kids and I had a fun morning before dropping Carter off at school, playing in Elise's room. Carter and Elise set up a Craft Clubhouse. Carter gave me coins so I could pay my dues and enter the club. We sat in there cutting paper and coloring. It was so much fun. Carter informed me birds, band aids, and bad guys weren't allowed in the club. Later he decided things that start with d aren't allowed either, but Harper could come in because she was an art dog rather than just a dog. It was so funny! Elise and I dropped Carter off at school and then headed to an Aldi grand opening to get $5 off our groceries, a free Aldi bag, and then enter to win free produce for a year! There were a couple things we needed that Aldi didn't have so we stopped by Sam's before heading home for naptime. As we were getting ready to leave the Sam's parking lot I got a call from Carter's school. It was the school director and she told me Carter had fallen off the monkey bars on the playground. She said she didn't think it was broken but Carter is not one to complain and he said it really hurt and he wanted to go home. I told her I would be by to pick him up.

Carter's teacher posted this picture on the class page later in the evening.

Elise and I immediately headed to his school to get him. He walked out and was acting totally fine. His teacher told me what had happened. She said he had been dropping off the monkey bars in a squat but one time came down and landed with all his weight on one hand. She was concerned because he was pointing to an area above his wrist, saying it hurt. I debated whether to take him straight to Urgent Care or wait to see if we could get him in to his pediatrician. The only time Carter cried was when he thought we were going to the doctor as he really didn't want to go. I decided we'd go home, unload the cold groceries, and possibly wait until after naps to message the doctor to see if we could get in. When we stopped at a red light I decided to go ahead and text our doctor. He responded really quickly and told us to come in right then as he had an opening. I turned around and headed for the doctor's office. I called Ty and he later decided to meet us at the doctor's office. I was hopeful that it was just a sprain but Carter couldn't really use his right arm at all. He couldn't even use his right hand to open his lunchbox and it hurt for me to pull his arm out of the strap of his car seat. He cried all the way to the doctor's office because he didn't want to go to the doctor. I told him he could get ice cream afterward if he was good at the doctor's office. That didn't even calm him down. Eventually I realized it was because he was afraid he would get a shot. When I assured him he wouldn't get a shot he calmed down.

We arrived to discover Elise had pooped her pants which was an added stress to the situation. Carter was cheerful and sweet as we entered the doctor's office. Elise ran up to tell the administrative assistant that Carty was hurt but just Carty, not her. We went back and shared what happened with the nurse. Then she took him for his x-rays. Ty arrived shortly after that. When the doctor popped in he asked if Carter was acting like he was in a lot of pain. We said not at all. He was shocked because he said Carter had a really big break. He took us over to look at it and then called an orthopedic surgeon so he could send us over to see him. Carter laughed when he saw the x-ray. As we walked out into the reception area, Carter wanted to look at his x-ray again. I held it up to the light for him and explained to him where the break was. There was a family sitting in the waiting room and they were shocked Carter was acting so happy with a broken arm. The administrative assistant told them Carter came in like that too. I was so proud of what a great job he did and how calm he was. He was definitely very tough!

Ty moved Elise's car seat over to his car and took her home for a nap while I headed to the orthopedic surgeon's for Carter's arm. It took a while to figure out where the building was due to the directions the doctor gave me but we made it. Carter was super cheerful and chatting up the receptionists. One of them even got a sticker to give him because she enjoyed him so much. While I was checking him in, he wanted to take his x-ray and hold it up to the fish tank so he could inspect it with light behind it. When we sat down he tried to strike up conversations with everyone around him. A nurse took us back to a room and took Carter's blood pressure. He was really concerned that the blood pressure cuff was going to hurt. She assured him if it hurt, she'd stop. When she was done she let him play with it for a while. She was incredible with him and it was a wonderful experience for him! It set him up for success when getting his cast on. He was worried it was going to hurt and kept asking about it. The guy who put the cast on was awesome. Carter picked an orange cast and then asked if he could have a rainbow cast because he loves all colors. The guy suggested a striped cast so Carter picked red and orange. We talked about how they are fire colors so he wanted to add in yellow but his arm was small enough only 2 colors would work.

Picking out the color of his cast.

The guy put the underneath section on which was waterproof. He told me I could even dump water down in the cast and squirt some soap into it to keep it clean in there, I'd just need to let him sit with a towel under it for a while as the water drained out. Then he put on the orange stuff which he had to squeeze onto the broken portion of Carter's arm after he was done wrapping it. I had a moment similar to when Carter had his blood drawn for the allergy test when he was one. Carter cried as the guy squeezed his arm and I could see his body shaking in pain. It was super upsetting but there was nothing I could do. Carter couldn't really hear me over his crying so I just rubbed his back and spoke calmly to him until it was over. I felt that weird feeling come bubbling up in me where I was either going to laugh or cry so I took a few deep breaths and was able to suppress both, thankfully! Carter was fine once that part was over. It didn't take long to dry but it sure felt like it when my baby was crying in pain the entire time! They took Carter back for an x-ray with the cast on to make sure the bone was set properly. As he waited he walked laps around the area talking with all the ladies working in there and they loved it. When he was being prepped for his x-ray he asked if he could show me something and when he was given the go ahead he came out with the special body cover on to show me. It was so cute. The x-ray looked good so they went ahead and wrapped his stripe on his cast. When the guy was finished he asked Carter if he had any questions. Carter said, "Yeah, why did the chicken cross the road?" That got a laugh out of everyone in the room. Then he asked Carter if he had any other questions and Carter said, "Yeah, why did the poop cross the road?" My goodness, he is something else! He got to pick out a sucker and picked orange. Then he asked if he could take one home to his sister which I thought was the absolute sweetest! We go back in a week for more x-rays to make sure it is healing properly. They think it will heal without surgery so that's good!

The awesome water proof part that goes under the cast.

Getting the orange wrapped on.

A little teary eyed still after the squeezing but pumped about his cast.

Showing off what he wore for his x-ray.

When we walked back out to the car Carter remembered I told him he could get ice cream if he did a good job at the doctor's. Then he told me, "This is such a fun day!" I was cracking up that breaking his arm could be a fun day but he loves getting to talk to new people and he enjoyed spending the afternoon just me and him. Plus he was getting ice cream at the end of the day! The van had been making weird noises so we dropped it off to get looked at and then headed to Braum's for ice cream and dinner since it was after 5:00. It worked out great because Ty had a gift card to Braum's that Jeremy gave him for Christmas. Carter picked orange sherbert. He was all about the orange today! I was so glad I went ahead and took him to the doctor right away. He is looking forward to showing his cast off at school tomorrow and told me his friends might even think he has a new arm! I was laughing over that one! We found out his Gma has a broken rib from coughing related to her pneumonia so Carter asked everyone to pray for him and his Gma. He has the sweetest heart!

Showing off his finished striped cast.

So excited for their ice cream!