A crazy night

After tonight, I am all the more in awe of women who have lots of children and are able to hold it all together. I thought I would be one of those women... now I think that one may be my max! Tonight, I kept Amber's three little ones while she and Ryan took the big girls to a Ranger's game. Things started quite well. I had all four of them on my own for a while and we did great. Lacey was even quite entranced with Mallory and didn't seem bothered by her at all. Mike got home and tossed RJ, Courtlyn and Lacey around for a bit and then read to the three of them while I rocked Mallory in Lacey's room. We were even a little proud of ourselves and thought "We can handle this!". Well, then the reality of lots of little ones set in when Lacey tumbled off of the ottoman in the living room and injured herself. It was a pretty good little spill and it left us rather worried about her for the rest of the night. She somehow injured her neck and/or her shoulder... we couldn't tell. She was clearly in pain and it lasted for some time. We debated for hours as to whether or not we should take her to the emergency room. It was heart-breaking to see her in such pain and it suddenly became all the more difficult to tend to four children. All of Mike's knowledge went out the window and he was suddenly a concerned parent rather than a chiropractor with a wealth of knowledge about the human body. It was sad to see him so concerned and at such a loss for what to do. This was our first real injury that Lacey has incurred, minus a bump or two. I tried to remain calm and assure Mike that she was fine, but even I wasn't certain. I'm sure this all seems a bit dramatic to those of you who have dealt with broken bones and worse, but this was a little traumatic for us tonight and I know it won't be our last ordeal. Ultimately, we handled everything just fine. Mike was able to swoop in and tend to Mallory while I held on to a very pathetic and needy Lacey. RJ was quite sweet and tried to be helpful. Courtlyn... well... I could have seen her needing to go to the ER very easily! That girl is a climber!!! Amber may as well rent a room at the hospital because I fear that Miss Courtlyn may need it a little more frequently than most! She was pretty funny when I look back on it, but I could have done without that added worry at the time! By the end of the night, around 10 or so, Lacey was finally putting weight on her arm again and she started to act like herself.....

Ok so that was last night's unfinished post....

Today:
My baby is broken!!! After a very long night with very little sleep for Lacey and me, we decided to take her to the pediatrician to see what was up. She sent us in for xrays to confirm what we all suspected: a broken collar bone. So sad!!!! The poor thing has been in a fair amount of pain and is exhausted. I suppose she just couldn't get comfortable last night, especially because she usually rolls onto her stomach which no doubt caused lots of pain in her attempt to do so. Ultimately, she and I slept on the floor in her bedroom. Terribly uncomfortable but fortunately, she got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep in (which is more than I can say for myself!). As for the break, it should take a few weeks to heal. There's really nothing you can do for such a break except be very careful with her and watch her like a hawk. I'm already realizing that it's going to be fairly difficult to keep her from running and climbing. I'll probably be holding her a lot and walking around the mall with her in her stroller for the next few weeks. We're now left wondering what we should do about our little trip to Pheonix this weekend. The original plan was to leave her with Nanny and Papa Hughlett but under the circumstances, we're not sure if we should. Lacey is pretty attached to me on a good day. Now that she's injured, she needs me all the more. I would hate for her to wake up in the middle of the night in pain and needing me when I couldn't be there. She loves Nanny for sure and is generally just as happy to be with her as with me. Pain is another story. When she's in pain, there's no one that can hold her except for me. Part of me says she'll be just fine, but another part of me says that she needs me and we should take her... So I guess we'll just see how the next few days go and make our assessment then. Our little get away for two may turn into a family trip!

So there it is... our first real injury. Ug. Heart-breaking! I hated being at the hospital and having them take her from me to do the xrays. She screamed! I hated seeing Mike so devastated as we drove to the doctor's office. I hate all of it. Poor, poor thing! I guess this is just another part of the parenthood deal, but one that I could certainly do without. Not an option? Dang! I guess I'll go get out of the clothes that I've been wearing since yesterday, shower, and try to clean up a bit while Lacey naps.