Broken

This tiny sling is still a little big.

It was bound to happen. I'm surprised we made it this long. Five boys in almost 18 years. Sure, we have experienced other mishaps that required stitches, staples, support braces, and x-rays.

But M2, at 26 months, has broken the first bone.

Last Sunday evening, right before bed, a certain five year old boy opened the door to the stairs and allowed M2 to go upstairs. M2 can navigate the stairs well, but we don't normally let him do it alone. I was busy in another room and unaware...until I heard him fall down several steps. I knew immediately what had happened and when I got to him, he was at the bottom, laying on the wood floor, crying.

Any momma knows how hard it is to not snatch your child up to hold him close and comfort him, but I resisted, especially because of the way he was laying on his left side. After looking him over, I gently scooped him up and called Papa Bear.

Papa Bear came home and checked him out, determining that he may have bruised or briefly popped his shoulder out of place, since he didn't appear to have any broken bones. Little did we know. We made the choice to stay home due to the time of night and not wanting to traumatize a tired toddler, since he didn't seem to need urgent care. The next day, he seemed a little better, so we decided to watch and wait. Even though M2 was using his left arm regularly without complaint, he continued to hold it folded close to his body when he walked or ran. I had a nagging feeling all week that he may have broken his collar bone, so as I was trying to feel around on his shoulder again this afternoon, I thought I felt a knot. Papa Bear agreed and I took M2 to the Convenient Care.

Have you ever tried to hold a scared, uncooperative toddler with a broken bone flat and still for an x-ray? Fortunately, they were able to get it in two takes. The nurses tried to gently get him into a figure-eight brace, but the smallest size wasn't small enough for him. The only other option was an arm sling. Let's just say that he was not too fond of either option. By the time we got home, he had quit trying to get it off because he figured out how to push his arm out so he could use it. There is not really any way to reason with a two year old. I have to call an orthopedic doctor Monday.

By the way, after some mommy-toddler conversation, I discovered and confirmed with LJ that he and M2 had been sliding down the stairs on their bottoms that day. I wonder if any lessons will be retained from this experience.

Did you know that the collar bone is the bone most often fractured during childhood? And that the collar bone does not completely harden until adulthood? Learn more about childhood clavicle fractures here.