Easter 2017

For Easter this year, we went to Dallas to see everyone.  Pearce and I went on Thursday after his school Easter egg hunt...which was so cute and fun to watch.  We stayed Thursday night at Mama and Papa's house which Pearce always enjoys.  Annie was sooooooo, I mean sooooooo excited to see us!  Sweet little girl nearly lost her mind when we walked in!  I'm glad Annie always remembers us!  We just took it easy that evening and had a great dinner.  Friday, we went out to lunch and then met Ash and the kids at Grandma's.  I was worried about how Grandma would be since our last visit was a little on the sad sad just because Grandma was so weak and out of it.  Well, this visit was the complete opposite!  It was really amazing....even her nurse said she had never seen Grandma with that much energy and acting so "normal."  It has to be the kids that bring it out in her which is wonderful!  We had a great visit and then went back to Mama and Papa's for dinner.  Then we went back to Ashley and Wayne's and spent the weekend there so that Pearce and Nay Nay and Charlotte could be together.  Saturday, Mama and Papa came over as well as Helen and we cooked out, colored eggs, and had an egg hunt.  Our egg hunt had a golden egg with $5 in it.  Ashley and I hid it well, but it was not hard enough that Pearce or Charlotte couldn't find it.  Although Pearce and Charlotte gave it their best shot, Nay Nay found the golden egg!  What's so sweet, though, is that he later used that $5 to buy Pearce a toy car at CVS :)  Sunday morning, the kids got up bright and early, ready to see what the Easter bunny had left them.  They were so excited to see their surprises!  We all got dressed and ready for the church service.  The kids looked soooo cute!  Pearce's shirt sleeve was a little tight going over his cast, but we got it.  He LOVED wearing a tie....felt like such a big boy!  The kids all went to "big church" with us and they did really well.  However, at one point, I looked over at Pearce and saw him stuffing his entire tie into his mouth, LOL!!!  After church, we went out to eat and then went back to Ashley's and Wayne's house.  The kids played some more, we got to see Ashley's classroom, and we took them to see Baby Boss.  We really had a great time with everyone and such a nice Easter weekend!

Pearce's first big injury!

So, Thursday night, I was vacuuming the house.  Whenever I vacuum, Pearce likes it when I act like I'm going to get him with the vacuum.....he always jumps out of the way or jumps onto the couch.  So, I was in a hurry and told Pearce that was enough and that I needed to hurry up and finish.  Well, I wasn't finished playing the game, and I was in the zone and wasn't paying attention.  He tried to jump over the vacuum, but I didn't realize he was and ended up catching his foot and he fell hard on his right arm.  I heard a crack sound and then he immediately started crying hysterically and holding his arm.  I panicked and was so scared to look at it.  Thankfully it didn't look broken, so I scooped him up and just started holding him and tried to calm him down and inspect his arm more.  He wouldn't let me touch it touch it too much, but could move his hand and fingers.  He finally calmed down enough for me to really inspect it.....he said it hurt when I touched it which concerned me but he wasn't crying anymore.  He went to sleep just fine and I thought that maybe he just bruised it and the fall just scared him.  Friday, he woke up and said his arm didn't hurt anymore.  I was so relieved!  BUT he wouldn't use his arm.  Every once in a while, I would put pressure on his arm to see how he reacted only because he had made the statement that it would be fun to have a cast....so I wasn't 100% sure he seriously hurt it or was putting on a bit.  Whenever I did touch it, though, he would wince and say "ow!"  As the day went on, he still wasn't using it much, so I called his pediatrician.  The nurse told me to wait until Monday and if it was still hurting, to bring him in, that maybe it's just bruised.  I agreed to this.  He went to bed just fine that night and slept well.  On Saturday, we went to the Sweet Eats Fruit Farm for the Easter egg hunt.  Pearce couldn't wait to do all the fun things he had.  The first thing he did was the big jump surface.  After a few minutes on that, he wanted to get down because he said his arm hurt.  Then he wanted to do the rope swing....he tried to hold on but couldn't.  This was when I realized something really was wrong because he was soooo excited to try this because the owner had told him it was something Indian Jones would do and Pearce LOVES Indiana Jones!  By the time we left, I noticed he was just letting his arm dangle.  I decided I couldn't wait until Monday and called the pediatric Urgent Care and asked if they could do an x-ray.  They said yes.....but Pearce was looking sooooo forward to a birthday party he was invited to at a lego place, so even though I was pretty much convinced he had a fracture, I kept second guessing myself and decided we would go after the party.  At the party, he just rested his arm on the table and used his left hand and snapped legos together by putting them to his chest or he would ask me to do it.  My friend said his arm did look swollen, too.  After the party, we went straight to Urgent Care.  The doctor asked him where it hurt and Pearce pointed to his wrist.  They took 3 x-rays which he thought was really fun :)  When I saw the x-rays, I could tell there was no obvious break, but then realized they didn't x-ray his entire arm....just his had, wrist and a little bit up from his wrist and I questioned this in my mind, but didn't speak up, which I now regret.  It just seems like a 5 year old wouldn't be able to express clearly what hurts and what doesn't, so to be safe, x-ray the whole arm.  The doctor said he was concerned about a possible break in his growth plate in his wrist because there was swelling, so he put a splint on and told me a radiologist would look at his x-rays and that I would hear from them on Sunday and then would probably need to follow up with the pediatrician on Monday.  On Sunday, he started complaining about the middle of his arm hurting....great!  He did great with his splint and sling and thought it was fun to have it....until he realized he couldn't play certain games on his iPad, but he's been a real trooper!  So, Monday morning, I called and got an appointment with his pediatrician because I never heard back from Urgent Care about a radiologist looking at his x-rays.  I told his doctor the whole story and she did a thorough exam of his arm and there was one part in the middle of his arm that kept hurting him when she pushed on it.  She was disappointed that there wasn't an x-ray of his whole arm because she said young kids can't always adequately pinpoint where something hurts....exactly what I thought!  So, off to get another x-ray and specifically of the middle part of his arm.  He went in all by himself to get his x-rays and I waited right outside the door.  I could hear the nurses praising him and telling him what a good job he was doing :)  They finally called me in and the head nurse said "Now, I can't tell you anything because we have to have the radiologist review these and call your doctor, BUT, it's a good thing you got more x-rays.  Do not let him use this arm, and keep this splint on....wink, wink."  I was holding his arm at this point and starting to put the splint back on and then she said "See where your thumb is?  Be very careful right there."  UGH!!!!!  I knew it!!!!!!  My thumb was right in the middle of his arm.  A little bit later, the pediatrician called and said he had a fractured ulna....the bone that goes from his elbow to his pinky....the side that he fell on.  I felt sooooooo bad for not speaking up about his x-rays at Urgent Care and also for not pressing more to get in to the doctor on Friday.  Now I know....trust my mommy instincts!!!!  She said he will need to get a cast but could go to school Tuesday since he has a splint, but that he has to limit his activity at school.  I explained all of this to Mrs. B. and she was so sweet and understanding.  I could tell Pearce was excited to show all of his friends his splint and sling :)  I picked him up and then we went to Texas Orthopedics to get his cast.  Just in time for Easter and right after I paid for him to have private swim lessons....of course, LOL!!!  Dr. Sargent showed me his x-ray and I could immediately see the fracture.  She said he would have to have a cast that goes up his arm past his elbow because she didn't want him to be able to rotate his arm at all.  Good news is that at 4 weeks, he'll get another x-ray and if that looks good, will get the cast off and have a removable splint for another 4 weeks.  I am just soooooo thankful it wasn't a full break!  Pearce got to pick out his cast color and I was relieved he chose light blue :)  The nurses were quick getting his cast on and I must say, he does look pretty cute with it!  Right now, he's excited....we'll see how excited he is in a week :)  The doctor talked to him and told him absolutely NO running, no climbing, no scooter, no playing in the sand....in my mind I said "Basically, no fun!"  She also said for him to have indoor recess because she doesn't trust teachers to be able to watch the kids outside, which I would agree with if he were at a public school, but since Bethany's classes are so small and the playground is relatively small and I trust his teacher so much, I'm just going to talk to her and see what she thinks....could he still go to recess with his class, but no running or climbing.  I remember still playing when I had my casts and I always had bad breaks, so I just can't stand the thought of Pearce sitting inside.  Now, if Mrs. B. has to constantly remind him to not run, etc..., then he will have to do quiet time inside.  We will see!  After his cast, we went to Walgreens to pick out a little prize.  When we were checking out, he told the cashier all about his broken arm.  She told him that today was her birthday and that her friends had brought her cupcakes and would he like one....yes, please!  I thought that was soooo sweet of her and of course, Pearce use his nice manners with her....always a silver lining!