Yep, Jack is just shy of 13 months and already broke his first bone!
Here's the story.
[Warning: This is a long post with a ridiculous amount of pictures...we just can't forget anything about Jack's first broken bone! After all, I'm hoping this is the last broken bone of his lifetime ha.]
Two girls from church were over on Tuesday afternoon.
We were visiting in the family room when we heard a thump and then Jack started screaming.
I mean, screaming.
I turned around and he was just sitting on the ground crying.
I assumed he had fallen down while walking
[like he does 100x a day]
and was over-reacting because he hadn't had a nap and was really tired.
"You're okay, Jack. Get up," I told him.
[By the way, that sounds mean but it was in a nice voice!]
When he still sat there crying I went over to pick him up.
Normally [even when he's really tired] just picking him up in the middle of a melt-down cures any problems.
But no.
He just kept screaming.
I gave him his binky and Mr. Bunny, neither of which helped.
I started to worry he was hurt but after a quick inspection, everything looked okay.
So I tried laying him down for a nap but he continued to cry.
After just a few minutes I got him back up and tried to soothe him to no avail.
After my friends left he finally started to calm down
[ps. all of this happened in 10-15 minutes. It wasn't like he was crying for hours].
Jack & I had a play-date planned at the splash pad so I was getting all our swim stuff together when Jack tried to pull himself up on the toilet and immediately started screaming.
At this point I was really worried something was wrong with his foot.
He had been grabbing at the right foot when he initially started crying and as soon as he put any weight on it he started to scream.
So I called T (who was out of town on business) to ask if he thought I should take him to the doctor.
When he didn't answer I called my mom and asked her opinion.
She asked if it was bruised or swollen [no and no]
and suggested I wait it out overnight to see if he is feeling better in the morning.
I was still worried so I texted Dr. Gibson [the podiatrist I worked for before Jack was born], gave a quick low-down and asked if his foot could still possibly be broken with no swelling or bruising...oh and he let me press on his foot and ankle. I tried pressing everywhere [pretty hard] to see how he would react.
He said the same thing I already thought: possible, but not likely. It's pretty rare for babies to break bones. He said he had most likely sprained it and would feel better in the morning.
So off to the splash pad we went.
It's seriously awesome, by the way.
5 minutes from our house and I never knew about it.
It has tons of water fountains, buckets of water that turn over when they're full, and slides...and it's all free!
Jack still wasn't wanting to put any weight on his foot so I held him while we played in the water.
He wasn't super fond of the whole thing [even though he is normally a huge water-lover!]
but he still hadn't had a nap and I knew his foot was bothering him.
Plus I don't think he liked not being able to walk around himself and decide for himself how close he wanted to get to the water.
So the poor baby whined most of the time.
After a few minutes of water play I let him just hang out on the towels and eat snacks.
He loved watching his friend Allison playing in the water!
After a while we took the kids over to the park and let them swing
[which Jack also didn't like...so crazy since he LOVES the swings].
I have basically zero pictures from the day at the park since I was busy holding Jack and busy worrying about his foot.
We headed home in the late afternoon, changed clothes, and met Uncle Chris at Panda Express for dinner.
My parents had gone to Utah to drop my little sister off at college so Jack & I were staying the night at their house with my little brother.
So after Panda we headed over there and I tried laying Jack down for bed.
He was completely exhausted by this point since he had completely skipped his afternoon nap.
But still...no sleep.
I sent these sad pictures to Daddy:
He was still holding onto his foot and I felt so bad for the little bugger!
Jack finally went to bed with me and I woke up several times that night worried about his little foot and wondering if he'd walk on it in the morning.
I was doubting it since he hadn't improved at all throughout the day.
Jack woke up super early (like 6am)
and I immediately set him on the ground to see if he would walk.
Nope.
He refused to even set his right foot on the ground.
He crawled or "walked" on his knees but absolutely refused to stand.
Eventually he figured out how to stand on his left foot and dangle his right in the air.
So sad!
I called the doctor's office at 8:30am, right when they opened.
They offered me a 9:15 appointment and I immediately took it.
Jack-O-Lantern waiting in the office:
How are you still so happy with a broken bone, little one?
Waiting for Dr. Nutting...
I explained to Dr. Nutting how Jack had just fallen over while walking through the house and now refused to put any weight on his right foot.
He checked his knees and hips and said everything was great with his joints.
He also pressed on Jack's foot & ankle...no negative reaction from Jack Jack.
Dr. Nutting said it was most likely that he had sprained something but if he had broken a bone it was probably the tibia. He said that is the most common bone for children to break in the lower leg. If there was a fracture, he expected to see a spiral fracture in the middle of the tibia which could have been caused by Jack twisting his leg when he fell over.
So we were sent for X-rays down the street.
Everyone in the imaging office loved Jack.
He was seriously being so happy and smiley!
During the X-rays I couldn't stand by Jack since I'm pregnant.
So one of the techs had to hold him down instead while I watched from behind the glass.
Saddest mommy moment ever.
My poor little babe!
I don't think the X-rays hurt at all [even though she had to move his leg and hold it down]
but I think Jack Jack was just scared.
These pictures almost make me cry!
After the x-rays the doctor wanted us to wait around while a pediatric specialist looked over the x-rays.
They wanted us to stay in case they needed more views of his leg.
It had been a really long morning and sweet Jack Jack fell asleep while we waited.
Eventually, the tech came out and handed us his x-rays saying we'd need them because he had fractured his tibia.
Poor baby!
They called our pediatrician and said to wait for a call from him.
Dr. Nutting called a few minutes later explaining where the fracture was and that it wasn't at all what he expected. Instead of a spiral fracture in the middle of the tibia, this was a break at the bottom of the tibia, closer to the ankle.
In case you're interested, here's the break:
That part is supposed to be smooth like the other side of the bone.
We were referred to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who would put Jack in a cast.
The orthopedic office couldn't get us in until Thursday late afternoon
[more than 48 hours after Jack had broken his leg!].
I was pretty miffed about that because who makes a 1 year old with a broken leg wait 48 hours to be casted?!
We spent the next 24 hours doing lots of cuddling.
Jack Jack was still happy as ever and played like normal [minus walking].
Right before our appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, I gave Jack his last real bath for awhile, knowing we'd have to sponge bathe him once he got his cast.
Headed to the pediatric orthopedist!
After a super long wait we finally saw the doctor who was really confused how Jack had gotten this type of break by falling down while walking.
My pediatrician had been confused too.
I'm confused too!
Too bad we will never know exactly what happened.
This is one of those times I'm really wishing Jack could talk!
The doctor wanted me to put Jack down to see if he would walk [it was like he didn't believe me that he wouldn't!] but Jack wouldn't even put his foot down.
The doctor pressed right where the break was and Jack barely flinched!
He was really baffled that Jack didn't have a lot of pain where the break was but said he would cast him anyway to stabilize it (uh, duh!).
Can I just say I felt so offended when the doctor kept saying how he just had no idea how Jack could have broken his leg from just falling down while walking? It felt like he was accusing me of lying. I just kept saying "well, I don't know but that's how it happened!"
Originally the doctor was going to have him casted with an above-the-knee cast but later changed his mind and said he thought that might be overkill. Below-the-knee it was.
Jack Jack was a super trooper [Abba, anyone?] and was so calm while the nurse put on his cast.
The nurse kept commenting on how good Jack was and how much easier it made the casting process [and the end of a long day].
Jack even started laughing during one point of the casting!
Prepare for way too many pictures.
[My friend Kallie was so super sweet and came with us to the appointment which turned out to be really helpful during the ridiculously long wait and so that we could have pictures!]
All done!
We are not supposed to let him put any weight on it for the next 3.5 weeks.
Then we'll see the doctor again and they will x-ray his leg to see how it's healing.
Hopefully at that point we'll be able to have the cast removed and Jack will switch to a walking boot instead for a few more weeks.
His cast is so sad but, seriously, the cutest little cast I've ever seen!
Everything Jack does is just 10x cuter with that little cast.
As cute as that little cast is, we can't wait until he can get it off!
I miss seeing my little boy toddling around everywhere!
It was so fun that he had just started walking. We were loving seeing him explore everything and mama was loving a break from carrying him around everywhere!
I'm just hoping when he gets the cast off he remembers how to walk!
If you made it this far...wow.
You must love us.
I'll keep you updated
[in a more condensed form, hopefully].
xoxo.
