Nursemaid's Elbow

At the request of my husband, I am posting this to those of you who have children in case you ever need it. When Addison was about eight months old and was starting to stand and pull-up, she partially dislocated her elbow (called nursemaid's elbow). She was bouncing on my legs while holding onto my fingers and lost her footing and when I went to catch her I heard a "pop." She started screaming immediately and wouldn't bend her arm. As new parents, we freaked out and rushed her to the ER. When we got there, they explained that she had nursemaid's elbow, which is common in children under the age of five. According to the medical sites online, "The injury occurs when a child is pulled up too hard by the hand or wrist. It is often seen after someone lifts a child up by one arm up. (For example, when trying to lift the child over a curb or high step.) Swinging a young child from the arms while playing can also cause this injury. When the injury occurs, the child usually begins crying immediately and refuses to use the arm." On that particular day at the ER, I apparently "popped" it back into place without knowing it, because by the time the doctor came in to see her...she was fine. The doctor explained that once it happens, it's likely to happen again up until the age of five. He showed us how to hold the top of her arm while slightly twisting the bottom part of her arm outwards in case it ever happened again. So, why am I posting about this? Well, it happened again last night. Amy, Amanda and I went to take dinner to some friends from church and I left my cell phone in the car while we were inside visiting. When I got back into the car, I had three emails and three missed calls. Colin had sent a message saying he was on his way to the ER with Addison because he accidentally pulled her elbow out again while lifting her out of the high chair. I reminded him that the doctor had showed us how to twist it back into place, but he said he couldn't remember how to do it. I reminded him how to fix it and he said he would try it once they got to the parking lot of the ER. He called me back a few minutes later and said, "that worked. It's all fixed now. We are on our way back home." HA! So, if this ever happens to you...call me! What would the world do without mamas?? :) Oh, and as an unrelated sidenote, if you like to cook like I do, bookmark and check out Deanna's Corner Cooking: http://cornercooking.blogspot.com/.