On Sunday, February 20th, our sweet little Rylee hurt herself pretty bad and we ended up in the emergency room. It was so sad! (Here is the whole story. You may want to grab some popcorn for this one. It is a bit long, I must say.)
Dax was sleeping and Brett had went over to his parents house to help his dad with an engine. I was making some stuff for Dax's upcoming birthday party and Rylee was in the living room, just across the bar from me, practicing her leg-up back walkover. For her pass she has to do 4, leg-up back walkovers in a row. So she started practicing and did three of them in a row, perfectly! Then she ran out of room, so came back to try again. I was looking up and watching her, and when she threw herself back, she must have second guessed something she had done because she sort of twisted to her right side, which made her land with her weight on her right arm. (Yes the arm she does everything with). I heard a really loud "crunch". Right away I said, "ooh, Rylee, did you pop your finger or something?" And I looked at her and she was holding her wrist. Not crying, just making a whimpering noise. I ran over to look at her wrist because I knew I heard a crunch and when I saw her holding her arm, I immediately had a bad feeling. I cannot even begin to describe how I felt next. I looked at her arm and it looked like a bent rubber snake. All the way up her forearm was "s" shaped. I started to freak out! I started yelling, "oh my heck, you broke your arm." I think I repeated this over and over as I ran through the house. I kept telling her to just stay where she was and not to move. I grabbed my phone and frantically called Brett as I was grabbing Dax from his crib and loading him in the car. Then I came back and loaded Rylee into the car. I got about 3 blocks when Brett called and asked me to wait for him. I did not want to waste any more time and told him to meet us at Barrett's and get in there. When we picked him up, he got in the car and said, "Oh honey I am so sorry, are you okay?" Rylee said, "I broke my arm." Still not crying! She kept saying, "ohhh, ohhh, it hurts like 100." I could barely even speak without crying. Seeing your kids hurt and not being able to take the pain away from them is really hard.
I had called the hospital on our way over because I wanted to get her right in and not worry about admitting and everything. Right when we got there, the doctor walked in. It was Dr. Nay, and he did such an awesome job. Rylee loved him and so did me and Brett. They took two xrays right away and realized it was broke all the way through both the radius and the ulna. The brake was also diagonally rather than straight across. As she was being wheeled from the xray room and back to her room, grandma Judi and papa Rick came walking in. She was really excited to see them there.
Dr. Nay knew as soon as he saw it that he would need to set it back into place. So he had a nurse come in and give Rylee an IV. That was the worse part. I know how bad they hurt from having babies and I will say that out of everything I went through when having two kids, the only thing I dreaded was the IV.
At this point Rylee still had not cried. When they poked her with the needle, she must have still been trying to be so strong because she still didn't really cry, but she said "ouch" with a sad voice and a tear ran from each eye. I felt so bad, I just kept wishing I could take her place. I hate seeing her like this. After that the nurse and doctor got everything ready, which included having the xray tech bring the xray machine to her room and get it ready to take an xray the second Dr. Nay had it set and wrapped. If it did not set right he would have to take this hard half cast back off and start over. They put the medicine in her IV and shortly after she was out. Sound asleep!
At this point Dr. Nay asked me and Brett if we are okay with being in the room while he sets her arm (which consists of him straightening and braking it back into place). Immediately I said I will have to go out. I knew I would not be able to handle it and would have passed out. I stood right outside the door and even through that big wooden door I heard, "crunch-crunch". After he set it, he put on something that is hard like a hard cast but just goes about 3/4 of the way around the arm, leaving a slit so it can expand with the swelling of the arm. Then it is wrapped with an ace compression bandage. Because of where her break was at, he did not want her to be able to bend her fingers or her elbow. The cast goes from the tips of her fingers to her elbow and then she was placed in a sling. The doctor told us that she must always keep her arm at a 90 degree angle and tkae it easy while she has this cast on and especially during the first 2-3 days.
She slowly started to wake up and she was quite funny when she woke up. I asked if she had a good nap and she said, "Yes, I like naps." Then she told us that she had been sleeping for hours, when really it was about 15 minutes. She kept saying how nice her nap was. Then she saw her sling with Charlie Brown and Snoopy on it and said, "Oh thank you, I like this." When papa came in he said, oh wow, Charlie Brown, I like him and Rylee said, I knew you would! It was cute.
We were so thankful that Rick and Judi were both there because while we were both able to sit there and comfort Rylee, they were walking around keeping Dax entertained. It made a huge difference and was so much help. They had her lay around for about 30 minutes after she had woke up and then sent us on our way.
When we got home we made her a nice comfortable spot on the couch and put in a movie of her choice. Soon after we got home there was a knock at the door. It was Cody & Amy Boyce bringing Rylee some treats and a juice. It really made her happy. About an hour later there was another knock at the door. It was Aunt Shanda, and cousins: Teyara, Rylan, Jayde, Jayslin, and Trayton. They had all made her individual cards specially from them and brought a huge bag of candy and a bug juice. She was so excited and happy as we read each card to her. Shortly after, Dylan and Aunt Andrea came to the door with ice cream bars for her. Rylee loves ice cream. A little later grandma Shauna came with a balloon for Rylee and a few little activities to keep her entertained. There was a Mrs. Potato Head and a coloring page. She was really happy. So many people came and I know it made her happy because when Andrea knocked, Rylee said, "I bet it is someone else to make me feel better."
The next day Andrea and Teyara brought over some flowers and balloons from all of them. They were so pretty and it made Rylee really happy. She also got some flowers, balloons, and a little stuffed lamb from Brett and I. The next day grandma Judi brought some treats and then she got a card in the mail from grandma and grandpa Schaugaard which really cheered her up.
Between all the sweet treats, the phone calls, and the texts, everyone has been so sweet and concerned about our little Rylee and we really appreciate it. We have such great friends and family.
The first night was a little rough, especially for me I think. I had her sleep with me and I was so worried about her straightening out her arm that everytime she moved I would jump up to check on her. Each night has gotten better and better.
She constantly realizes how hard it is only having one hand and especially only one left hand, but she actually does very well with her left hand. She wrote her name the very first night and I took a picture of it. It was surprisingly good for being her first try. She also drew a flower and wrote I {heart} U and she did awesome.
We went to her follow up doctor appointment on February 23rd and they first took some xrays to make sure it has stayed where he set it, which it has, so that was great news. She was hoping to get her hard cast today, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. Dr. Nay said that it was looking good, but was still very swollen and scheduled us to come and get her permanent hard cast on Monday, February 28th. He did say that her cast will have to go past her elbow, which is really sad, but whatever will help her heal correctly.
So far everything is good and we are counting down to the day she gets her permanent cast and no sling. The hardest part has been baths, changing clothes and Rylee getting so bored and wanting to still jump around and play with her brother. I will update again soon with her new cast once she has it.
We have been so extremely proud of our little Rylee. She has been so brave and so strong through the entire thing. It makes me realize how much of a stronger person I am because of Rylee. We {heart} you little Rylee-bug!
Thanks again to everyone that has been so sweet and so concerned about Rylee, we are so grateful to have such great people in our lives. xoxo.
