Our First One!

I knew most of the month of September and the first week of October were going to be extra busy, but when I had planned the calendar, I thought that by this week, things would be settled down into more of a usual routine.  Well, two-year olds have a knack for disrupting plans.  Last Thursday morning, while we were in the middle of school, Anthony fell down the stairs.  Now, he's done that before, with little to no consequences, but this time was different.  He kept crying and crying and holding his arm.  Even after some time, he did not want to get off my lap, and he cried if I made the slightest movement.  So off we went to the Immediate Care Center, where Daddy met us.  Two hours later, we emerged with Anthony in a splint:

Daddy holding the little injured guy.

He had a fracture right above the elbow of his right arm.  Luckily, it was nondisplaced, meaning he would be able to just have it casted.

Buckling up in the carseat is a little difficult with a broken arm.

So for the next 4 days, Anthony wore the splint, while I tried to find shirts that fit him.  It got cold enough for winter coats, but the best I could do for the time being was get some of Joseph's tee shirts with wide enough sleeves.  Meanwhile, we were trying to keep him from getting too rowdy, because you know how 2 year olds fall a lot.  Here he is on Monday morning waiting at the Orthopedic clinic, and of course, standing on a chair:

When is it my turn?

 We saw the doctor, who explained that there can be serious complications with this type of fracture, and that we'd have to keep a close eye on him and his arm.  Then he got a cast.  A green cast.  His two big brothers told him he should get green to be like the Incredible Hulk.  He did well with the cast and I could tell fairly quickly that his arm felt a lot better with the cast on.  He then had to get another x-ray to make sure all was still in line like it should be.  It was, thank goodness. 


I frequently have to adjust his little sling, as in it could use adjusting every 5-10 minutes!

 It is a lot of work to have a two year old in a cast.  I am thankful it wasn't his leg or his head that got hurt. This is the first broken bone in our house.

Just about every time I look at him, his sling looks like this.

He has been getting pampered by everyone, especially the girls.  Sometimes, though, he gets mad and yells at everyone to get away from him.  He can't run around and jump off things, or swing on our swings, or climb up things like he is used to doing.  I did wrap up his arm so he could play in the sandbox, which helps a lot when he is outside.  One good thing is, he is left-handed.

The little prince in his chariot.

In four weeks, we go back to the doctor.  He'll get his cast taken off (that won't be fun!) and another
x-ray to see how things are healing.  Hopefully that will be it!

A Busy Day!

One day last week, we had quite the busy day.  I had four errands to run, all in the same area of town.  This all took place after we did our morning schoolwork.

1) I went to get some blood work done to follow hcg levels after the miscarriage.  When the lab called my name to come in, all the kids trooped in with me.  The two ladies in there didn't bat an eye and didn't seem annoyed or anything!  If you are ever nervous about getting blood drawn, here's what you should do:  have a bunch of kids with you and make sure one of them is a squirmy toddler whom you have to hold on your lap and keep contained with one arm while they poke your other arm.  I barely even registered that the needle was going in my arm! 

2) I dropped off some 2 pocket folders at Kansans for Life.  They collect them to make information packets, which they hand out to all sorts of groups.  When there are good sales on folders, I always pick up a few extra, and then save them for KFL.  This was my first time dropping them off, though, so I had a lot of them.  I did not want to have to unbuckle Anthony when we got there, so I called them and one of the staff came out and got the folders. 

3) We dropped off some electronics at A Better Choice, the crisis pregnancy center for whom I look at sonograms.  There we did go inside, because I wanted the kids to see their really neat fetal models, The Touch of Life 1st Trimester Set.  After we lost Teresa Marie (this happened when Mary Joseph died, as well), the girls begged to see her.  Well, when the baby dies and then is miscarried weeks later, you can't really distinguish much.  So letting the girls see was out of the question.  It bothered me a little, though, until they got to see the Touch of Life models.  They are detailed, with a life-like feel, and accurate in size.  They have 7, 8, 9, and 10 week babies in a velvet-lined display box.  The kids all got to hold the babies who were Teresa Marie's and Mary Joseph's sizes.  They were enthralled, to say the least.  Anthony kept saying, "Baby!"   I think it really helped the girls, too, and they have quit asking why they couldn't see the baby.  I'm telling you this because the ladies at ABC are so very nice and they would be more than happy to show these or any of their materials to your children. 

4)I took all the kids to the doctor.  Yup, I saved "the best" for last. Three of the kids (Dominic, Anne, and Anthony) got checkups, which I've now decided is the maximum I want to schedule for one trip.  All five of the kids got flu vaccines, luckily 3 of them could get the squirt in the nose, but still 3 of the kids had to get shots.  Unfortunately, Anthony was one of them, and he had to get 5 shots!  He did okay for about the first 15 minutes in the exam room, then he was just mad the rest of the time, because he wanted out of that room!  Everyone checked out fine, except it was something to see all of Anthony's scrapes and scratches, bumps and bruises all at once in the bright light of that room.  He is quite the little boy. 

Dominic got two shots and didn't make a peep, but poor Anne was crying and resisting, and I had to pick her up and put her on the table.  Then she settled down so she could get her one shot in her arm instead of her leg.  (I'm not sure why that is better, but I'll take it!)  Then it was Anthony's turn.  The nurse went out to get another nurse to help, and he just got even more mad waiting in the room.  Then the nurses came in, and in that split second, when I looked away, Anthony head-butted me so hard in my face that it left a mark on his forehead, and I had a spot on my face that was sore for a couple of days.  He was getting in his payback before he got his shots! 

I'm sure the doctor's office was rather glad to see us leave.  We made quite the commotion. 

5) Then we were all very happy to go back home!