"Arm, owie. I no like it."

Hazel's registered for a toddler gym class we attend weekly. She LOVES it. It is unbelievable how much she runs around and moves and jumps in there. It is awesome to watch what she can do as she balances on horizontal ladders, jumps on tramps, tosses herself down slides and takes very literal advantage of the fact that the whole room is padded. My only concern is that she's likely to barrel over one of her classmates, who are all pretty small and wobbly on their feet. (This course ends next week, and I signed her up again, but this time with the 2-3 year olds. Hopefully she will be less of a danger to the other kids there!)
Todd came to watch for the first time yesterday, and I was so thankful he was there, because we actually ended up with quite an ordeal. At the end of class, we were playing under a parachute during circle time, and Hazel was super hyped up and running under it and throwing herself into my arms. (I think she was a teensy bit thrilled that Daddy was there to watch - she's not normally wild during circle time.) At one point, she ran away from me and thought she was headed for the cupboards to stop (couldn't see them, as they were hidden by the parachute) but hit dead air and fell forwards on her extended arms.

After that, she held her left arm with her right hand and cried quite a bit. She's usually really tough, and almost always hops right up after a tumble. If not, a kiss and a two-second hug is about all she wants before she's back to playing. But this time she just sat in Todd's arms and cried and would not be consoled. Also, she refused to let go of her arm to let us take a good look at it.

I didn't know what to do, because we just got on new insurance with Todd's new job and I haven't picked a pediatrician for Hazel, and I didn't know where the hospital was or anything. Todd made some phone calls and got Hazel an appointment in 45 minutes with a pediatrician at the medical offices in the hospital, and found out the address. He had to go back to work, so we strapped Hazel into her carseat as best we could with her refusing to let go of her arm and I took her to the appointment.

The doctor determined that she needed x-rays, so down to radiology we went. We waited to get in for a full hour, and then when we finally did get in, the technician realized he couldn't get Hazel in the positions he needed her arm in unless she was sitting higher, on someone's lap, and I couldn't do it because I'm pregnant. We tried for a few minutes to see if there was any way we could make it work, and poor Hazel put her head down on her arm and cried the saddest tears of all. Then I called Todd at work and asked him to come and help us out. Twenty minutes later, he was there.

Sitting outside that radiology room, listening to Hazel scream in pain, was one of my least favorite moments as a mother. I wished so bad I could be at her side, especially when I heard her calling for me. I'm crying again now thinking about it. Horrendous.

Then back to the pediatrician. Todd stayed with us. By this point, it was 2:30 or 3:00, hours past naptime and neither of us had had lunch. All I had to give Hazel was more of her morning snack crackers, and she was so sick of them. The blessed nurse asked if Hazel had had anything to eat, and brought her a little can of apple juice and a straw. Todd asked her if she wanted to hold her drink herself, and for the first time since 9:50 that morning, Hazel voluntarilly let go of her arm and held the juice can in both hands. She kept saying, "I like it, juice," and I was so thankful to see her look a little bit happy. Within a few more minutes, she had perked right up and was really using her arm again.

The x-rays came back negative, meaning they didn't show anything amiss. No broken bones or anything, thankfully. Some poking, prodding, questioning and observing later, and it was determined that Hazel had had what's called nursemaid's elbow (a dislocated elbow) and that it was now back in place. We are convinced Todd pulled it back into position when he was moving her arm around for the x-rays.

Back home at 3:30, Hazel fell asleep in the car and napped until 5, which is when my rockstar husband came home from work - an hour earlier than usual. He really took over yesterday and saved me from having a breakdown. He bathed Haz and put her to bed that night, and when she was still awake and cranky at 10:00 (practially unheard of!), he went in and sang to her and soothed her to sleep.

Yesterday made me grateful that this was our first rush to the hospital for Hazel despite her huge energy level, that her arm is good again and she's no longer in pain, that the angel nurse brought her apple juice, and that I married the best man in the universe.