The doctor fixed my broken baby!

pheeewww!!!

poor Ella.
last night Ella asked to be helped up to standing, and (didn't know that at the time) pulled her elbow. she was tired and there are at least four teeth poking out right now, so we thought her screaming is just tiredness combined with teething, and took her home to bed (with some tylenol for the pain). she woke up fine in the morning, didn't show any sign of stress, played hard with Safta Dalia, went for a walk, playground (see below), lunch...

and then broke into tears again just like last night, when we helped her up. we suspected that maybe her arm hurts, but she cried just the same if i touched her right or left arm or moved her leg. not knowing what was wrong we gave her more tylenol.

after her nap i held her hand again, and it was suddenly obvious that her left arm was bothering her. she screamed when i touched it or tried to move it, and she didn't want to use it at all. otherwise Ella was happy and playful, but her left arm was just hanging there. (how i wish she could tell me last night that her arm hurts!!!)

we asked the internet, got a clue of what it could be, and while trying to decide which ER to go to, my mom remembered that there was an Orthopedic in town - a friend of a neighbor - who is actually a hand specialist.

two phone calls later and a lot of luck on our side (she was at home!), we drove to the good doctor's home. the doctor saw us right away, and in a sleek motion (i thought she was just feeling her arm) she put the elbow back in place. phew!!! ella cried and screamed for half a minute, but it was like magic: everything was fixed! it's as if it never happened. it took her a minute to realize that it's ok to move her hand and use it again (it helped that the doctor gave her a yummy snacks to hold in each hand). we stayed for a few more minutes just to make sure that the arm is really ok.

the doctor said that that's Orthopedics' favorite condition: it's an easy and immediate fix, you see results right away without months of physical therapy, and the patients and parents are so happy at the end of the visit!

we then asked Ella: "say doctor"
- "do-tor"
"say TODA"
- "to-da"

:)

sigh of relief. (and went swimming!)

here's some reading about "Nursemaid Elbow".