A trip to the ER

For some reason, I thought even though I have 4 kids, we would just all be very careful and never have to make a trip to the ER. There have been plenty of small injuries and some bigger ones. Joey came down with a fever at 7 weeks old and spent 4 days in the hospital. Ryley fell off the kitchen stool and needed to go to the ER to have staples in her head. This past May, Ryley fell at school and fractured her wrist. (we dodged the ER that day and went straight to the ortho) Well, yesterday we were not so lucky. Ryley was being adventurous on the jungle gym and fell and dislocated her elbow and fractured it. From what doctors say, it's not easy to dislocate your elbow. It is for Ryley Dargan. She fell the perfect way so that she could dislocate it. So, myself, Joey, Owen and TJ drove to get her at school. The kids and I were as calm as can be even though Ryleys elbow was a scary sight. It's heartbreaking to see your kids in pain and to be so scared. It was a family effort to get her to the hospital. The boys even helped by carrying her backpack. TJ just kept saying "Ryley, you OK?" Ryley somehow made it through an IV and an XRAY before we were transferred by ambulance to Hackensack. Ryley thought the ambulance was "cool".

Ryley was such a trooper. She never complained and the nurses adored her. The orhto snapped her elbow back into place. She was sedated, thank god. That's when I was most upset. The medicine helped her to calm down and helped so that she wouldn't feel the pain of having her elbow adjusted. Her eyes would open and close and she didn't know what was going. It was scary to see her look so lifeless, but I knew she was going to be fine. She made it through everything and 10 hours later, we finally made it home. On the way home, with her whole arm in a splint and sling, she said to me "Mommy, I want to learn how to surf." Dear God, what am I in for? I have a daughter who breaks her elbow and is already thinking about what she can try next. I do love her spirit!