Bent but NOT Broken

**WARNING*

*BROKEN BONE PICS BELOW*

*WARNING**

So, really, Wyatt's arm is broken.  

X-ray of Wyatt's arm right before getting them set and put into s cast. 

Yesterday (Friday) around 4:30, James was on a plane home from NYC/Conn., I was on the couch in the living room and Wyatt was in there too playing.  He raced passed me (to behind me) into the kitchen and fell.  When he falls in his cast, you hear it and he falls often because he just runs at full speed all the time.  But this sounded just a little bit different so I got up to help him up.  

Wyatt's left arm.  Both the radius and ulna bones are broken.

Usually we'll say,"up" and he will repeat it and jump up with no physical help from either of us and occasionally he does need/want our help.  This time he didn't repeat and something was different about his cry.  So I scooped him up and sat on the couch with him.  God just told me something was wrong so I started looking him over.  His arm just didn't look right.  Not one bit.  

While waiting in the ER for the doc and some morphine.

I don't even know how to describe what went through my mind at that moment.  I'm sure what goes through every parents' mind when a bone has been broken.  I know when I broke the same bones on the same arm when I was 6, my mom didn't believe me until she turned around and saw my arm with her own two eyes.  And then I think she said a few words that I won't blog.  lol.  

He took a little nap while waiting on drugs. 

I think my first thought might have been one of those words and then a "There's no freaking way this just happened."  But it did happen.  I knew I needed my phone.  I got up with Wyatt, grabbed my phone and probably debated on what to do for about 30 seconds... 

Call James? ...no can't, he's on the plane.

Call our nurse neighbor? ...no, she's probably still at work and she'd probably just tell me to go to the ER.    

Call 911 or drive myself to the ER?  ...ambulance will take longer because they have to get here first then drive to the hospital.  How much would that one 7 mile drive cost us? 

Drive us there myself it is.  Now to get Wyatt in his car seat without hurting him more, bag of things we might need, snacks for Wyatt, water for both of us, shoes for both of us and my phone charger because the battery is already RED... wallet and a jacket for if I get cold because I always get cold. 

GO! 

Wyatt amazingly was moving his arm around at the shoulder,
 elbow, wrist and fingers before he had drugs.   

Of course it's 4:45 on a Friday through a business district to get there.  One of the reasons we live where we live is so that it would be EASY to get to the hospital if needed.  In Sachse, it was a 30ish mile drive and we like Children's because they have his ENTIRE MEDICAL RECORD on file already.  They ask me questions and I can answer them but if my mind isn't working to remember all his meds, I can say, "His list of meds is up to date in the system..." and we're all good.  :-) 

Anyway, it seemed like it took forever to get there.  Slow cars not moving out of my way.  Don't they know my baby is hurting and I have my flashers on and I'm honking.  MOVE IT!  Nope.  No moving it.  Red lights.... times two.... oh it just seemed like forever.  

There was a GIANT team a people in the room to sedate Wyatt, set and cast his arm.
They didn't take him to an OR, just did it right there in the ER room.  

I pulled up, parked right in front of the ER doors and took him in.  They told me I could leave my car there (I called on the way) and I'm not sure if I cared if I could or not to be honest.  I know it's "just" a broken bone but again, that is my baby and he's been through enough.  I did put the car in park, turn it off and lock the doors.  :-)  We got there, checked in and sat down.  We may have sat there three minutes before they called us back.  PTL.  Got his vitals and took us back to a room.  They immediately dropped an IV in his right hand so that when the doc ordered his morphine, they could get it in him as quickly as possible.  

The nurse said everyone reacts differently to coming out of sedation.
Wyatt whines and refused his paci for quite a while.
He also didn't fall asleep for a long time.
Nurse said usually it's the teenagers that cry but some go to
sleep for a while and others are bouncing off the walls hyper.  

Doc looked at his arm, ordered the morphine, in room x-rays and then called for ortho to look at him.  The ortho guy wasn't a doc but the ortho NP.  I felt really confident in his taking care of Wyatt.  I wasn't worried because he's an NP or anything like that but in the ER, you never know who you're going to get.  But Ray, the ortho NP, was gentle and confident.  By this time, I think James had gotten there with dinner in hand.  Wyatt's elbow was swollen so the ER doc thought it might have a fracture as well but Ray did not because when he touched it, Wyatt didn't flinch like he did when he touched where the break was.  Either way, it would be treated the same.  Ray also has Wyatt's back doctor for a boss.  He said he'd shoot him a message to let him know one of his patients is in the ER and what happened. 

He looks so sad here but he was just zoned out from the drugs.  

Because of when Wyatt ate last, we had to wait for his food to digest before they could sedate him.   Got there about 5 and couldn't set the bones until about 9.  Thankfully, Wyatt seemed comfortable.   To reset the bones, they did not put Wyatt fully under sedation like he's been in the past.  They gave him something that just kind of paralyzed, for lack of better words.  If he was a awake, he'd stay awake but have NO idea what was going on or be able to move and he'd have no memory of anything they were doing.  So, this meant that he did not need to be on a ventilator.  Just a nasal cannula.  The bones didn't completely break apart from one another but they did break.  Ray said it was easy, PTL, to set them straight and get his arm in the cast.  Once they actually started, it didn't take long at all.  

X-rays of Wyatt's arm after the bones had been set and put into a cast.

Saturday morning laying in bed with mommy and daddy.
He's snuggled up to my elbow.  lol.

We just had to wait for Wyatt to come out of his sedation and tolerate some fluids without vomiting.  We left basically at midnight with instructions to get some hydrocodone filled, to keep his arm elevated for 3 days as much as possible, especially if his fingers begin to swell, and to make an appointment in the clinic to see him Wednesday afternoon.  We'll see him weekly until the cast comes off.  Should be about four weeks.  Kids heal fast.  

Watching cartoons. 

Wyatt slept until about 7:15, chilled for a while, ate some breakfast and was back to his normal, go, go, go self.  Of course we're over here like NO NO NO baby... SLOW DOWN.  WALK.  NO RUNNING! 

It's mid afternoon and Wyatt is asleep on the couch, arm elevated, with James while he watches football.  [Aggies aren't on antenna TV, so we'll have to just listen to the game online once it begins.] 

God is good.  This situation reminds me of a Beth Moore study I did years ago.  I don't remember if it was Daniel or Hosea but Beth used an illustration of a big, strong tree rooted in the ground.  And God cut some of the tree back, it swayed in the wind, cut some more but NEVER was the tree uprooted.  It was in solid ground and it would grow again to bigger and stronger.

I feel like that is what God is doing.  He's pruning us to just be stronger.  He will never leave us or forget about us.  We are all His.

Now, with that said.  I am tired.  We are tired.  A friend of mine said it best last night, "I bet you're tired of being strong."  And while the answer to that is absolutely.  We are tired of having to be so strong.  BUT thankfully, that strength doesn't have to come from within ourselves.  It's given to us and given to us freely from God.

HIGHS AND LOWS.... 

I started with the lows but absolutely do not want to forget the highs of yesterday.  

Wyatt took some big steps in eating yesterday.  He's always tasted anything I've given him.  Occasionally he'll grimace but he always eats what I feed him.  

He's been showing me some signs lately of interest in table foods.  Last week, he sucked on a sucker some, until it became a fun drum stick and was banging it on everything.  lol.  

We stopped at Braums with Uncle Jack and Granny last week and I put a couple of crinkle fries in front of Wyatt on the table and he loved them.  (See photo below.)  He just sucks on them though.  He doesn't know how to or that he needs to take a bite, chew and then swallow.  He just knows it's good and he wants it in his mouth.  

He then did the same thing with tortilla chips at a mexian food place.  

So I talked to his speech therapist about these things and she said go ahead and try some things at home and see what happens.  He's made great progress with his tongue movement and chewing motions.  

So, yesterday.  I tried.  And he did well.  I used pirate booty popcorn and some string cheese.  He loved both and did GREAT with both.  I was almost in tears.  James wasn't on a plane yet and he loved hearing about it as well. 

He's no where where he needs to be but that's a nice big step in the right direction and we will claim victory and PTL!  

We are also working on him using a pouch to eat some purees independently.  It will be very helpful in childcare type situations (ie:  church and Bible study) and he's done GREAT with that this week as well.  I'm very surprised by that success because the first day we tried it, he fought tooth and nail and cried and threw a fit.  So, PTL once again.  He is mightier than CDH, an eating delay or broken bones.  

Working on a sucker. 

The french fries. 

Loving tortilla chips at Tupy's.  

Eating his entire pouch all by himself.  

The pirate booty popcorn.
I had to break up the pieces for his tiny mouth but that's okay.
I also had to feed them to him but we will work on that.  

And just because it's cute..... 

He's Being Promoted...

A little update on life these days...

Wyatt has adjusted easily to having to be in his Mehta Cast.  After about a day, he was able to walk, run, sit, ect... It took him a little longer to figure out climbing and he's still not 100% there but he's loving life.  

Wyatt got a cold and had to see the doctor instead of getting his flu shot.  :(

It's so hard to keep his cast clean though.  It's very tiring trying to keep him from getting it wet, throwing up on it, ect... Those white strips covering the rough edges aren't as white anymore.  Thankfully the hospital gave us some of those so we can replace them when needed.

We had a random chilly day and he looks so big in his clothes.  It's tough to keep his jeans up because I can't pull them up all the way.  

Granny came to visit this week.  :-)  We love Granny visits!  Wish they were more frequent.  

Lots and lots of breathing treatments the past week.  Hopefully they will go away soon.  

Wyatt loves to walk and drink...

and you never know where the cups will end up.  

Lately, Wyatt will pick up foods like french fries, tortilla chips and such and taste it... or lick it, whatever you'd like to call it.  I spoke to his speech therapist and she said we can go ahead to try him actually trying to chew some of these things!  Yea!!!  That's a big step.  Usually once a piece breaks off we snatch it away so that he won't gag or vomit.  He's making progress!

He loves his cuddles and back scratches.  He'll sit for FOREVER if one of us is scratching.

hotel room air conditioners are fun.  

Look at our superhero in his new cape.  

I bought 'the Flash' because he runs so fast.  

James informed me that the Flash doesn't wear a cape.... oh well. :-)

............................................

Sweet Baby Davis at 8 weeks.  

Some Pregnancy Info:

I am 10 weeks along today.  We found out at 4 weeks and have been praying fervently for a healthy baby.  We implore  you to pray with us.  I know in the depths of my soul that God will give us the strength to get through anything but I honestly think my heart would break if we had another sick baby, like Wyatt.  It really would.  I think one of the reasons Wyatt has done so well is because we could give ALL of our attention to him.  I cannot imagine trying to split my time between two kids in two totally different places.  Wyatt is too young to sit in a NICU.  They won't let him.  So, please please please pray with us.  Beg the Lord for body parts to form just as they are meant to and be in full function!   We beg.  I could say that over and over again.  We long for "normal" and healthy.  

With this pregnancy, the doctors will be totally precautionary instead of reactionary.  While with Wyatt, there was some cautiousness and looking for my cervix to not measure where it should, ie:  I was getting a monthly sonogram at my regular OBGYN's office this time there won't be any waiting.  We saw my doctor, Dr. Holt, at 8 weeks and I'll see her again at 11 to make sure there's still a good, strong heartbeat and then on Monday, October 6th, I will then go see Dr. Zink, the specialist.  She will give me a sonogram and then we will schedule surgery for my cervical cerclauge.  So, no waiting on a short measurement.  They will obviously be looking for anything like before very closely.  PTL.  But I will tell you, it's scary and it weighs on our hearts.  But we do trust the Lord and He has a perfect plan for our sweet, growing family.  

At our 8 week appointment, baby's heart beat was strong.  He/she did measure about 5 days behind my cycle calendar but doc says that's normal and she's not concerned.  

As we get more info on the surgery and baby, I will update you on ways to help us pray and such.  

 How far along? 10 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I've been hovering right around where I started.  

Maternity clothes? a few here and there.  Nothing absolutely needed just yet but a little more comfy of course.  
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep:  I could sleep for days but that's obviously not happening.  I feel so much more tired than I did last time.  Maybe work kept me going.  I don't know.  
Best moment this week:  Getting to announce God's little miracle to the world.  
Have you told family and friends: Yes, we told our home group pretty much right away as well as a couple of good friends.  The first trimester so much forming happens that we asked them to pray with us.  We also told family pretty quickly as we had several come into town and of course the fun text to everyone else.  Couldn't leave anyone out.  Also, if I've seen you in person, I've probably told you.  lol.  

Movement: Too early.  I think I first felt Wyatt around 16 weeks.
Food cravings: Pizza and cereal. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Sadly, some of Wyatt's blends make me feel sick.  ;/
Have you started to show yet:  A little.  I think it's the fact that I can't suck my gut in anymore.  lol.
Leakage: noooo.
Gender prediction:  We are hoping for a boy but will still be filled with joy if it's a girl. 

 Labor Signs: Noooo. Wayyy too early!

Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time:  just tired.
Milestones: Getting to share the big news!

James was out of town on business so this is the message he got.
No way I could hold it in until he got home!  lol.  

We are so very excited and looking forward to God working in us and through us as we grow to a family of FOUR!  I will ask one more time, PLEASE HELP US PRAY FOR THIS SWEET LIFE GROWING INSIDE ME.  God is so good and so sweet.  

Oh yeah, no chalkboards this time around.  They take too much time.  lol.  I'll come up with something simple.  :-)