Twice this past week, Becca had falls that resulted in her being examined by a doctor. Each time, I was within 10 feet of her and couldn’t do anything but watch her fall. It’s funny because at the beginning of last week, I was worried that I was being a little too overprotective of Becca. By the end of the week, I was wondering if I could have her permanently encased in bubble wrap. The good news is that she doesn’t seem to have any lasting damage.
On Wednesday afternoon, Becca was chasing Keema (our cat) around the house and had followed him up to the second floor. When I realized that she was up there, I immediately went to the bottom of the stairs to call her back down. I even went as far as to go up the stairs after her but fell short of scooping her up and bringing her back down (which I now regret). Instead, I focused on enticing Keema back downstairs because I knew that Becca would follow.
As Becca was following Keema, she slipped and tumbled down the rest of the way (about 8 to 10 stairs). Fortunately, she started crying right away and didn’t show any signs of injury. In fact, she calmed down pretty quickly and was interested in playing. A little while later, I noticed that she seemed to be favoring her right leg and avoided putting any weight on it. I called her pediatrician’s office and the nurse suggested I bring her in.
When we got to the pediatrician’s office, Becca continued to favor her leg but also insisted on playing with the toys in the waiting room. When the Doctor called us in, she examined Becca and found that everything was “intact” and there wasn’t any noticeable breakage. She then had Becca walk around the office a little and agreed that Becca was indeed favoring her right leg. The Doctor examined her legs one more time and determined, once again, that her bones seemed fine. However, she suggested that I give Becca Motrin for the pain and if she continued limping in the morning then I should take her in for an x-ray. The doctor felt that Becca probably had some swelling and soreness from the fall but that she would be fine.
Fortunately, Becca slept well that night and didn’t seem to be in any pain. By the next morning, Becca was back to her normal self and didn’t require the x-ray. I was grateful that Becca wasn’t going to suffer any lasting effects and used it as a reminder to be more vigilant with her on the stairs. I was also grateful that I wasn’t issued a mother license because I definitely wouldn’t have received a fine this week.
Mary Kate
P.S. I will describe the next incident in another post. This one has gotten quite long.
2 Comments
August 17, 2008 at 6:14 pm
It’s kind of a tie about which always made me feel worse – the rolling off the bed times (1 per kid) or the falling down the stairs times (2 per kid). But it’s normal – and I think it makes them more cautious.
August 19, 2008 at 5:42 am
Jerseygirl– it looks as if I have hit my quota for awhile (I have one more falling incident to post about). Thanks for finding the silver lining! I have noticed that Becca is a little more cautious around the stairs.