Rosie Goes to the ER

Rosie checks out her IV and hand pillow...

This all started yesterday at around 8:00 pm. Rosie had been running around, just fine, all day long. She was jumping, playing – being a normal 2-year old. She took one long nap…and then another short snooze. Was a little whiny and a little clingy – but nothing so abnormal that I would worry. I kind of felt like sleeping the day away myself. Then, the weirdness started.

I ran out for groceries and came to find all three RAGs on the chair in the family room under a blanket. Rosie wanted to cuddle with Mommy – so I sat down on the couch and told her to come on over. She slid off the chair, took two steps and starting screaming her head off. Rich and I looked at each other – what could this be about? I picked her up and got her to calm down. She told me that her leg hurt. When I asked her where – she pointed to her knee. We both figured she hit her knee on the corner of the ottoman – which is the only part of it that isn’t cushioned.

After holding her for a few minutes and getting her calm, I had to get back to work. I put her in her chair and started to walk towards the bathroom. Rosie said “I want to come ‘wish’ (with) you!” OK – fine. I hold out my hand to her, she takes 5 steps and collapses, screaming that her boo-boo hurts. Perplexing.

For the rest of the night, our normally active and happy 2 year old would not walk. She wanted to play with her toys – but would not walk to them. Just sat on the floor and cried for them. We tried to get her to walk and it resulted in hysterics. I gave her some Motrin and we put her to bed, hoping that she wouldn’t be broken. Rich stayed in her room with her (yay, queen size bed) just in case she needed anything during the night.

She woke up this morning when I went in to nudge Rich. I picked her up out of bed and put her down on the floor to see if the mysterious pain was forgotten after a good night’s sleep. Two steps – and she collapses again. Now I just need to wait until the pediatrician’s office opens.

We got a 2pm appointment – which seemed like forever away at 9 this morning! We went to the dentist, we cuddled and watched “Move it, Move it” (Rosie’s name for Madagascar) – and after another dose of Motrin, her mobility improved. Finally – it was time to see Dr. Terry.

Rosie is usually an angel at Dr. Terry’s office – but not today. She wanted no part of being touched, poked or prodded by anyone. Dr. Terry suspected that she had a virus in her knee joint – but sent us to the emergency room for x-rays and blood work to eliminate any broken bones or other illnesses. And the waiting began….Rich met us at GBMC, a current hot bed of infectious diseases. He kept RJ occupied while I attempted to keep us all sanitized and relatively germ free. This was not our first trip to the ER with Rosie – we had to take her last December when she came down with RSV. Well – the number of little babies with RSV this close to my little baby was starting to make me nuts. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we were back to see a doctor.

Rosie was a little champ during her X-rays. I had to hold her still, but she didn’t fight me or the technician at all. The next part, however, was a little less fun. They needed to start an IV in her. For whatever reason, they picked her hand as the spot to stick her. I had an IV in my hand when RJ was born – and it was painful for me. I couldn’t even imagine how terrifying this was for her. One nurse held her down while the other nurse did the dirty work. I held her head and sang “The Gambler” to her through my own tears and Rich held her hand from behind me. She just kept saying “Mommy, don’t let them hurt me.” It was breaking my heart and I just kept praying that they would finish soon.

Once the IV was started and her blood was drawn, I let Rich take over so that I could compose myself. They braced her hand and wrist on a pillow so that she wouldn’t disturb the IV needle. Rich was talking to her about the cool pillow that her hand was on and all of a sudden I hear her tiny voice say “yeah, it’s pretty neato.”

Neato? That’s my kid. Neato. The nurse just looked at her and said “I have never heard a child say that after an IV before…”

At the end of the day – Rosie, RJ and I spent a good 6 hours at GBMC. The IV was removed and they sent us home. She most likely has this crazy virus-in-the-knee thing…which I have never heard of but is apparently not uncommon. She survived her first IV and is now sleeping soundly. Another adventure for the family history book!