Daughter's first injury
Posted 01-02-2009 at 06:32 AM by Kael
I feel terrible. I was playing with my daughter at a park near my wife's work, waiting for her to finish her shift so we could run some errands. She loved the swing, for a few minutes at least, then I took her down a couple of slides. She seemed unimpressed, perhaps even bored, so I started carrying her back to meet my wife. I slipped on some ice and instinctively caught myself on a rail, unfortunately pinning her leg against it. She was quite upset by this, obviously hurt, and I was very worried, though she showed no bruising and had full range of motion still. She calmed down a bit as the day wore on, but remained miserable overall and avoided moving her leg, not crawling or standing on it willingly. The next morning she was still miserable and obviously pained when I checked her leg again, so I took her in to a clinic. Turns out she has a very small fracture on her right tibia, no misalignment. I feel like it's all my fault for being a clumsy idiot, though my wife tells me to stop beating myself up over it. It is a minor enough injury, no serious complications or long-term effects. They just splinted it, and while the doctor recommended we see an orthopaedic specialist, he specifically said it was probably not necessary, just as a precaution what with her being only 1.
She has greatly improved with the splint and an occasional dose of some ibuprofen. She is bothered by it now only if she hits her shin on something, and because the bulk of the splint somewhat hampers her crawling and standing escapades. She is back to enjoying the flood of new toys and clothes she got for christmas, mostly from her two baby-starved and doting grandmothers. We will make the appointment with the specialist next week, though I would actually be a bit surprised if they insist on a full cast.
Hopefully after a few years I can tell her of her first broken bone without blaming myself for it, but only time will tell. For now, I'm just very glad it was not more serious, and hope that this is the worst injury she ever has.
She has greatly improved with the splint and an occasional dose of some ibuprofen. She is bothered by it now only if she hits her shin on something, and because the bulk of the splint somewhat hampers her crawling and standing escapades. She is back to enjoying the flood of new toys and clothes she got for christmas, mostly from her two baby-starved and doting grandmothers. We will make the appointment with the specialist next week, though I would actually be a bit surprised if they insist on a full cast.
Hopefully after a few years I can tell her of her first broken bone without blaming myself for it, but only time will tell. For now, I'm just very glad it was not more serious, and hope that this is the worst injury she ever has.
Total Comments 3
Comments
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It's one thing to accidentally hurt your own kid, but quite another to hurt someone else's. We were playing Frisbee catch in the front yard, I and my 11 year old daughter's friend from around the corner were running to catch the Frisbee when she tripped in front of me and I fell on top of her, cracking some ribs. I still feel bad about that.
I stuck my cousin Mike in the back of the hand with a dart I threw at the dart board he was reaching for when I was 13 and he was 10. He doesn't remember it at all, yet I still feel bad about it. I didn't mean to do it.Posted 02-06-2009 at 04:25 PM by Dingfod 
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I once poked my daughter's eye with a poorly-manicured thumb when she was about 1. I'd gone to pick her up from the floor when she swiveled around unexpectedly. I felt double-plus horrible about it, although there was no lasting damage.
This sort of thing is pretty much inevitable. Clumsiness is pretty much a given with parents of young kids. Especially if you're a big spaz like myself.Posted 02-10-2009 at 08:06 PM by Sock Puppet
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aww.. it wasn't your fault. Try not to be so hard on yourself.
Posted 05-09-2009 at 06:00 AM by Shelli
