Talking to Myself Again

Yet Another Trip to the Emergency Room

So how many trips to the emergency room is too many for a 14 month old? We just did our 3rd this weekend and as far as I'm concerned we've filled our quota!

On Sunday, we noticed that Orlando was particularly cranky. Then we noticed that he was crawling instead of walking. If we stood him up, he would walk; when he would sit down, he wasn't able to stand up again, so he would crawl.

After some reading in "the death book" (okay, it's really called "Guide to Your Child's Symptoms"), Dawn found that he might possibly have a greenstick fracture. In an older child, it will heal by itself, but in a younger child, he should be seen by a doctor right away.

So we loaded him into the car and set off for the emergency room at St. John's. This is the 3rd time we've taken him to the ER. The first time he had "nursemaid's elbow", which basically means that his elbow had popped out of its socket. The doctor did some minor manipulation and his elbow popped back in -- end of tears! The second time was just a few weeks ago (Jan 26, I think), when he appeared to be having some pain in his hips. By the time we got him to the ER he had stopped crying and seemed fine, but we had them X-ray him anyway. Nothing.

This time they X-rayed his hips, his thighs, and his calves -- nothing. The doctor suggested we give him Motrin and watch him for a couple of days.

Watching him some more when we got home, we began to suspect that his pain was actually in his right foot. Did he perhaps bruise his foot somehow? Of course, they didn't X-ray his feet, but a bruised bone presumably wouldn't show up anyway.

By the end of the day on Monday he was able to stand up on his own, so he appears to be getting better.

So, that's 3 trips to the ER, 2 of which turned up nothing.

That doesn't count his first trip to the ER. When he was 2 weeks old, on Christmas eve, we went to the ER because Dawn was showing signs of a possible heart attack. It turned out to be a gall bladder attack. It was 4 AM and there were beeps and monitor alarms going off all around us -- and Lando was sleeping, well, like a baby.

I'd be worried that about DCFS coming around chastising us for child abuse if it weren't for the fact that 2 of the last 3 times that we've taken him to the emergency room they haven't found anything wrong! (Probably we'll be getting chastised by our insurance company instead.)

On Sunday, we noticed that Orlando was particularly cranky. Then we noticed that he was crawling instead of walking. If we stood him up, he would walk; when he would sit down, he wasn't able to stand up again, so he would crawl.

After some reading in "the death book" (okay, it's really called "Guide to Your Child's Symptoms"), Dawn found that he might possibly have a greenstick fracture. In an older child, it will heal by itself, but in a younger child, he should be seen by a doctor right away.

So we loaded him into the car and set off for the emergency room at St. John's. This is the 3rd time we've taken him to the ER. The first time he had "nursemaid's elbow", which basically means that his elbow had popped out of its socket. The doctor did some minor manipulation and his elbow popped back in -- end of tears! The second time was just a few weeks ago (Jan 26, I think), when he appeared to be having some pain in his hips. By the time we got him to the ER he had stopped crying and seemed fine, but we had them X-ray him anyway. Nothing.

This time they X-rayed his hips, his thighs, and his calves -- nothing. The doctor suggested we give him Motrin and watch him for a couple of days.

Watching him some more when we got home, we began to suspect that his pain was actually in his right foot. Did he perhaps bruise his foot somehow? Of course, they didn't X-ray his feet, but a bruised bone presumably wouldn't show up anyway.

By the end of the day on Monday he was able to stand up on his own, so he appears to be getting better.

So, that's 3 trips to the ER, 2 of which turned up nothing.

That doesn't count his first trip to the ER. When he was 2 weeks old, on Christmas eve, we went to the ER because Dawn was showing signs of a possible heart attack. It turned out to be a gall bladder attack. It was 4 AM and there were beeps and monitor alarms going off all around us -- and Lando was sleeping, well, like a baby.

I'd be worried that about DCFS coming around chastising us for child abuse if it weren't for the fact that 2 of the last 3 times that we've taken him to the emergency room they haven't found anything wrong! (Probably we'll be getting chastised by our insurance company instead.)

On Sunday, we noticed that Orlando was particularly cranky. Then we noticed that he was crawling instead of walking. If we stood him up, he would walk; when he would sit down, he wasn't able to stand up again, so he would crawl.

After some reading in "the death book" (okay, it's really called "Guide to Your Child's Symptoms"), Dawn found that he might possibly have a greenstick fracture. In an older child, it will heal by itself, but in a younger child, he should be seen by a doctor right away.

So we loaded him into the car and set off for the emergency room at St. John's. This is the 3rd time we've taken him to the ER. The first time he had "nursemaid's elbow", which basically means that his elbow had popped out of its socket. The doctor did some minor manipulation and his elbow popped back in -- end of tears! The second time was just a few weeks ago (Jan 26, I think), when he appeared to be having some pain in his hips. By the time we got him to the ER he had stopped crying and seemed fine, but we had them X-ray him anyway. Nothing.

This time they X-rayed his hips, his thighs, and his calves -- nothing. The doctor suggested we give him Motrin and watch him for a couple of days.

Watching him some more when we got home, we began to suspect that his pain was actually in his right foot. Did he perhaps bruise his foot somehow? Of course, they didn't X-ray his feet, but a bruised bone presumably wouldn't show up anyway.

By the end of the day on Monday he was able to stand up on his own, so he appears to be getting better.

So, that's 3 trips to the ER, 2 of which turned up nothing.

That doesn't count his first trip to the ER. When he was 2 weeks old, on Christmas eve, we went to the ER because Dawn was showing signs of a possible heart attack. It turned out to be a gall bladder attack. It was 4 AM and there were beeps and monitor alarms going off all around us -- and Lando was sleeping, well, like a baby.

I'd be worried that about DCFS coming around chastising us for child abuse if it weren't for the fact that 2 of the last 3 times that we've taken him to the emergency room they haven't found anything wrong! (Probably we'll be getting chastised by our insurance company instead.)

Return of the Journal

Well, we seem to be up and running with the new blog software (MovableType). I managed to delete the software once, then I tried installing a plugin and completely messed up the layout. Other than that, no problems! :-)

I had a blog several years ago. Back then we called them "online diaries" or "online journals"; later they became "weblogs" which became "blogs". Back then I didn't have much to talk about. Has anything changed since then? Well, I now have a wife and a 14-month-old son, so I suspect I might have something to talk about!

Here's one other difference between then and now: Back then, there wasn't anything like MovableType to help you easily post things, so everything was done manually. Ugh. It should be much easier now. That assumes that I can find time to post stuff, of course. We'll see.

Well, work calls me, so I'll return to this later.

First Entry on New Blog

Testing. Testing. 1, 2, 3. Is this thing on? Can you hear me now?