... and she's OK.

Saturday night Rachael hurt her elbow. I first noticed it when I was drying her off after a bath - I wrapped her in a towel, then turned her around to face me. When I turned her, she screamed at me about her elbow. (After torturing myself for several hours, thinking I had done something, I realized she must have actually injured herself. She just didn't want me to touch it.) I figured she was just overreacting to whatever it was, so I gave her some Motrin and put her to bed. Two hours later she rolled over on that arm in her sleep and was screaming again, so we decided a trip to the ER was in order.

Fortunately, the doctor quickly diagnosed her with nursemaid's elbow, which is a dislocation of the forearm in the elbow joint. It's not painful unless the joint is touched. The doctor slid it easliy back into position, then showed me how to do it in case she slips it again. Apparently it's a common injury for kids between 3 and 4, particularly for girls. And if it happens once it's likely to happen again, so we just need to watch out for it. By age 5 the cartligde in the joint has formed up enough that it rarely happens after that.

Ryan and I were certainly grateful that it turned out to be a minor injury, not even requiring an X-ray. Rachael was glad to have her arm fixed, then disappointed that the doctor didn't want to "take a picture" (X-ray) of her arm.