Poor Owen

I have to say this wasn't our first trip to the ER, but this was our first broken arm. We've dealt with stitches and 4 knocked out teeth (Paige), but until now, no broken bones. Poor Owen, we were at Bluebird Park in Laguna Beach with my sister Emily (and her kids) when one of Owen's cousins went down a slide and landed on Owen's arm. There wasn't a fall or trip or anything. It was across the park and a Spanish speaking nanny picked him up and was carrying him to me. I couldn't understand what she was saying but I heard her husband say something about a "pretzel"... hmmm... "that can't be good," I thought. To tell you the truth Owen wasn't even crying that hard, I mean no harder then any other injury he's had. I had never seen a broken arm before but I took one look at it and thought, "uh, oh... I think this is broken." I don't know, maybe it was the fact that the arm bent where it wasn't suppose to that gave it away.
I quickly grabbed Owen and asked my sisters to take Brock home. We were just a mile away from South Coast Hospital in Laguna Beach, which was great because the ER there is usually empty. After running to the car, by then Owen had stopped crying, and then parking at the hospital and carrying him up a huge hill - you would have thought I was going into labor. They got us right in. The whole time I couldn't believe how good Owen was being. It was as though he was in some sort of meditative state. He wasn't asleep - he was just closing his eyes through the pain. They even asked me if I gave him anything, and of course I said no - we came straight from the park. He was so brave, we read books and he looked at pictures on his dad's phone (yes, can you believe it - John even came!). The only time he cried was during the X-Ray when they had to move his arm and then when they sent John and I out to RE-SET the break. Ouch! He was drugged at the time and the doctors even tried to say that he was crying because he didn't like the Oxygen mask he had on.... um... yeah... good one. I guess we were sent out because the sound of them resetting the arm often makes parents pass out. I already felt queasy due to the constant running while holding a 40 lb. kid and the look of his arm - then this baby wouldn't stop doing flips inside me.... Well, 2 hours later we were home - and Owen was doing great.
The poor guy had to wear a splint for the first week - which isn't as stable as a cast. We had to be super careful and we couldn't get it wet. The toughest part was finding clothes that could fit over it.

One week later we went back into the doctor and Owen picked out a Blue cast, because "Blue is for Boys!" he likes to say.


Brock was there, he likes to tell everyone that Owen broke his arm at the park. He also thinks that his arm is broken anytime he falls or gets hurt. I think he secretly wants a cast of his own.
The nice thing about this cast is that it is WATERPROOF! Yep, he can bath in it, he has even gone swimming in this cast. I thought it would stink or something... nope. In fact the doctors say it helps clean the arm. He loves to get signatures too, the other day a plumber was over fixing our shower and Owen asked him if he wanted to sign his cast. So cute. He loves to tell people how "Brave" he was (he really was brave). Thanks to everyone that brought him over gifts and well wishes. I think he felt ultra special and brave for that. He gets fitted for another cast soon and I asked him what color he wants... he said, "Pink" - I guess we'll see!