Our Tough Guy

Ok, I admit it...

I've been keeping something from you.

It was partly because I wanted to catch up with all of the birthday posts. But also because I needed some time.

A little over two weeks ago I woke up and heard Nolan awake so I picked him up and headed down the stairs with him on my hip. My foot slipped off a stair and I fell flat on my back and slid down a few stairs. Nolan and I were both freaked out.

After the damages were assessed, I had a sore, bruised back, and Nolan wouldn't put any weight on his right leg. The leg that was behind me when I fell. After monitoring him for a bit before work with no change, we decided to call the pediatrician who recommended bringing him in for a look.

By the time I brought him in that morning, a little bruise had formed on his right leg just above his ankle and seemed tender. The doctor recommended an x-ray. So off we went to Bryn Mawr hospital, around the corner from the pediatrician to their outpatient imaging facility. Nolan was amazingly tolerant of the X-ray (I had pictured a big fiasco trying to get him to lay still), and within an hour I had a call back from the pediatrician confirming a "toddler fracture" on his tibia. 

Toddler Fracture - the tiny hairline shadow towards the bottom of his tibia

I dare you not to smile at his cute little calf x-ray!

I actually let out a long (embarrassing in retrospect) "Nooooooooo!" to the pediatrician on the phone. I was just in disbelief as I thought we were just being the paranoid parents double checking everything. It had crossed my mind that he may have actually broken his leg, but I had quickly removed the thought from my head since the guilt was too much to bear.

So... my little guy has a cast. A tiny, blue, adorable cast. A cast that makes me feel horrible since it was my fault. I know it could have been way worse - we could have both gotten more seriously hurt. I know accidents are going to happen (especially with little boys!), but it's still hard to not feel guilty. 

Luckily it's only for three weeks. And we're already 2+ weeks done. It comes off this Friday. We just gave him his last sponge bath (to EVERYONE's relief - it was fun for no one every time). 

The thing I feel the worst about is delaying his development. Nolan was SO CLOSE to walking before he broke his leg. He was taking over 8 steps by himself between Joe and I and was cruising everywhere. Unfortunately, they had to put the cast over his little knee in order to keep it on. His leg is in a bent position, making it hard to walk, and he really doesn't want to put it down to even try. The doctor said he should bounce right back and catch up to everyone else in no time. I'm just eager to put this all behind us and move forward with his development. Three more days to go!

These photos were all taken after his recent school photos, pre-cast. We did another mini-photoshoot during mother's day this weekend that will be shared shortly. Also a post of his school photos is in order!

In the meantime, I just wanted to give an update and let you know our guy is still happy and not letting anything slow him down. I'm sure he'll love to tell everyone in a few years how TOUGH he was even as a little baby. We love you Nolan - cast and all.