I am a planner. Because of that, I rarely find what I consider "extra" time in my daily schedule. Imagine my surprise this morning when we finished our shopping at Nature's Pantry, climbed back into the van, and discovered that we had a whole hour yet till lunch time! Fun mom that I am, I immediately thought of the nearby Bass Pro Shop that I had heard has lots of animals for the kids to look at; and more importantly, animals that don't move or make loud noises that would scare my sometimes sensitive 3-yr-old (yes, that's a nice way of describing animals that are DEAD).
With minimal wandering, I soon found the impressive entrance, amid many "ooo's" and "ahh's" from the back seat as the kids first beheld the giant fish on the signs mounted around the building's exterior. If they were this impressed by the Bass Pro logo, whatever we discovered inside was sure to be a hit! I had a brief moment of panic when we walked through the front doors and found turnstiles waiting, which I thought meant we had to pay to get in. After a chuckle from the front door attendant at my enquiry about the cost (to which he responded $10/person before cracking a smile), we were soon directed towards the area that should be most interesting to young children and we headed that way.
As we walked towards the stairs that would take us to the lower level where the fish ponds and aquarium were located, we passed by a giant elk which elicited squeals of delight from Tess, my 18-mo-old, and wide eyes and somber questions from Isaiah (until he realized it wasn't going to move, then he got bold enough to venture within the 5-ft radius he had been careful to maintain around it). On the stairway landing we encountered a couple of bears fighting with what I think were coyotes, which were exciting enough that Tess was no longer content to let me carry her. So down she went to run up close to the bears, then giggle and squeal and run away again. So darn cute! I had a real "wish daddy was here" moment, so I pulled out my cell phone to snap some pictures. The camera app loaded just in time for us to make it the rest of the way down the stairs and across the store to the aquarium with the giant fish in it. Tess reacted similarly to the big fish as she did the bears, but it just wasn't the same taking pictures of her running up to a bunch of docile fish with little fear, instead of the snarling bears. Oh well.
After watching the fish for awhile and helping Isaiah use the nearby chart to identify his favorites, we wandered around to the other fish ponds and waterfalls. Isaiah then asked to go up another set of stairs that went over the aquarium, much to Tess' delight as she is OBSESSED with stairs (I guess because we don't have any in our house?). On our way back down, she did what she always does when going down stairs, which is to hold my hand and basically hang by her arm while taking giants steps that are completely out of step with the stairs we are descending. At the first landing, she suddenly decided to twist and try to go another direction, and that's when I heard/felt the dreaded "pop"!
Sure enough, it was immediately followed by cries of pain and her arm was now limp at her side. All signs that told me she had yet again popped her elbow out of place resulting in what's referred to as "Nursemaid's Elbow". The first time it happened, she was 8-mo-old and we had to take her to urgent care and spend ridiculous amounts of money to have a doc perform a simple maneuver on her arm that took less than 30 seconds. He was kind enough to teach us that maneuver as well as an alternate if it didn't work, the first of which I somehow remembered the second time it happened to her just a little over a week ago while we were in Texas. However, this time that method wasn't working, and I couldn't remember the alternative for anything! So, there I was, in the middle of Bass Pro with my baby screaming as I tried several times to manipulate her arm back into place. Not fun.
Realizing that method wasn't working, and actually only seemed to be making things worse, I calmed her with the pacifier while holding her arm still and headed for the exit (not as easy to locate as the entrance, but we managed). Once in the van, I gave it one more shot with her strapped into the car seat in a more easy to control position, but to no avail. While images of long waits in the urgent care and enormous bills to follow ran through my head, I began racking my brain for ideas. After texting Dave a quick note, I thought of some doctor friends who could help and even lived close, but I had to leave a message. Then I called a friend who is in nursing school and left another message. I even called Bass Pro and asked to talk to their first aid person (they had to have one of those, right?). Thrilled when they transferred me to her line, I was soon disappointed to learn she had no idea what I was talking about. Out of ideas, I put the van in gear and headed home.
Praying as we drove, it crossed my mind that an anti-inflammatory would be helpful, so I detoured to Walmart and ran in to the pharmacy to grab some. After a stop in the bathroom for my amazing son who had been "holding it" since we left Bass Pro, I gave Tess a dose of meds and strapped her back in her car seat. As I snapped the last buckle, it was like a light bulb illuminated over my head: I remembered the alternate maneuver!! I quickly climbed in with her, said some reassuring words as I picked up her limp little hand and watched her tears begin flowing anew. After positioning her arm, I gave her wrist a gentle twist and felt the subtle "pop" in her elbow as it WENT BACK INTO PLACE! It took only a minute for the tears to stop, and Tess to begin looking at me the way she always does when she sees mommy freaking out about something she doesn't quite understand. Isaiah understood though, so he and I had that van rocking with our jumping and cheering and praising God! I immediately called Dave to tell him the good news, then the kids and I sang praise songs together as we drove the rest of the way home. I've never been so thrilled to see Tess reach her little arm across to hold her brother's hand; something she had been unable to do only a few minutes before.
Thank You, Lord, for reminding me what I needed to do and allowing it to work! Your faithfulness never ends!
