What are the odds?

If I got a nickle for every time that John or I said "I feel so lucky", I'd be rich.  We have two amazing kids, a gorgeous house, a fantastic network of friends, great jobs, wonderful family, etc. etc. etc.  But every once in a while, something unfortunate can happen where even the lucky ones feel like the odds are against them.

On Sunday morning, John was carrying Hazen down the stairs and he slipped.  He slid on his butt down about five steps, all the while, doing his best to protect our precious little guy.  I saw the whole thing happen and was most worried about his head, but that seemed fine.  Even so, I couldn't get him to stop crying.  I lay him down and tried my best to do a secondary survey of possible injuries.  Something was obviously wrong, but I coudn't pin point what it was.  Our usually mellow little guy, who hasn't been known to cry for more than a few minutes, just couldn't be settled.  After 20 minutes of Cally trying to give him stuffed animals and play peek-a-boo while I rocked him in the glider, nothing could avert the tears, so we decided to load and go to the hospital.

By the time we got to the hospital, Hazen had settled down and we were able to get a better idea about what was wrong.  He clapped his hands, smiled, and wiggled one of his legs, but his right leg remained shockingly still.  I didn't think it possible that we could have another leg injury within a year of Cally's femur incident.  An x-ray and consultation with an orthopedic resident later, it was clear that Hazen had a buckle fracture to his lower femur.  This would not require the full body cast that Cally had on her for four weeks, but it would mean a big leg splint none-the-less.

Words can't really express how badly a parent can feel when their child is hurt as a result of their actions.  And how do you explain it happening twice within a year to one family?  We were sure Child Protective Services would be knocking on our door.  But accidents happen.  There are few people who can say they have never fallen down some stairs.  Accidents have nothing to do with what kind of a parent you are.  They have nothing to do with how much you love your child.  Most of the time, they just happen, and you move on, as best you can given the circumstances.  To dwell on the "why me/us?" things, is counterproductive.  But it's also a real bummer to feel judged or unsupported by other people.  That just feels yucky, but I guess that is the way some people are and there is nothing we can do to change that.

Meanwhile, Hazen is doing great.  Within hours of being home from the hospital, he was finger painting and back to his old smiling self.  He's already figured out how to get from here to there.  He does a sort of "wounded animal" crawl and is even trying to pull himself up on tables and chairs again.  We go to a pediatric orthopedic doctor on Friday morning to get a real cast (right now he has a splint with padding and an ace bandage around it).  Cally has been a really supportive and helpful older sister.