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I heard this today from a complete stranger. I took Ruthie out to a special lunch at Baker’s Square (Because today is FREE SLICE day!) and as we were leaving this complete stranger said this to me. I don’t hear this a lot, mostly because when Chris is with us, there is no mistaking his features in the kids…however, it was nice to hear it. I thought I’d post a little comparison for you all, since most of you know that Ruthie has some of Chris’s more dominant features…

Sabrina - Age 3

Ruthie

I guess of the 3, she looks the most like me. They all have some of my features, and Ruthie has a lot of my personality. She’s outgoing, fearless, compassionate, and loyal. take away Chris’s nose, and the darkness of her hair, and yeah, I suppose she does look a lot like me.

Hugs,

Sabrina

(See January 17, 2009 post )-Most of you know by now that Ruthie has a fractured collarbone (Clavicle). It’s not too bad according to the x-rays, or the fabulous pediatric orthopedic surgeon we saw last Wednesday. He put her in a “Figure of 8 Brace” for 3 weeks, and we will go back on February 13th for another x-ray to see if it’s healed. He says that there will most likely be a bump on the bone (possibly the size of a walnut!)  and that it will take an extra 3 weeks of being careful with her before she’s totally healed and ready to take more hits from her brother. God help us! Here are some photos of Ruthie sporting her brace. It’s nearly invisible under her shirt, Thank goodness for that! Here are some photos!

For those who don’t know, about a week and a half ago Charlie ran into, then fell on top of Ruthie here at home. My Mother In Law, Debbie, and I were both sitting right there with the kids when it happened. Ruthie cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to playing. Hours later, after her nap, she was favoring the arm, and when I felt the area there was an odd lump and she screamed. I took her to the ER immediately. Here are the X-Rays.

First X-Ray in the ER clearly shows a fracture

2nd x-ray in the ER shows fractured clavicle, but not shoulder or arm.

Another look at the clavicle.

Yep, her arm is still not injured.

This is what they did for her in the ER. They told me to keep her in the sling, and ace bandage for 6 weeks and then to see the orthopedic surgeon that saw her in the ER. I’m glad I did not take that advice. Anyway, here she is after the ER visit…

"Ouch!"

"That Lousy Brother Of Mine"

Still Smilin'

Tuesday morning (They were closed Monday for MLK day) our pediatrician called. He said he had gotten the report from the Er that Ruth had been seen, and he wanted to check up on her. I told him what had happened, and what they did for her in the ER, and his exact words were “I want her to be seen immediately by a pediatric orthopedic surgeron.” I called around all day and could not find anyone that had an appointment prior to the next Tuesday. There was no way we could wait. Ruthie was wriggling out of the bandage and was just miserable not being able to use her hand. She fell down the stairs-twice. She has no balance without her right hand, and is so independent you just can’t help her do anything. I called the pediatrician back and told him I couldn’t find anyone. He did! He is so wonderful, he called someone up at the Children’s hospital and got us an appointment for Wednesday morning. We were there at 9AM on the dot!

The pediatric Ortho took one look at her and said “Yep, figure 8 should do nicely”. They took an x-ray to ensure the ER “treatment” hadn’t further damaged her then put her in the brace…then they took 2 more x-rays to ensure it was in the right place and sent us home until friday the 13th. I told Ruthie when she was all better she could have a party, once they got the brace on she said “Party” she really felt that much better! Here she is in the brace, or what chris calls “her backpack”.

Helping With Laundry

From The back

Yep, she's still smiling!

Nothing will keep her from carrying her baby!

The only drawback to this brace is that it’s rubbing the back of her neck and causing a bit of a problem…I’ve tried putting a sock in there, a gauze pad, and some fleece, but it just moves around too much. I wish my sewing machine worked, I’d just use it to stitch the fleece on…oh well. Anyway, here’s a photo of the neck rash.

Nasty Rash from the brace

All in all she seems to be feeling much better than before! Thank God for that! She’s gotten lots of get well cards from family and friends and has been carrying them all over the house and delivering them to her babies. )

Hugs, Sabrina