Dillen fell on the playground at school yesterday and, though the office never called, they did send a note home with her at the end of the day saying she had to visit the nurse and was given an ice pack. Well, she seemed in good spirits though a little sore. Throughout the day, I would get more pieces of the story as to how it happened. She was running with her friend Alexis, tripped over a ball, landed on her rib cage and rolled into the fence and hit her back. I thought, 'Yeah, I'd probably be pretty sore, too." Still, she wanted to go to karate so we went. She was doing fine until she had to jump and then she stopped. She came out to the lobby and we put some ice on it. She wanted to go back in because she knew she was going to test for her next stripe - she was given permission by her instructor to do only what didn't hurt. She seemed alright last night but did say she was sore. So, I gave her some Tylenol pain reliever and sent her off to bed. It took a long time for her to get comfortable...

At 2AM she woke up crying and complaining that her back really hurt. Here was the call: Do I get the girls in the car and take them to the emergency room - no husband and 8 1/2 months pregnant? I evaluated Dillen by seeing what she could and could not do, listened to her breathing and had her take a few deep breaths to see if that hurt anywhere. She said the breathing didn't hurt but that she couldn't bend over and her rib was really hurting. So, I gave her some more Tylenol and held her in bed until she fell back to sleep.

I was now up. Wide awake. Worried. Checking on her every 15 minutes to see if her breathing had changed.

I also did a LOT of internet searching. Though it could be a pulled ligament, every site said to see the doctor and to take it seriously since little kids so rarely complain of back pain and it could mean more internal injuries... and if I dug even deeper into the information provided - death! Gotta love the internet.

Needless to say, I never fell back asleep.

I left messages: The absence line for school; the Daisy Troop leader (I am supposed to volunteer in the classroom today); and for Sean (who is coming home today!! and I am supposed to pick him up at the airport by 12:00).

Fortunately, when Dillen woke up, she was able to get out of bed without complaining and even got herself dressed. She is still complaining that it hurts so I am taking the girls to the doctor's office this morning.

And I am taking that note with me!! Proof this didn't even happen on my watch! I thought these sorts of things were supposed to happen to boys! ;)