Baby Pain

I took Soren to the doctor on thursday and had his cold checked out. Ears clear, lungs clear, this is music to a mother's ears after three babies that all got RSV, pneumonia, and monthly ear infections for the first 2 or three years of their lives.

I noticed that ever since Soren's nose started running a week ago, he downright refuses to be put down without crying. He wants mama all the time. For a baby that is always happy, I was a little concerned about the sudden clinginess and fear of separation.

I mentioned to our pediatrician that Soren started walking 3 weeks ago, and now does not walk at all. He got very concerned. he examined his hips, back, legs, etc, and went through a series of questions with me that made me both glad that he is so thorough and like a bad mother for not knowing all the answers.  The final test was plopping him down on the floor in the hallway at the Dr's office and trying to get him to stand. No dice.  I got some little baby snacks out of my bag and Soren crawled over to them fast and crazy to get to them, and the doc observed that his crawling pattern is totally normal and shows no sign of injury.
I've been pretty concerned about this but also chalked it all up to him not feeling well and wanting to be held all day.  I'm not crazy. He was walking and now he isn't.  I feel bad that I didn't even pick up on the fact that he wasn't standing either, because I've basically just been just holding him all day to soothe him. They're only babies and as far as attention from mom goes, this kid gets the shaft all the time simply because he's number 4. I'd just figured a few days of snuggling and blankies were long overdue.

The pediatrician sent us away with 1,000 boogie wipes samples and some awesome boogie wipe saline spray to help clear up the nose (no signs of bacterial infection), and Soren seems to be feeling better with each day and we're waiting for the clinginess to wear off as he starts to feel better.

Today he even started pulling himself up to standing again. (cue sigh of relief for paranoid mother.)

And that's when I noticed he will only put weight on his right foot. (cue guilt for not noticing this before.)

The left leg stays up, with no pressure on it, ever. He's happily crawling all over the house again, emptying baskets and filling toilets with toilet paper, but all on one leg. It's possible that the week he spent in baby-cold misery was actually a week spent in total pain from an injury.

Did he fall? How long has he been hurting? What happened? When did it happen? How did it happen? 

I have no idea. 

I only know there's a problem and it's in his lower left leg, but only an X-ray will tell us more. The sky has been brushing a beautiful layer of snow on us all day.  We are painted white and with 2-3 more heavy coats headed our way this week, I predict we will be snowed in for several days. I'll make an appointment for him as soon as we can get out of here. Since there's nothing more that we can do about it today, we're fasting praying for Soren to have comfort, telling my anxiety to simmer down (it's probably not a blood clot…but what if it is???) and enjoying this gorgeous day for what it is perfect for: pajamas, forts, wars over the back of the sectional with the plush angry bird stuffies, reading, games, and baking bread.