Well, you've got to document the good things with the bad, right?
A little over two weeks ago, I dropped Rhys off at the
babysitter's. I nursed him and then put him down for his nap. I can remember that he was super tired, and fell asleep pretty quick.
When I returned to pick him up (3 1/2 hours later), he was red in the face and screaming. The sitter was trying to shove a banana in his mouth (because if you've seen him recently, you'd notice food is his kind of thing). Normally when he sees me, he'll smile and reach for me...not that day.
I got him home, and it seemed like I couldn't do anything to calm him down. He wouldn't nurse and wasn't interested in anything really. I put him on the floor, only to have him scream. He wouldn't scoot around like he normally does. He would cry out in pain, and his little lips would quiver.
I knew something was wrong, but I called my mom to come over to check him out. Upon seeing his reactions, she said she thought something was wrong too. I called the sitter, and asked if anything happened while he was at her house. She said no, and claimed he had just been fussy all day.
I made an appointment with the doctor. We couldn't get him in until 8 pm. I bathed him, and put him down to sleep. He was exhausted and his little eyes were puffy and red. I ended up waking him up to go to his doctor's appointment. The doctor had Dan gradually move up his leg from the ankle to see if he could get a reaction from Rhys. Sure enough, Dan got just above his knee when Rhys screamed in pain, and his poor lips started quivering again.
We were sent to get some x-rays, and it was confirmed...Rhys had a broken femur. I immediately started crying, and asked the doctor how a baby could break a femur. He explained that it was not a "malicious break", but a break that would have happened if someone fell or jumped on him, or if something very heavy had fallen on him.
You see, femurs are very hard to break, even harder to break for babies. He said it was a bad break, but not a bad break. From what he could see in the
xrays, the break had just missed his growth plates.
The doctor said he didn't need a cast, because he wasn't walking. He said to be extra careful with him, and that Rhys would not use that leg if it hurt. He also said it would take 4-6 weeks to fully heal.
I immediately called the sitter, told her what happened, and she
texted me back...that was annoying. She once again claimed that he was just fussy that day for her, and not crawling around like he normally would.
She
texted me (if you can't tell yet, I'm totally unimpressed with text messaging :P ), and asked how he was doing the next day. I told her he was still in pain, and that I was taking the rest of the week off, and that he would not be coming back to her for at least a month. THEN, she called and asked all sorts of questions. I asked her again if she knew what or when it happened. She denied anything happened in her care.
Thursday I received a text from her stating that she would no longer be able to watch my baby. Apparently her three year old was struggling with her watching so many kids (three babies total). I cried, AGAIN. It was SO hard finding someone to watch a baby in the first place, and although I didn't want to take him to her, I didn't think I had any other choice. She had his playpen and some of his belongings still at her house, and she said she would bring them by. I had some papers for her to sign and she also owed me some money (I prepaid at the beginning of the month). I told her I would stop by her house, and get everything.
Well, Rhys woke up early Friday morning, and we were downstairs as Dan was leaving for work (6:30 am). He opened the door and ALL of our stuff was on the doorstep. I was LIVID!! I had been so diplomatic in all of this mess, and I felt that the least she could do was drop off his stuff while I was home or better yet, awake!!
It also didn't help that due to small town gossip, word got back to me that not only did she know when it happened, but she knew how it happened, and she let my baby suffer to cover her butt. All this time, I had felt bad for her. I would have felt awful if a child had been injured at my house on my watch, and it wasn't until Friday that I actually started feeling sorry for my baby. It turns out that her 3 year old was jumping on the furniture, and jumped on Rhys' leg and broke it.
She came by my house Friday evening, and I gave her one last chance to be honest. She flat out lied to me again. I called her on it. I told her that our town is a small town, and that if she was going to lie to me, she needed to lie to everyone. I also told her that she'd be getting Rhys' bills, and that she better pay them. Honestly did she think it wouldn't get back to me, I'm the only mom in my town to have a 7 1/2 month old with a broken femur!!?
Personality wise, I am an
avoider, and let me tell you...that confrontation was SO not me. However, I realized I needed to be an advocate for my child. How long did he have to suffer so that she could try to put the blame on me? He is a baby, and sadly what happened would have never gotten back to me if it wasn't for a friend of mine who heard what had happened from the sitter's neighbor. It has seriously made me sick to even think about.
Rhys is doing much better. He is finally starting to move his right leg again, and he really never let it slow him down. We have also found a new babysitter, and can I just tell you it is so refreshing to find a happy baby in her arms. He is the only child in her care, and Rhys is just eating up...
Moral of the Story: When telling a lie: 1) Remember who you've told 2)When a lie involves a broken bone of a baby...it is just best to stick to the same story. 3) Lying makes you look like a heartless ass instead of a
dumbass.
