Limping Josiah

In mid-February, we noticed that Josiah was limping with his left leg.  Not only was he limping, he was also crying when we put his left shoe on or sometimes even when we put his left pants leg on.  If he fell down on his left side, he would just cry and not want to get up.  We don't run to our kids and pick them up when they fall; instead we usually say, "You are okay. Come one let's get up."  We also aren't parents who are quick to take their kids to the doctor; we like to wait and see if they recover without medical intervention. After a week of continued limping and people at church sharing their concerns with us about it, we decided to call the pediatrician on Thursday morning.

Thankfully, I took Josiah to the pediatrician alone (Thomas went to work with Josh) because it ended up being a very long process.  We had to wait about 30 minutes to see the doctor, but when she came in Josiah was not happy if she was touching him.  Therefore, she really couldn't examine him to see where the pain might be because he cried at the sight of her!  Since he is too young to tell us what is wrong, the only choice was to have x-rays taken of his left leg.

Our pediatrician's office is located in a small hospital, so we didn't have to travel far for the x-rays.  We did have to go the business office of the hospital so they could get all our information, but thankfully the wait wasn't too long.  However, the same cannot be said for the waiting room for the x-rays.  We waited over an hour to be seen, but Josiah was a champ through it all.  He was so well-behaved and happy through it all (I think the goldfish I had in his bag certainly helped!).  I was really glad that Thomas was with Josh as it would have been much more difficult to take care of both of them for the long wait.

Once we were taken back for the x-rays, it wasn't long at all.  The worst part was that I could not hold Josiah or be with him while he had the x-rays because of my pregnancy.  Josiah cried and called my name and it took everything I had not to cry along with him.  Thankfully, they were quick and I could see him the whole time.      

The results didn't show anything, so the doctor thinks most likely he twisted his ankle or pulled a muscle.  He has been doing much better now and the limp is completely gone.  We are thankful he did not fracture a bone or anything more serious.  Somehow I think this won't be the last time one of my boys has to have an x-ray since they are so active and sometimes play rough.  Maybe this was just preparing me for the future!