Aleck was in the best of moods on Tuesday. We got through his ultrasound with just some mild complaining, he charmed all of the ladies during his X-Ray, flirted with his Orthotics Tech, made friends in the waiting room and people everywhere were complimenting me on how quiet he was, how attentive he was. I felt like such a proud mamma. Of course I kept explaining that he’s not usually this quiet as I smiled with pride, basking in the glow of a good day for both of us. While waiting in between appointments we went for coffee, we sang songs, played with our lovies, and watched the lights on his “Ipod” toy I hang from his car seat. It was a gorgeous day outside and we were both happy to be out and about even if most of our time was spent inside the outpatient center. I enjoyed the first part of the day to its fullest knowing very well and it was all about to change, again.
We got the green light once more that the left hip is solidified back in its socket and the hip splint is now officially a thing of the past. The cast was removed from Aleck’s right leg and for the first time since he was four weeks old, he was able to wiggle that leg back and forth. He enjoyed his brief taste of freedom, I enjoyed holding my baby without any hardware to weigh him down. Getting fitted for the shoes was really easy, and it was suggested to me that I might now want to put the shoes and braces back on him until we got home. After all, he might be really upset by the process and I was dying to grab some lunch since it was 1pm and I’d been there since 8:30AM. They warned me his leg and foot will probably be sore and tender so I should be prepared to give him some tylenol.
When we got home I decided to put on the shoes and brace and then feed him knowing full well he’d need to be calmed down. And boy was that an understatement. He was furious with his new shoes. Screaming bloody murder, hitting octaves I hadn’t heard before just to show me how pissed off he was with the entire process. I know the boots themselves didn’t hurt him. We tried those on at the hospital and he was kicking around in them while we waited for the doctors. But here we were again with some new contraption to limit his mobility, this one he’ll be wearing non-stop until he’s about nine months old.
It was so hard to fasten each buckle, three on each side and slide them into the track knowing how upset he was. Kicking his legs up in the air, turning his head from side to side, crocodile tears streaming from his eyes. Seeing him so miserable just breaks my heart every time. I had to remind myself that tons of kids have to wear these, club foot is so common, and that friends of mine wore them when they were babies and they’ve all turned out alright (well mostly). Not only that, we’ve already been through full leg casts and hip splints, and who knows what we are going to be saddled with after he has hip surgery this summer. The road to mobility is long and paved with contraptions and hardware, we’ve got to keep our spirits up as much as possible otherwise life is going to feel really heavy.
Then it dawned on me, this scenario is exactly like my favorite book I read to Aleck regularly called, Pete the Cat. My neighbor gave it to him for Chanukah and it’s such a great story I read it to him almost everyday. It’s all about this cat who is so excited to have his new white shoes on that he sings his song, “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes.” With every page the cat steps into something that turns his shoes another color. “Did he cry, Goodness No! He kept walking along singing his song.” And with every color there is a bubble of thought coming from the Pete’s head saying, “It’s All Good”, or “Groovy”, or “Everything is Cool”. At the end the moral of the story is that no matter what you step in, just keep walking along and singing your song, because it’s all good. So now, when I put on his shoes and the bar, I tell him the story of Pete the Cat, and of course, I throw in our own verse. “I love my grey shoes, I love my grey shoes”.
To enjoy Pete the Cat click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U&feature=related
Today, when I put on the braces Aleck didn’t make a peep. He was smiling at me the entire time, and of course I sang to him.
And by the way, doesn’t he look like a snowboarder in these!?!
In other news, we are a little concerned about the condition of his right leg. It’s looking shorter than the left one, though it’s not as emaciated as I thought it would be. The poor foot looks really twisted and crumpled and the skin is rough and peeling in spots. He’s finally stopped wincing when I put on a sock on that foot so maybe soon I can try to rub some coca butter on it and even try to trim the big toe nail since it looks like a dagger.
Since the doctors had told me his leg was really tender I decided that for his first full day in the braces I would keep him on a steady diet of leaded tylenol left over from his surgery. Why not let him sleep through the first day of getting used to it and let his little body recover. On Thursday we made the switch to unleaded and he was cranky all day long. Unfortunately it may not have been just from the braces since it turns out he was coming down with a cold as well. Quite a milestone since it’s the first cold of his life! Poor little guy is coughing, sneezing and snotting all over the place, and now, so is his daddy. Another first in this house since Craig never gets sick, and I’m always the one at the doctors. We have an appointment tomorrow to meet with a new pediatrician (thanks Leah for the rec), so we’ll see what he says. Of course sleeping through the night is now just a faded memory, sigh.