Week 2

Tomorrow we go in for cast #3 so I should update how the second set of casts went.

The thing that surprised me most was how emotional the removal of the first set of casts was. I had to awkwardly hold him in my lap as they cut the casts off. He started screaming right away as they moved his legs into an uncomfortable position, and then to top it off the saw was really loud and little chunks of plaster flew into his face. It was really hard to look at him and to see tear-filled eyes staring back up at me with a look of "how could you let them do this to me?"

After the casts came off they gave us 10 minutes to feed him and try to calm him down. His legs seemed a little limp like he forgot how to bend his knees. I hope he doesn't have problems using his calves after this is all over.

The second set of casts went down just like the first set. He screamed and screamed and turned bright pink. Tomorrow I think we're going to try and bring a bottle and hopefully distract him a little.

On the plus side, the first week of casts seem to have really helped his feet. Check out the difference after the first set were removed compared with last week:

First Week

We faced several challenges the first few weeks. I think we're getting the hang of it now.

Bath time: Sponge baths are no fun. We're able to wash his hair and top half of his body and run warm water over him to rinse in out, but then he is sitting there, wet and exposed to the air. That's when he turns into a bright pink squealer. I can't wait until the casting is over and we can place him in a nice tub of warm water that he can enjoy.

Chaffing: Apparently the top of the casts were not padded well before they plastered them. His inner thighs now have these huge rashes on them from where the plaster rubbed against his skin. We've been applying eucerin lotion and antibiotic ointment to try and ease the pain for him, but the poor little guy will have scabs for a few weeks. With the second set of casts we asked for them to try and pad it better, so at least it doesn't look like he has any new burns from this week.

Diaper changing: Changing a diaper poses 2 problems. First, it is hard to lift both of his legs in 1 hand while cleaning and changing with the other. The second set of casts is pretty much the limit that my hands can hold, so I'm not sure how the rest of them are going to go. The other problem we have with diaper changing is the occasional sprinkler. On day one we had a little accident and ended up with urine stains the rest of the week. We got a package of baby wash cloths that we call "peepee teepees" that we now use to cover him while the diaper is off, but occasionally some pee still gets on the casts.

Awkward long legs: His legs are bent slightly at the knee under the casts, but for the most part his legs just stick straight out. Since he can't bend his legs, they make it challenging to hold him in certain positions and awkward to seat him in my lap. Worst of all, we got a nice little cosleeper for our bed so he could sleep next to us, but now he's too long to fit into it since he can't bend his legs...it didn't even get 3 weeks of use.

We'll probably just get the hang of dealing with the casts as soon as the last casts come off.

When I found out my baby was going to be born with club feet, I wanted to know what others had gone through in similar situations. It was hard to find much on the internet besides a few people's random postings of their experiences. I'm hoping I can keep a nice document of our journey to correct his feet to help others out who find themselves in similar situations.

I was 4 months pregnant when I was told that my baby would probably be born with club feet. I didn't know what to think at first, but then I got scared he would be born with other problems too. Luckily they did a lot of tests and it looked like the feet were an independent problem and nothing else seemed to be wrong otherwise. We ended up going to way more ultrasound appointments than most people go to throughout a pregnancy. The plus side to having this complication though is that we got to get several 3D ultrasounds which aren't typically covered for Kaiser patients. It was fun to see a picture of my baby's face before he was born.

I had prepared myself for the journey that was to come. I knew my baby would be born somewhat odd looking and I knew we would be having weekly appointments with the orthopedic doctor starting in the first week of his life. I was ready for the casting process and the possible surgery that might be in the future. I think it was good to get ready for a funny looking baby, because when he finally came out he wasn't funny looking at all. His feet were messed up, but they were way cuter than I could imagine.

Owen is almost 2 weeks old now and just got his first set of casts this week. Before we went in, his feet looked like this:

It was actually cute how they folded up so neatly. It was like a little package. The only problem was that he kept kicking himself in the privates and often would put is foot in the mess as we would change his diaper.

At his first appointment to get the casts he screamed the whole time. I got to hold him, but he turned himself pink with all the screaming and eventually screamed himself to sleep. The first day at home he screamed every second he was awake. It was a rough day for all of us. I imagine the pain he was feeling was like what I felt whenever I got my braces on my teeth tightened as a teenager. It always hurt so badly the first day or two but then I didn't notice it. I'm hoping the next appointment goes a little smoother.

Here he is after they finished the casts, asleep and ready to go home: