It's the last time you'll see this ...

AH. (the penultimate day)

This week. Two days. The day after tomorrow. It's really happening!

I cannot believe it.

I also cannot believe this: I'm nervous! Don't get me wrong. I am excited - beyond excited - for her to be cast-free. I am beside myself with anticipation of taking her in the pool and giving her baths (stockholders in Target & Amazon can thank me for my hefty contributions over the last couple weeks ...) and dressing her in normal clothes and watching her crawl. Totally totally thrilled that this is happening. But I'm nervous about whether or not she will be in pain as her joints loosen up, and how long that will last ... and how she will sleep when she has the freedom to move all over the place ... and what sort of trouble she will get herself into as she gets more mobile. I have just gotten so used to life in the cast, I think it will be pretty strange to change a normal diaper and put her into her highchair. And her carseat. And her clothes. But it will be so wonderful!

Ev is happy too.

Thank you for traveling with us along this journey. A few people have asked if we will still keep the blog once she gets her cast off, and we will. I think there are a few parents & grandparents out there who are still reading ;) And actually, the one thing lacking in the blogs I have read about kids in the spica cast is how the recovery out of the cast has been! So to make up for the lack of posts in the last month, we will be sharing a lot about how Evie does as she comes out of the cast. Stay tuned! We'll be back Wednesday with a cast-free update!

(And before then, I will post a video of how much she is scooting around on the floor, even in the cast!)

Assorted Thoughts

Whoops. It has been two weeks since I have updated anything. We're just doing our thing over here ... not too much new to report besides two new teeth (you can see them in the picture).

And that we have begun a countdown (dry erase on the bathroom mirror). Twelve days from tomorrow morning. Not that we are counting.

This cast, like I noticed when she first got it, is very similar to the other, except for the diaper opening. This one is way wider and that makes it really hard for diapers to stay in - even with a bigger diaper (size 3 - had been using size 2 before) and an incontinence pad. All orthopedic surgeons out there - watch the size of that opening! It's a pain for us when the diapers fall out! :)

The other really great thing in Evie-world is that she is just starting to really imitate us. Yesterday morning, I was making her french toast (only with the yolks of the egg, for any concerned readers) and it was too hot to give it to her. After putting it in the fridge and pulling it out, I blew on it. Because that's what you do to cool off hot food. She thought it was funny (but she thinks everything is funny), so she laughs and I hand it to her. She looks at me, takes the piece of french toast in her hand, and tries with all her might to blow on it. Ppp - phhp! She looks up at me and smiles like, Mom, I know what to do.


My word. So I actually - really - am watching what I do around her now. Because she also has a pretty good memory. This morning, with no prompting at all, she blew on her french toast (not that she can actually blow only air out of her mouth ...). 


She is also learning to smile for a camera. This is what I got in response to "Ev! Say cheese!"

She might be smiling so big because cheese is her favorite food these days ....

Rolling!

Evie has always been a squirmy kid - even before she was born. The first time the doctor tried to find her heartbeat, at 12 weeks, she couldn't find it and sent us back to get an ultrasound. And there was our baby, just doing summersaults, flipping back and forth. She kicked like crazy for a lot of my pregnancy ... and so when she was born and was a feisty little thing, we weren't surprised at all. This is one of things that made getting the cast so hard for us! How would she react to not being able to move a lot?

We quickly found out there was nothing to worry about. Her arms and upper body are still as active as ever, and are becoming more and more coordinated every day. Her feet have come to be affectionately called "helicopter feet" - she just spins them around and around. She even will do sit-ups when she is lying on her back.

Of course, though, the cast does inherently limit quite a bit of her mobility, especially since it goes down to her ankles (well, almost. Her legs seem to have gotten quite a bit longer since getting the cast on). It is hard for us to see other kids her age sitting up, scooting around, crawling - knowing that she would love to be doing those things herself! So when she rolled over yesterday (twice!) I was super excited for her (as you can tell in the video). She is also doing this thing where she sort of lifts her cast up off the ground like she wants to scoot around in it. When she gets the cast off for good, I can't wait to see her take off!

(Side note: It was Wednesday that this video was taken/post was written. On Thursday and Friday, she rolled over no less than 25 times each day. Totally incredible!)

Booster Seat

The booster seat arrived! And it works :)

The pictures aren't great but my camera was upstairs ... and the one thing about this seat is that you for sure cannot leave a kid unattended in it. At least not my kid - she could tip right over if she tried hard enough.

But she can sit! Her legs sort of hang over the edge, and we put blankets or padding behind her to keep her upright enough & in case she throws her head back against the chair.

And then there is the tray. It is way bigger than I expected. It has long straps that go all the way around her & the chair. But, like the booster, it works (Sort of. You can't put anything heavy on it or anything that could tip & spill). I put cheerios on it today and she tried them for the first time. We actually may use it in the car too, so that there is something most of the way around her to catch toys as they fall.

So glad we have a way to feed her now that doesn't involve one of us holding her!

Diapering

I waited a week (can you believe it's only been a week? I almost don't remember life before the cast!) before doing the diapers post so that I had a chance to figure things out. Diapering with the spica cast is annoying but it is not as bad as I expected it to be.

One thing that helps a ton is that the cast has room to spare in critical places - you can see here that there is tons of space between Evie's belly & the cast. There is also a little extra room in the diaper area, which seems pretty important for successful diapering. I keep wondering how this will all change by the time we are close to the 6-week cast change because I expect that Ev will keep growing like a weed.

Evie normally wears a size 3 diaper, and from what I had read online, it sounded like most everyone has had to go down a size in the spica cast. I haven't found this to be absolutely necessary. I also read a lot about people doing things like lining the edges of the cast (in the diaper area) with pantyliners so that it absorbs any leaks. I can see this being important if the cast fits so tight you can't get a diaper very high in there, but I haven't done this yet.

I'm trying to keep things simple. So I have two different boxes of Poise pads - I think it's important to use incontinence pads because they're made to absorb an adult sized amount of urine, which gives me confidence that they're plenty absorbent for Ev.

Ultimate absorbency for nighttime

Moderate absorbency for daytime

As for the diapers, I use Pampers BabyDry - this is what we've used for a while and they've always done the trick. Size 2 are easiest to get up in the cast (one size too small), but I have been using some size 3 too.

When I change her diaper, I first take out the dirty diaper and wipe her, and let her air out a little while I get the new diaper ready. I take the pad (moderate for daytime, ultimate for nighttime) and tear 3-4 holes down the back of it. This is so that the urine soaks through to the diaper instead of it all staying in the pad, hopefully keeping her a little drier. Then I put the pad in the diaper, more towards the back because as she is lying down, the wetness will move back. I'm not sure about other brands, but the pads fit perfectly inside our diapers. Conveniently, the ultimate pads are almost exactly the same length as the size 2 diapers.

Then I (sometimes) tear off the tabs of the diaper so that they don't bother her. And when I don't tear them, I tuck them inside so they are not touching her skin, which could be uncomfortable.

Tucking the diaper inside the cast right now isn't too hard, so I usually do the front first (and I know it's far enough in when the band of colors along the top of the diaper is right inside her cast) and then just tuck it up the back. Occasionally I turn her over to tuck the diaper in the back of the cast, which makes it easier to get it nice and smooth.

You ca see here that the edge of the cast is lined with wide medical tape. They did this at the hospital and it is just now starting to peel a little. Seems like replacing this once a week is a good idea. I need to do it this weekend.

Also, I don't always put in a pad - if I know she'll just be in the diaper for a short period and won't be sleeping during that time, I use a size 3 diaper without a pad.

Over all of this, I put a big diaper (size 5) just to keep things all in there. It really doesn't serve much of a purpose except that if I'm holding her, the small diaper could very easily be pulled out. So the big diaper keeps everything secure. Also, it's a little protection for while she is airing out between diapers. I pulled this one out too quick a few days ago and ended up with a major pee all over the bed. Gross.

So that's how we diaper. Hope that helps anyone who is about to do this for their son or daughter!

elliebear spicawear

I am not sure what we would do without the ebsw rompers. Evie wears them all the time, except when we go out (glad it's summer - we're wearing dresses).

If you have a child who will be wearing a spica cast for any length of time, I highly recommend getting a couple of these.

They'll make a dent in your wallet at $35 a pop, but if you only buy a few things to make life in the spica easier, they easily make it into the top 3 for me (those things being, in no particular order, the ebsw rompers, the MacLaren stroller, and the beanbag. However, I'm pretty sure that the booster seat arriving tomorrow will pass up the beanbag in these rankings ...).

The rompers are well-made with a nice thick cotton, have snaps along the whole bottom for a seamless look, and best of all - most obviously - fit like a dream over the spica cast. Thank you EBSW Spicawear for such a great product!

*Note: Evie weighed 21 pounds at the time of her surgery, so she has size large. They fit great, even though her cast is enormous around the thigh. She has a bar across her cast, so I snap the romper above the bar. Also, I will gladly pass these along to folks who might need them after Ev is finished wearing them. She's projected to get her cast off in mid-late July. Email me if these would fit your little girl (we have only pink ones) and you might need them at the end of the summer!

Yum Yum

Last night I finally bit the bullet and made some homemade baby food for Evie. I don't know why I didn't do more of this sooner. Well, except that pre-made baby food is super convenient. That's why.

One of the reasons I enjoyed this so much is that it was easier/ more fun than I expected. Here's what I'm loving:

1. My immersion blender. Put chicken and some veggies in a pot, simmer it, and then stick this baby in. Pureed in minutes. It's wonderful. An aside - anyone ever used an immersion blender with spinach? It doesn't seem to work so well.

2. Tovolo Perfect Cube Ice Trays. They are flexible and come in great colors. They just make freezing food more fun.
 

                          

Ready to wrap and freeze!

3. Annabel Karmel's baby food books. I made two batches of food based on her recipes - chicken with sweet potato, apple, & carrot, and spinach/pea/sweet potato/apple. Yum.

4. Zoli sippy cup. Obviously I wasn't using this to make the food. But it has turned into a meal-time essential around here. The weighted straw means the cup doesn't have to be held upright. It's the only sippy cup she has been able to use well. I give it to her while she eats so she doesn't try to grab the spoon.

                                                             

Now the next step is to actually be able to feed her easily. I thought that maybe the beanbag chair would work, but no such luck. She's a little too reclined to be able to eat comfortably. I ordered the First Years on-the-go booster seat and a snack tray that can go on it. They should arrive tomorrow and I'm excited to see how they work. I decided that this is a better choice than buying a $200+ high chair. Hopefully they do the trick!

                                        

Bath! (sort of)

Evie has been a little stinky lately. Not in the diaper (due to the iron in her vitamins - we would actually like her to be a little stinkier in this department), and not in her personality (because she is so sweet, as usual), but in her neck. The child has a nice roll between her neck and her shoulders, and it's a little hard to clean. It is especially hard to clean when we are trying to keep the cast dry.

So this afternoon, after a particularly messy meal, I had had enough and decided to try to clean her more thoroughly than I've been able with just a damp washcloth.

We put a garbage bag over her from the top of the cast down and cinched the drawstring (and realized we were going to have to make this 'bath' quick because she really liked chewing on the plastic. Ew). We layered her bathtub with blankets to make it comfortable, and stuffed some paper towels inside the top of the garbage bag to catch any water that dripped in.

And we put her by the kitchen sink and washed up. She was pretty confused by why only the top half of her body had water on it, but always enjoys water pouring over her. And now she smells like herself again. Ah.

Ev is still herself

One of the reasons I was so sad before Ev had her surgery & cast was that I was afraid that being physically restricted would take some part of Evie's personality away ... like, she wouldn't be as happy or not laugh as much ...

As it turns out, this was totally unfounded (as I suspected, but it was nice to actually see her be her normal self even the same afternoon of the surgery). She is even learning new things ... like peek-a-boo. Usually she laughs more when she does this, but the video below shows you a little of what she has been doing a lot - peek-a-boo & clapping :)

Carseat and Stroller

As I mentioned, Ev's carseat is a loaner from the children's hospital where she had her surgery. She has the Britax Hippo, which retails for between $400 and $600 - thus, we are so thankful that they give us the carseat to use while she is in the cast for free!

It's an awkward fit because the angle of her cast matches the angle of the carseat - which would be great except her heels are lower than her bottom, so if she were to sit on her bottom, her heels would dig into the carseat. Not optimal. However, we found that if we put a small pillow underneath (actually it is one of those travel neck pillows) her heels are elevated just enough and she is able to be comfortable. Another thing we needed to get was sunshades for the windows - obviously this carseat does not have a shade like the infant ones do. 

As for the stroller, we knew it'd be a priority to get one that she could fit in comfortably (otherwise we're pretty stuck in the house - because of the bar on the cast, I'm not optimistic that any wearable carriers will work). On Saturday we took an excursion with Steve's mom (who is in town and has been SUCH a big help!) and tried out (literally) every stroller at Babies R Us. 

We bought the only stroller she fit in, but fortunately it's one that we were considering getting anyway (before all this spica cast business started)! We got the MacLaren Quest (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11082692&searchURL=true) and it's awesome. We put a little padding behind her torso to make it a little more comfortable, and it's a dream. After her nap this afternoon, I was able to get the stroller out from the trunk of the car and unfold it all while holding her. The one handed fold and unfold is, as it turns out, even more essential than I thought. So it's worth the high price tag (well, given that it's the only one that fits her too, so not like we had a choice ...). There's a good chance that another MacLaren would work (although the Volo didn't because it doesn't recline, and the Triumph's seat didn't really fit her cast), but there is the Techno (which we'll get to try at the end of this month because our in-laws have one at the house in New Jersey). So check her out!

Day 2

We have 42 days in the (first) cast. We're on Day 3 now. Woo.

Yesterday was our first full day home, and it wasn't too bad. Ev took a couple short naps in her crib, so that was great progress. When she wasn't sleeping, she was either trying to go to sleep (it took almost an hour each time) or playing downstairs with mom :) As it turns out, the beanbag works great. Her abs are strong enough that she can sort of lift her upper body up, which may mean she can topple out of it (so dangerous) so she can't be in there unattended. I imagine if she were even just a few weeks younger it wouldn't be a problem at all.

So by the end of yesterday, I was pretty nervous about how she would be at night. She only slept for 1 - 1.5 hours for each nap and didn't seem to be sleeping all that well. So we did our normal afternoon evening routine (eating food around 5, going for a walk (Steve just carried her), nursing around 7, read a book, sing a song, then to bed in her crib). She cried for a little bit so I went up and just sang to her until she was in a comatose-like state. Then she fell asleep at 8:20 AND SLEPT UNTIL 4:30. Glorious. She went back to sleep after nursing until about 7:45. And now we're about to try our hand at another nap.

I'll put details about diapers and sleeping arrangements in separate posts once I have a chance to take pictures. We have successfully navigated every diaper change, including one very poopy one, so my mission to have a clean cast is off to a good start. Hoorah.

End of Day 1

Well, Ev is asleep (not in her crib. That did not go so well. She is on a bed upstairs snoozing away) and I wanted to give more details about the day (mostly because we have a few really sweet pictures).

After we talked to her doctor, we waited for another hour until they called us back to recovery. The nurse told us that she was smiling a lot and seemed pretty happy. We waited back there for about 15 more minutes until they brought Evie out.

We were VERY anxious to see our little girl!

She came out with her little breathing tube (they put oxygen through here while she's waking up from anesthesia). Looks pretty happy, right?

And then she recognized us. Very, very unhappy.

They suggested that she drink water or apple juice first because she was likely to vomit due to the anesthesia. We gave her a sippy cup with apple juice, but she was only interested in getting some milk. And she didn't throw up at all. Yay!

Then we went home. She nursed and slept most of the afternoon, then played for a little bit. 

Audrey was kind enough to offer her toes for Ev to play with. 

And Judah was so, so sweet to her. 

And, of course, Dad got her to smile and laugh while singing the chicken dance song.

So one day down. And it was a pretty good day! Steve got some great news from work, Evie seems to be adjusting well, and she is finally asleep (and not in someone's arms).

We are grateful that God has brought us through today. I was, admittedly, a total wreck last night and this morning. It was terrible when they took her away from us to do the surgery. But I have never breathed as big a sigh of relief in my life when the nurse called from the OR to tell us that they were casting her and only needed to manually put the hip back in place. I laughed and laughed when she first clapped (while we were getting into the car - she had a balloon, and she loved it). And I was still able to cuddle up to her as she was nursing. So it was a good day. Now for tomorrow ...

PS. You can see how well she is doing in this video from this afternoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9no380_6b4 

Home!

We are at home. It wasn't particularly fun or easy, because Ev does not fit into the new car seat very well. The angle seems to be awkward for her, so we'll have to figure that out. On the bright side, we did get some smiles and some claps from her!


Since we have been home, she has been sleeping while I nurse her. When we tried to put her in her bed, she would just scream. At least this way, we are all getting much-needed rest.

We will check back in later.