Day one

So today was the first cast. Spencer is doing the Ponsetti Method for his treatment of his club foot. It went really well. They said he would have to stay still for fifteen minutes, and I was thinking how on earth would we be able to do that? The doctor held his leg while they did plaster casting (it holds better) and Spence didn't screw it up. He doesn't seem to mind it too much except when he tries to get on his side. There are little bits of plaster everywhere!
It really sucks that he can't have a good bath for a while. We get to soak the casts off in a vinegar/water solution an hour before our appointment for the next weekly cast. I make take liberal time with this and do a real bath while we are at it. They want us to wrap wash rags around the cast and tie a plastic bag around it and bring him to the office that way.
I'm really pissed about the lack of resources online about appropriate toys for kids with club foot. I really want to get him an exersaucer, but there is no info online whether kids can use them or not. The ortho said one would be fine, but it can't be a bouncer. Surely there are other parents who have tried different toys and such. I think we might just buy a used one- that way we aren't out of a lot of money if we can't use it.

Very Quick Update

A few quick updates:

Spencer had a busy day. We cashed a giant check from the government (his backpay for SSI) and bought him some clothes and a couple of toys to help him along with his develpment. He went to the hand specialist today, and his doc said that if he had to bet what was up with his hands, he would say distal arthrogryposis- but he'll grow out of it. He potentially has an extra bone in his thumbs as well- we'll do x-rays in six months, but overall it was a good visit.
Then we went to have his super leaky g-tube looked at. He had it replaced with a smaller one which has seemed to work wonders. While they had his old button out, he shot out stomach goo and managed to shoot it about five feet. I didn't know whether to be embarrassed or impressed.

He had his first PT session this week and it went really well. He is doing amazing considering he was in the NICU for so long. We also went to the endocrinologist and she told me that he could potentially outgrow his hypothyroidism and there was no way that it could have done any damage to his brain in utero!

The neighborly way

I am so fucking sick of dealing with Spencer's cannula. Every five seconds it's out of his nose- it's either right below his nose, in his mouth, or near his forehead. I'm tempted to duct tape the damn thing on.

Anyhow, ever since the g-tube pull out, Spencer has been leaking, even with the button. I'm going to call Monday if he hasn't stopped leaking by then and see if they can do anything about it. It would be awesome to not have to change sheets every day, and clothes like seventeen times a day- let alone we are burning through guaze.

Today we had an incident with his stroller. I feel like such a terrible parent. I guess it wasn't locked, and when I put him down in it, the whole thing collapsed. He seems fine, but we're keeping a close eye on him for swelling and such. Pretty sure it just scared him because he was easy to calm down. All the neighbors witnesses it, but none of them came to help. Assholes.

Quick note

Spencer didn't get casts today. It's going to happen in a few weeks. Only his club foot is getting casted. The doc is thinking he will have to wear an extra brace for his foot in addition to boots and bars until he's four. So we shall see. He thinks the other foot will correct itself. We really like his doc. He was impressed by the amount of knowledge I had and that I could use and pronounce terms correctly. That's what you get for being over educated and a planner.
He is getting his hands examined by a hand doc on like the 13th. It will be nice to know what the verdict is.
We also got our button today! It's amazing already. It has a tube that attaches to it, and it's so awesome to not move around tubes all the time.