Justin–Clubfeet and braces update

Justin had his 12 week in the braces appointment on Tuesday. Dr. D had nothing but positive remarks. He’s graduated to needing the braces only 12 hours a day! Hallelujah! So I have to admit that it seems like a big jump to go from 23 hours a day to 12 hours a day. So, for at least the next month, he’ll wear them for at least 14 hours a day during the week and 12 hours a day on the weekend. It won’t hurt him to wear them more. I just want to make sure he doesn’t regress.

He’s no longer considered club footed because it has been completely corrected. Craziness! It hasn’t been 5 months yet but I remember thinking “omg, I cannot wait until he’s 5 months old and he won’t have these braces all the time”. Well, that day is here. He is, of course, happy (he’s a happy baby anyway). Following the appointment we did not put the braces back on until it was time to go to bed. He has been wiggling his little tootsies ever since.

8 days old (on the way home from the NICU)

Cast 1 @ 11 days

Second Cast (before/after)

Third Cast (before/after)

Fourth Cast (before/after)

Fifth cast which was after the tenotomy (before/after)

Braces!

Here is Spence in the first photo and Dr. Doyle in the second. Spence is like the cool tech one would look forward to seeing. Dr. Doyle has been great. He tries to tell jokes every now and then which are, well….not so funny. Just a little awkward but he tries really hard! One day I asked Spence if he had a nickname – after a bit of prodding, he said it is “pookey”. Ha!

So having a baby with braces, does it make things difficult to do sometimes? I think it depends on one’s definition of difficult. We’ve found that swaddling Justin is still the best for him. His sleep is less interrupted when he’s swaddled. The problem with swaddling is that the bottom of the swaddle blankets aren’t made for a baby’s feet to be attached to a brace the width of their shoulders. Thankfully, Kiddopotamus makes a swaddling wrap which I can wrap underneath Justin’s crotch but still wrap his arms up snugly. Here’s a photo of it below.

Oh, and my side of the bed is less than 12 inches from his bed (aka pack n play). I’m not sure he’ll be moving real soon. It’s just too convenient right now. And I love having him so close!

Since he’s been in the braces, he’s gained 5 pounds! He was 12 weeks old when he started wearing the braces. By 17 weeks, he had gained 5 pounds. I think he was very uncomfortable in the casts. His legs have filled out nicely, too. The top of his boots cause the fat on his legs to accumulate. Something that Dr. Doyle said will correct itself eventually.

We have been very happy with his treatment. I do wonder if he’ll begin to eat even more now that he has been reduced to wearing his braces for 12 hours a day. Did I mention I was nervous about him wearing them less and less?

If I may say so myself, his toes are just precious…