After casts came wearing a shoe/bar combination full time only getting them off for about an hour a day for bath and a little play time and massaging of the feet. For the first 2 days I was wishing for the casts back! Monkey man had become used to the casts and how he could move so he had to learn a new way of moving. His favorite move in casts was to move his legs up and down like he was marching. When his legs were stuck together with the bar he couldn't do it. There was alot of tears from him and from me those first few days! I remember once calling DH at lunch time in tears because I couldn't get the shoes back on after taking them off to check for sore spots and rub his feet- monkey man was fighting so hard. Eventually we got them back on and figured out that we needed to take them off at a more appropriate time instead of every 3-4 hours like we were told to. I was thankful that my parents were around and it helped alot to have them come some days to help me out. There is no pain like the pain I felt when my baby was crying and crying and I couldn't seem to do anything to help. But after 2 days he got used to us touching his feet (remember he hated his feet being touched so didn't do well with us massaging them either), taking the shoes off and putting them back on as they slipped and we got better about figuring out how to get them to stay on. Life became much easier once all that happened. The shoes/bar were a part of life for us. 23 or more hours a day. My little man is so strong and has taught me alot through this process. Our appointments to ACH went from 1-2 a week to once a month (with needing to go for new shoes as he grows). He is growing so fast otherwise we would be at once every 3 months!
Here he is on the first day in his shoes/bar
In November our doctor said he could have a Christmas present and go down to wearing the shoes/bar just at bed and naps. We went in hoping for that but knowing that it might not happen. So just before Christmas we were told that no he couldn't go down to just night/naps but could have a bit more time out in a day- maybe 2 hours instead of 1. It was not a big deal as we were used to them and really Monkey man didn't mind them at all by this time but the extra time would mean we could do things like taking him swimimng or in the sled without worrying so much about how long he was out of the shoes. We were told once he started pulling himself up to standing then we could go down to night/naps but the right foot just wasn't ready for it yet. In the end we need to do what will hopefully prevent relapse in the future so we accepted the news. One thing I did buy and we finally used this month when we went out was a "my little chair" I will have to post a picture when I take one off the camera or get my phone pictures up but this allows us to have a high chair whenever we have a chair. Because of the boots/bar system he can't sit in most restaurant high chairs because they have a bar across where the legs go so with the my little chair it just threads between his legs! Well worth the money spent!
He would often sleep with his legs up
My monkey man amazed me with what he could do in the shoes and that he was right on track with his peers for reaching milestones. He learned to roll over, crawl backwards (still working on forwards), pull himself up to sitting, and pull himself up to standing. Which brings us to mid January 2012. Since it looked like his shoes were getting too small and he was pulling himself I made us another appointment with Dr.Joughin. Turns out his shoes were still good and she said- "well we like to keep them in until they are a little older" but took off his shoes and looked at his feet and said "they are beautiful!" OMG let me tell you that was music to my ears! Then she said "so think we should go down to nights/naps?" To which I replied- "I don't know you are the expert but he isn't pulling himself up alot" But she said that is ok- both feet look great and she is comfortable with him going to night/naps even if I wasn't lol So January 23, 2012 my son graduated to only wearing his shoes for naps/night! I am definately enjoying the freedom this allows as until this point I could only use a wrap carrier for when he was in his casts (only short periods of time or it would cut off circulation), a mei tai carrier for boots/bar but it was sometimes tricky to get on since it had to be threaded through his shoes. I always wanted to be able to use a carrier with my baby - now the Ergo is my friend :) And he likes it which is great as I worried he wouldn't. He can also wear ANYTHING now! Although pjs with snaps is still useful. I don't have to look for really stretchy pants, or snaps in the crotch- I can see something cute and not worry about those little things :) I do still put him in the shoes/bar earlier than neccessary- it is just easier to do it when he is happy not when he is tired and grouchy already. So I guess he is probably in them 16-17 hours a day. I thought he was a squirmy baby before but now that he can move any way he wants he is 10X more squirmy! Never sits still :) That's my boy and man do I love him!
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