The Cast

This was at the doctor, that's why she has no clothes on. =D

When Eleanor was born one of the first things I noticed was he right foot; It was unusually flexible and shaped a little funny. As people came to visit and meet our baby girl I mentioned her foot to some of them, I just couldn't help but wonder about it. Most people just shrugged it off and said it was probably nothing. Then the pediatrician looked at her. He came into my recovery room after doing his examination and told me everything looks great and she seems very healthy...except her foot. He said she would need to go see a foot specialist as soon as possible to decide what to do about it. This news really upset me. No one wants to hear that their newborn baby is not absolutely perfect. I immediately called the doctor and scheduled an appointment for that Thursday (she would be 4 days old). Before the appointment my mom did some research on newborn foot conditions, and it turns out many babies have foot problems when they are born, and most problems can be completely corrected. That made me feel a little better, but I was still dreading the appointment and praying that my little girl would not have to have surgery or something like that.

Unfortunately, Peter had a final at the same time as the appointment, so he wasn't able to be there with me. Fortunately, my sister-in-law was SO kind to come and help out that day and she was able to go to the appointment with me, thank goodness! After waiting like an hour and 45 minutes (it was sooo busy), the doctor came in and looked at Eleanor. It took him an entire 2 minutes to look her over and then he said "alright, lets take her to the back and get her casted". Just like that, my 4 day old baby was going to get a cast...and he didn't even give me any time to process the news. Thankfully, I have the best baby in the entire world and she was an absolute angel while they were putting the cast on her. I think I would have been a wreck if she was upset by the casting, but she was great. The cast went from her upper thigh all the way down to past her toes. The doctor said she would need the cast for 3 weeks, but because babies grow so fast, each week she would need to come back and get the old cast cut off and get a new one put on. He also said this process should not hurt her at all, and she should be completely fixed with no lasting effects after the casting was done. That was a huge relief!

Honestly, I think Eleanor enjoyed having the cast on, it gave her the ability to scoot and roll over which she utilized frequently giving me a few heart attacks. Besides the fact that the first cast rubbed a blister into her thigh, it didn't seem to be painful for her. Though it did make dressing her and changing her diaper a bit challenging, and some of her cute outfits with little feet wouldn't fit over her huge cast. But overall it was a much better experience than expected.

Photo by Ashley Crosby

This face shows how Eleanor feels about her cast...HAHA!

We went to the doctor on week two to get her third and final cast. They cut her old one off and then the doctor came in to look at her foot. He said it looked great and she didn't need a third cast. That was completely unexpected and such a pleasant surprise!! I went home and put her in an outfit with feet right away! Then I laid her on the floor and watched her fuss as she came to the realization that she wasn't able to scoot or roll over any longer...she gets REALLY frustrated about it now.

Peter and I are so grateful for modern medicine! It is wonderful and amazing all the things they can do and all the problems that can be fixed easily. I'm so thankful that Eleanor will not have any problems walking or running in the future. We just love her SO much...including her little feet! =D