The First Weekend

So our journey with Blount's continues. I wish I could connect with other parents to find out the tricks and methods they have used in dealing with the braces. Our weekend went well. Hannah is now wearing her braces for 8 hours and has only unbuckled them a few times. She has learned how to stand from a sitting or laying position too. I can't believe her strength and determination! She does not like wearing the braces though so we continually praise her and tell her just how beautiful she is. I want her to know that even if people stare at her or kids say innappropriate things, that we still love her and WE think she is still beautiful!

We went shopping on Saturday with Dan and Auntie Mary to look for clothing she could wear with her braces that would be comfortable and give us easy access to changing her diaper...(as this has been an unexpected challenge as well!) The top strap of the brace comes up too high on her thigh and we are not able to pull her pants down to change her without taking the entire brace off of her. We fear that if we take the brace off, that we will have to struggle getting it back on. It is also time consuming to get them on and off. So we are trying to devise a plan to make this easier.
We were able to find my pair of BabyLegs (baby leg warmers) that were given to us by a fantastic friend a few years ago. These Baby Legs are great! They provide a little barrier between the brace and her legs and keep her legs warm. Because they are kind of like a "crotchless pair of tights" (I know that sounds nasty!) they provide easy access to her diaper and we don't need to take the braces off! Yeah! So now we are all about shopping for comfy dresses she can wear with them and also possibly little bloomers to fit over her shoes. We also were able to buy some wider legged sweat pants that could fit over her braces (Baby Legs, braces, sweat pants) for the colder weather.

The other issue we encountered was nap time. She was always one to go to bed pretty well but not with the braces on....she refused to lay in her crib and nap even though she was clearly worn out. We have taken to laying her on the couch with us or in the lazyboy with us and she will eventually fall asleep. Poor girl. I can only imagine her feeling trapped in her crib because standing up in there with braces on would be difficult. How could she get comfortable laying in one position? Hmm....this will prove to be a challenge.

On Saturday night we took the braces off after 6 hours. When we did, she started dancing around like a crazy little girl. Wish I had caught it on tape! It was as if she enjoyed her freedom as she now could move about without the weight of the braces. We did notice that her legs did appear straighter though. At first I thought it was my imagination, but the others noted it too! Unfortunately this lasted for just a few brief moments before the bowing returned. But it was great seeing a little progress even after a few days! Yeah! Go Hannah Go!