We have finally gotten to a new normal around here. I am a strong believer in routines...they make life so much easier. Hannah now only takes her braces off for 1 hour before bed. This time is used for bathing, running and expending all of her energy. It is amazing how light she is without the braces on! We enjoy this free time even more when we see the beginnings of progress. There is a notable difference. Both feet point forward and the bowing has decreased some. When the braces are off, we constantly have to direct her to sit with her feet out (instead of tucked under her and out to the side) so as not to "wreck her legs". She understands the concept of "making her legs better" so this is very helpful for us. She does have red pressure marks on both of the sides of her knees though which bother her at times. We have to be careful these don't cause her too much pain. The other issue we have encountered is that because she is wearing the shoes all day, we need to find a way to air out her shoes in the hour they are off. This is more difficult than one might think. We have used Odor Eaters foot powder, baby powder and lysol spray. These seem to help a little...as long as it doesn't become caked on. Our amazing little girl does not see her self as different. She receives multiple glances, compliments and the like from passersby regularly which seem to help her self-esteem. We are constantly encouraging her and have to fight our own frustrations and wants to help her all the time. She is 2 and wants to be independent so we do our best to allow this to happen safely. Especially since carrying her is proving more and more difficult every day with my growing belly! In the coming weeks we will attempt potty training and transitioning to her "big girl bed" in anticipation of baby in the spring. We shall see how it goes. For now, we can't thank everyone enough for their thoughts and prayers. We couldn't do this without God, our faith and YOU! :) Merry Christmas!!! :)

Hannah has now been wearing her braces for 23 hours a day. What a trooper! She still loves it when we take them off to bath her, etc. and will not sit still long enough for me to take a picture or video! She is finally getting back into her routine too, so I feel as though I have my little girl back.
She has developed some pressure sores on the outsides of her knees. This bothers her a little and we continue to massage her legs when we can. The specialist said this would happen but that those areas will toughen up....just like us I suppose!
I have come to the conclusion that perhaps Hannah was acting out in the beginning because it was a new experience for all of us and she was able to sense our frustration and apprehension. Now, that the experience is becoming more familiar, things are beginning to settle down for all of us.
We shall see what today brings!

Finally we are getting somewhere!!!

Lately putting Hannah in her carseat has been a challenge. She refuses to be buckled in...hmm...is it because her legs are already strapped down that she feels like a prisoner??? Hmm...I wonder. She also exclaims "mommy do it"...such as carry me, hold my hand, help me. This is a new behavior for her as well. Not sure if mommy is the softy or if it is because mommy is pregnant and she senses that mommy won't be able to continue doing these things for her as often.
Hannah also saw her orthosist and her orthopedic specialist today for a 2 week follow up. The doctor stated she looked fine walking in them, but as always the meeting was quick. We asked about the time frame that we are looking at, and of course the answer is "we will continue to monitor her progress and see her in 3 months." The doctor explained that Blount's is a growth plate issue and that it is good for her to hit a growth spurt while wearing the braces in order to speed up correction. We also noted that her Blount's is more pronounced in her left leg and that she may need to wear that brace for a longer period of time. The orthosist also mentioned that we would be able to buy her another pair of shoes to interchange with her current pair and it would only cost a small fee for them to design the second pair. Maybe a pair for bedtime and one for outdoors? Maybe a pair for dress and a pair for play?? We will have to see what we can find.
The prostetics office was also much more helpful this time...I left there feeling like we had finally gotten through to them! We met with the Marketing regional director too who apologized for assembling the braces incorrectly the first time too. The orthosist also asked if we had located any support resources which I stated we had not. I then asked him if we could connect with other families they have treated and he hesitated saying there weren't too many families as attentive as we were, but that he would check with his collegues. I thanked him and let him know that we would be ok with them giving out our name and number to others who may prove helpful. We shall see where this leads us. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive over the past few months. We truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we couldn't get through this alone!