Day at Riley, Week 2 of Casting

Yesterday we visited the Riley Casting Clinic with Dr. Loder for week #2 of casting. Appointment was scheduled for 1:15, and we started getting ready at 10:15! It amazes me how much longer everything takes with two kids. Ella was fed, Carter was dressed and we were in the van by 12:20...right on time! Last week they were not that busy, but yesterday...whoah! We waited for about an hour before we got back. Carter was the BEST boy ever -- I was so proud that my kid was the one that was calm and collected among all the other wild children, ha!

We worked with nurse Angie and she was fabulous. They started by taking off last week's casts and Carter loved the 'tool' she used to take it off with (he loves tools right now). Ella did well during this, she liked the sugar water they gave me to dip her pacifier in!

I wish everyone could have saw her little feeting/legs moving all over the place when they took the casts off -- it was so sweet, yet sad at the same time. She was curling up her legs and moving them all over the place! She had a few moments of "freedom" :) Nurse Angie scrubbed her little legs with baby wash and got them all clean again. Then Dr. Loder came to look at her and see how the progress was going. Dr. Loder said that all looked great at this point. Her right foot had made really nice progress and he was able to stretch it quite a bit. The left was fine as well, but a little more rigid. I wish I had taken a before photo of her feet, but I did not. Next week I will have more of a comparison, but just looking at the change is amazing. Ella's feet were very turned in at birth, so you can just imagine how far they have stretched already!

They quickly set off into putting new casts on, and this was very unpleasant for baby girl. She was very upset during this, and Dr. Loder told me that it does hurt them for a bit because it is like a "stiff neck" but instead it is her feet. Ell-bell was holding on to her ears and just screaming :( very sad, but she came through!

After all of this commotion was over, both of them needed a break so we headed to the McDonald's at Riley. Carter and I shared some McNuggets and fries...then he found the huge fish tank! He loved it and then started acting like the Carter I know (and love)...haha, we had to quickly get out of there before things started to get out of control, haha!

One week down, another few to go with the casting :)

I found a great new blog to read, about a little boy that had club feet and is now 4. It has been helpful to see that all will be ok -- we have also learned of a lot of friends that had this when they were little, and now things are perfect. Always encouraging how God sends the right people down our path...