New Accessory

Our darling daughter has a new cast. Yes, you read that right. You may not have noticed that both her feet turn to the right, a LOT. At three months, her pediatrician said it would probably correct itself, no worries. At six months, he said we should go see a pediatric orthopedist (or is that orthopedic pediatrician?). In any case, we went to see him on Wednesday.

After much prodding and examining, complete with three x-rays, he told us Bekah has a club foot. Woah! It's just her left one, the right one is fine. He said it's a lot more flexible than a textbook case, but it's a club foot nonetheless. He said that the fastest, most effective way to take care of it is to stretch out all the bones, ligaments, and muscles with a cast. She would have it for 6 weeks, then transition to a brace for a short time.

So, we went for it. Malcom wasn't too happy at first because he knew the cast would be high maintenance--only sponge baths for 6 weeks?! Yuck! But the doctor said it was our best option. He wrapped up her foot, then wrapped all the way up to her thigh (or else the darn thing would fall off!). She cried a lot, probably because she was restrained and had to sit still for 20 minutes, and also because we had been there for two hours already and she had missed a much-needed nap.

Well, Malcom was right, it's a pain to deal with. But I keep telling myself that we'll be so happy we did this when she's young and can't remember it. She doesn't let it stop her from crawling around everywhere, and still pulls up on just about every piece of furniture we own. Her fierce independence is obviously a gift in this situation; I'm glad she'll persevere despite the casted leg.

So, there you have it. Our daughter looks like she's been in some fancy skiing accident at seven and a half months old. Now let's just hope the cast doesn't stunt the growth of her left leg and we'll have to stretch it out in a different crazy procedure later on!