Not much to report, just anxiously counting the days, hours, and minutes until we head back up to Shriner's on Wednesday 2/8. It's bittersweet because on one hand, we are relieved that this part of the treatment is over, yet we don't know if we are looking at an additional cast for 6 weeks or a brace she will wear part-time. We won't know until she comes out of surgery which way the treatment will go. So in some ways you could say mommy is not looking forward to next week because it could be news she doesn't want to hear.
Lately, mommy has wanted to take a pair of pruning shears to the cast. It has been pretty rough. It's frustrating when people say, "it's only 6 weeks". That is true until you live it, day in and day out. Mommy looks around at other moms and their squishy babies and still gets bummed out. One would think that she would be into the whole "acceptance" part of the process, but when your dealing with something in which treatment has no real end in sight, it still gets the best of you.
It can also be frustrating when we're out and people just stare at Madelyn. Really, we get it, it's an adorable baby in this ridiculous cast. But just ask instead of staring. We were out at an expo this weekend and it got to the point where when a group of people nearby would stare and whisper, mommy would just blurt out, "She has Hip Dysplasia, this is helping her femur form a hip socket correctly!" They stopped whispering and staring.
Although it is humorous when people ask mommy, "OMG!! How did she break her legs?!" Can you imagine a situation in which a baby would break her legs and then subsequently need to wear a half-body cast??
Madelyn has been struggling in her cast, too. She has become very, very clingy this week. Which is understandable, I would want my momma if I was immobile. We have a feeling she would crawl right out of the cast, but she probably won't have the leg strength to do it anyway.
Madelyn got two vaccines in the arm on Wednesday. For obvious reasons, they can't do the shots in the thigh, so they give them in her sweet, chubby arm and well, she only has two arms, they had to split them over a few weeks. So Madelyn was feeling pretty yucky and feverish these past two days.
Thankfully Mema & Papa Reynolds fly into town on Wednesday night. So whichever way the surgery goes, they'll be here for us. Grandma & Grandpa Douma will be flying in on Valentine's Day. They will be keeping us company and they have an inspection on their new home construction going on right up the road!
It'll be a fun-filled February!
Hopefully it will be cast free, too!
