Nervous!

We have an appt with thr pediatric orthopedist this morning regarding Adalynns foot and her bow legs. I can't remember if I posted in here or in expecting that she has Calcaneovalgus, basically its a positional this and she was too squished in the uterus and her right foot pretty much was smashed against her shin and the natural place for her left foot to go is against her genitailia (sp?) .. so when shes curled up you can really see how she was on the uterus.

Anyway with her right foot they said when we were feeding/holding her to play with it and strychnine it out, it doesn't hurt her and functions perfectly, and we've done that but it still hasn't straightened completely out and now we have to go to ortho, they might have to do series casting to straighten out not only her right foot but the way her left foot wants to go in when shes curled up and her bow legs. Basically she'll wear casts for a few months but we'll have to get them taken off and new ones put on every couple of weeks bc of growth.

Im trying to act like its no big deal and she'll. Be fine, my mom told my old hair dresser about it and it had happened to her bc her mom was so petite and she was a 10 lb baby and she had to go through the seies casting and was fine actually was a cross country runner and went on a track scholarship to college and runs marathons now, but I guess part of me as a mother I dont want to see my child go through this and another part of me feels like I failed her some how. The pediatrician said it's very common in twins but I still feel guilty and im also nervous that its something different all together causing it. I don't want to see my child suffer or in pain.

So needless to say I didn't sleep. I just finished feeding both of them, im going to start getting everything ready for the appt, ill let y'all know how it turns out, I just needed to vent.

Thanks y'all!

 

Oh Alex, I didn't know about this! You definitely didn't fail her.

You can do this, and she can do this, and it'll all be fine. I wore braces for years as a child and I have no discernable gait issues,

 

:grouphug: I'm thinking of you today, lady. I know that the unknown is scary, but I think your doctor is right- it's very common and very correctable. It will work out!

 

Thanks Stephanie, its just unnerving and I will hate to see Adalynn go through any pain, we're already dealing with horrible reflux issues with her i dont want her to have to go through more

 

Poor kid and poor mommy! Be sure to update us later with how it went.

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and your baby and a good appointment! If she needs casts, the earlier the better - a friend of mine had this for her singleton baby who is now just fine and who did really well even with the braces, learning to scoot and crawl with them and nearly knocking out mom and dad with the cast a few times by kicking during diaper changes. If it is necessary you can do this!

 

Just got back ..... NO CASTS OR BRACES NEEDED!!!! Doc said she might be a but flat footed when she starts walking but to keep her in good shoes and that'll help.... Im SO happy!

 

WOOOO!!!!!!!!! Fantastic news!!!

 

:woohoo:!!!! I'm so happy for a good report!

 

The only thing that concerns me is that the orthopedist didn't want to see her back at all but I guess her pediatrician will keep an eye on it and send her back if she sees a need.

 

Yep- being cleared by the specialist is good thing! It means they don't think there is anything to worry about.

 

Yay!!! What a relief - so happy for you Alex.... I'm sorry you're having to go through so much.. I hope the reflux clears up quickly too... :hug:

 

Glad it went well!!

 

I didn't know about this either, but I'm super happy for you!!! And your daughter!! Yay!!

 

I has seemed to be a lot lately bit I'm feeling a lot better being back on my medicine, and now just want my baby girl to be okay. We're still having to play with things trying tto figure out what will help with the reflux and tummy issues but hopefully we'll get there. I can honestly say I've never understood ir known such a helpless feeling as when your child is in pain.

 

Alex, I am sorry I didn't see this sooner, I would have made you feel better I think. My baby Vanessa - twin A - was the same way - I was looking at her legs and I was wondering how would she ever be able to walk? At her 1 week appointment I asked the doctor if she's OK, and he folded her legs and showed me exactly how she was folded inside of me - pretty similar to what you are describing. I was thinking this girl will have horribly bowed legs. Well, now she's 2, and she's running and jumping and her legs look better and better as she grows. I think around 6-9 months they started to look normal.

She was 5 days old in this picture - you can see the left leg seems more crooked than the right one- her legs looked like a pretzel folded on top of her pelvis area. This is a recent picture - you can see her legs look fine. I am not sure about Addalyn's position, but Vanessa was breech the whole pregnancy, so I think she was stuck with her legs in that position for a LONG time in there. I hope Addalyn's reflux gets better also.

 

Sometimes it feels like life just throws curve after curve balls but you're doing well to dodge them so well - I remember the early days being very hard also with the issues my girls had and it felt like forever before things became the sort of "normal" where I could relate to others just feeling the crazy of being mother of twins without worrying about all the medical stuff.

For the reflux, apart from the medication etc, what we found most helpful was always keeping them upright after every feed for at least 10-15 minutes. As they got older (around 4 months) I put them in the bumbo seat after every feed (on the floor of course!).