Brace Free

We have felt like the last month of our lives was a long one. Getting used to life in a brace is very difficult. Gracie's first few weeks in the brace were the hardest. She was still in a significant amount of pain and that made everything simple more challenging. We felt lucky that Todd took 2 weeks off to help care for her and it could not have been more perfect with the timing of Thanksgiving and the time off for both of us. Diaper changes are very hard when you can only remove one side of the brace to get the diaper out. And baths (a favorite for Gracie) were the WORST! If you can imagine a screaming child for 10 minutes while to try to wash her with a washcloth. Needless to say, she got bathed every 3-4 days as to avoid the emotional meltdowns for all of us!

 our first method for meals was to cover her with plastic and let her go to town

Eating, well, that was a marathon of sorts. After we realized that putting her on the ground was easier than feeding her in the infant carseat, it took on a whole new meaning! Food all of the floor, while the baby tries to get away.. not easy!  But we all managed, even when I had to go about it alone when Todd went back to work.  It was a messy, messy business! Thank goodness for splat mats!

My parents came up the first weekend after Grace was in her brace and that was huge for Gracie (and us). She loved having the extra attention and love and it was helpful to have an extra set of hands around the house. We even managed to drive up to Petaluma to spend the day. We have felt so thankful to all our our family and friends who have sent presents, cards, emails and letters. The support has been a god send and we really appreciated all the love.  Grace would get very excited every time a new card would come for her. She had her shrine  on the mantle, and would laugh at the cards and eat them.

As Thanksgiving was approaching we were unsure if we could even manage to fly to Phoenix (our plans to spend with Todd's folks) with Grace in her brace but we made the decision that it would be best for Grace and Pam and Tom (not being able to see their little grandbaby would be too hard). We had been looking forward to this trip for months and the thought of canceling it seemed too hard. I have to admit, I was extremely anxious about traveling with her on the plane. Gracie seemed to improve daily and actually the traveling was quite easy. She was a real trooper on the plane, and slept for most of the plane ride.

Thanksgiving could not have been more special for all of us. For the first time I put Grace on her stomach and she crawled!  She is such a tough cookie, managing to use her arms to pull herself around. She would use her right leg as leverage and then let her left leg sort of drag behind her.  During that time she also learned to sit up on her own by balancing her body in her brace. This was significant because it meant that her pain was not there like it was days earlier. Grace enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal- vegetarian style. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberries and sweet potatoes-- a carb-a-licious meal that anyone would love-- and she did.

Here she is crawling for the first time!

all pretty in my Thanksgiving dress

yum... sweet potatoes

This is what happens when you do not get bathed very often!

On Friday we took her to a farm in Phoenix that has all these animals that you can feed- donkeys, goats, a pony, chickens and dogs. As you have read in previous posts, Grace LOVES animals. At the Zoo, she laughed when the goats attacked her for food. Here, she liked the animals but was VERY afraid of the donkey. I am not sure if it was his teeth or just that she has felt more vulnerable since she got her brace. She held onto my shoulders very tightly and would do a laugh/cry every time the donkey would come.

I don't like you very much

Okay, so his teeth are pretty scary!

 

 

Last Wednesday we had an appointment for her to see the progress that she had made. The build up to this appointment was emotionally taxing.  Todd was shocked when the doctor said that her bone had healed nicely and we could remove the brace. What?!  There were a few stipulations:

-Babies who are in braces often have difficulty removing it. It is purely psychological. We had noticed this. At the hospital she would not let us or the doctors remove her blankets from her legs and would scream when we did. Since the injury, she would hold on to us so tight that her fingers would dig into your shoulders... The doctor said that it could take a few weeks to get her completely out (um, no way that was going to happen). When we brought her home and changed her diaper we decided to give it a whirl.. and let me tell you, it was like she never had it on the first place.

standing up minutes after her brace was removed

rediscovering the Christmas tree. Five minutes later, we had to remove all the ornaments at her level.

First bath- so happy to be clean again!

eating panettone for the first time. she would say, "yum" after every bite.

-Grace will most likely walk funny for a bit, since her muscles have atrophied and the position her legs were put in. It also might take longer for her to walk on her own but there is not concern that it won't happen.

We could not feel more happy or excited for our little girl. It was the best Christmas present we could all ask for and we feel blessed each day for her resilience and spirit.