8 Weeks and counting ...

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of my friends that have called/texted/messaged me after my last blog post.  I'm not going to lie, I have at times felt very alone out here on the other side of the country and I have missed what I have almost come to think of as my "former" friends.  It was really nice to reconnect a little bit; sad that it was because I was at my breaking point, but it showed me that when you really need your people, they're there for you.

Bodega Bay

That being said, little man seems to have turned a small corner.  While still not able to be put down a whole heck of a lot without fussing, he isn't fussing every waking second any more.  We've had about 3 days in the last 2 weeks that have been wine drinking inducing, but for the most part I've started to see a happier baby.  We've taken day trips to Mt. Diablo, Yosemite, and Bodega Bay.  Yosemite was the final road trip in casts, yay!

He never cried whenever they sawed the casts off

Last Monday, he came out of the plaster and into the  "boots and bar", referred to as "bnb".  That has come with it's own set of challenges, including stressing every second of the day whether or not his heel is "down" in the shoe.  He had a tendon surgery where they cut the Achilles to gain more flexibility in the ankle.  The final set of casts held his foot in more of an upright position for 3 weeks, and the bnb is supposed to maintain both that flexibility and the turned out foot position.  The feet are now fully corrected, the bnb just maintains that correction.  If they're constantly falling off his feet, or his heel isn't down, he can lose it and relapse, making more casting necessary.  Some kids even have to undergo another tendon surgery.  I do NOT want to have to go through all that!  The happiest part of his day is the hour where he has naked legs.  Tonight, he was getting a little fussy and we got him naked and he was HAPPY baby.  Makes it so tempting to not "comply with treatment", but that's just asking for a relapse, so we follow the protocol.

Fully corrected feet

It's been a challenging road so far, but no one ever promised raising children is easy.  In fact, raising kids is pretty damn hard, I don't care who you are.  Each one has their own sets of challenges, and we're dealing with ours.  There are some SUPER exciting things coming up for us soon, God has been working on us!  With every challenge comes equal blessings, and I'll be excited to share more on that soon.  Please keep praying for us; we have a checkup at Shriner's on Monday; please pray his correction is holding and that his boots get broken in enough that they're not constantly sliding off his feet.  The bar is a little heavy, but we chose this over the Ponsetti bar b/c the Ponsetti bar has zero movement whatsoever and I've read so much about kids that just REALLY don't tolerate it well at all.  His Dobbs bar is spring loaded and has enough independent movement that he can bend one leg at the time.  The downfall is the weight of it wants to pull off the boots.  Of course, we're fighting with fat, soft little baby feet and new, stiff, slippery boots.  His poor little ankles have deep red grooves when he gets his rest hour, but by the time we put them back on that's gone.  Good I suppose?  Only 4 more years to be concerned about it.  Oh well, like I said, we'll focus on the blessings ... :)

Day 1 of bnb

Getting in a routine

How to keep your shoes from sliding up and down!

So, do your sneakers ever rub up and down on your heel?  Even though you're pretty sure the size is just right, still, you get that annoying heel slippage.  That has been my problem with every single pair of sneakers I've ever owned (dress shoes too, but I don't know what the solution is for dress shoes!).

Enter:  Fleet Feet running store.  I was frustrated enough with wasting money on running shoes that didn't work to finally give in and get "professionally" fitted at a runner's store.  Yes, the shoes cost me $110.  BUT!  It's 148% worth it to finally have shoes that fit my foot correctly, and to have learned a nifty little trick called a "runner's knot".  The way I move, only my right shoe generally slips up and down.  Why?  I have no idea!  But ever since I learned how to tie my shoes this way, I have had NO heel slippage and hence, no 'hot spots'!  Here's how to do it:

1.  Make sure your shoes are laced all the way to the 2nd to last hole.  You will then thread your lace back through the last eyelet like so:

2.  Pull the lace so that you've made a small loop, then go ahead and put your shoe on.

3.  Next, thread right over to the left loop, left over to the right loop.  Make sure to thread through the loop.

4.  Now, this is the most important step; tighten the laces down and out, NOT up towards the center.  If you pull up towards the center, you will tighten the shoe across your instep, which is NOT what you want.  When you pull the laces OUT to the side, you will literally feel the shoe snug up towards your heel.

5.  Finally, tie your shoes like normal!

This way of tying my shoes has saved my feet.  I no longer have any heel slippage, causing blisters or hot spots.  Also, my toes don't go numb because my shoes are the correct size, not a size too small because they're slipping all over the place!  My heel is pretty narrow:

But my foot is wide:

Hence ... I have a hard time finding shoes that fit!  Hopefully, this post will help you learn the "runner's knot" that has saved my feet!