January 2012
2 posts
WatchTodd crafted this little gem. Sharing it for those not on the face book.
16 Months Old
Maybelle is standing and walking, holding on for support. Couldn’t find a babysitter, so we took her to a swanky new year’s eve party where we ate raspberries and whipped cream and stayed up past her bedtime. We were still home before midnight. That explains the evening apparel.
Even though the cast has been off for a week now, she still acts like it’s on, keeping her leg...
December 2011
8 posts
Goodbye, Spica Cast
Got X-rays, they looked good, and so we all held her while this guy started cutting along the sides of the cast with a super loud saw. We were a little nervous. Then he got pliers and pried it apart.
Maybelle going for her foot. Cast free!
Spica Cast Week 9
She can stand in her cast. And walk and cruise if assisted. So I gotta baby-proof the house again. Maybe after the holidays. Get this: ONLY TEN MORE DAYS UNTIL THE CAST COMES OFF! It’s a Christmas miracle. See you in 2012!
Spica Cast Week 8
The cast is scheduled to come off on Friday, December 30, at 9:45 am, in the outpatient clinic. No hospital, no anesthesia. Super yeay.
Sleeping has been complicated by a stuffy nose and the continued teething pain. Nonetheless, Maybelle has been saying the two-syllable word “Happy.” Pretty sure it’s totally out of context, but still nice to hear.
15 Months Old
New teeth coming in. Swollen toward the back on the bottom gums, is that molars? Whatever it is, it’s making her grouchy. She is rolling over, trying to push up to hands and knees, trying to pull up on the couch. All the stuff she did last year, before all this dislocated hip business.
I took leftover saffron rice from an Indian food take-out disaster and baked rice pudding. The result...
Spica Cast Week 7
What’s different with the new cast?
Diapering is harder. The old cast had a nicely sized opening. This one is all free on one side, so the diaper can slip out. And the back part is pretty tight, so I can’t fit my hand in there to adjust it. We’ve experimented with different sizes and stuff, but the best way seems to be size 2 on the inside with one side fastened and the other...
November 2011
13 posts
Spica Cast Week 6
Good-bye, old green cast.
Hello, new baby blue cast. She had to go under anesthesia and have an IV. Everything went well, the surgeon said it was one of the cleanest casts he’d ever seen. We got to go home before noon and Maybelle has a free leg! Scaly, peeling skin, yet free.
Spica Cast Week 5
Look - Maybelle’s practicing her post-Thanksgiving slump! Tomorrow we go to Michigan for a flurry of family activity. Today was her pre-op exam with the pediatrician. She has a slight fever, runny nose, and hemorrhoid. Giving her some hydrocortisone and acetaminophen and she’s good to go under anesthesia on Monday. Say goodbye to the big green cast - one more week until the new cast.
Sadhana Day 5
Been practicing meditation this week. Each day after I put Maybelle down for a nap, I’ve practiced the Gayatri Manta. Here’s Gayatri Devi.
She loved the sun so much she became a mantra dedicated to invoking the spirit of divine light. You can learn more here and here.
Here’s what I do: I light a candle and sit at my altar (which is a pack and play folded up with a baby...
Spica Cast Week 4
We had guests, we had good times. Two more weeks till the cast change.
Shiva Mantra
As part of my yoga teacher training I am going to do a 40-day sadhana, starting a new daily personal spiritual practice. In preparation for this, I’m looking for some good sanskrit mantras and chants. Here’s one now!
OM NA MA SHI VA YA
Translation: Apparently it has no direct translation. But the cool thing about it is that the sounds relate directly to the elements that govern the...
Spica Cast Week 3
Maybelle can hang out in her spica chair and watch Sesame Street. Yes, we started screens, don’t judge me. For mealtimes, she sits at the table in the on-the-go booster seat and she fits just dandy. Only there’s no tray so food flies everywhere. We also got a new stroller that she fits in and let me tell you, it’s just dreamy. Extra special thanks to Meemaw for making it all...
14 Months Old
Perhaps due to her obvious limited mobility, Maybelle seems to have shifted her attention to making faces and playing with shapes. She also likes blocks, puzzles, and containers with lids or caps. She has developed a taste for the dreamy whip that is cream cheese, and would eat it at every meal if allowed.
October 2011
21 posts
Spica Cast Week 2
The cast has started to smell. We’ve investigated the opening around her behind a couple times now and removed some of the pee-soaked cottony stuffing and tape. We blow dry it and dab it with tea tree oil and apply layers of new medical tape, scented pantiliners, and Hello Kitty duct tape. So here’s the current diaper routine: We put a size 2 disposable diaper (with the sticky tabs...
Spica Cast Week 1
I’m not gonna lie, this first week was rough. Maybelle didn’t sleep well, eat well, or get comfortable well, which she will tell you about in a loud barking rabble-rabble grouch noise.
The hardest deal is she can’t sit down. We spent the week propping her up in semi-seated positions with varying degrees of success, eating Halloween candy, and watching a lot of TV. Did you see...
WatchPre-operative pain relief.
We’re taking the aggressive approach and going through with the original recommendation: open reduction. Doctor makes an incision, tightens the capsule, closes it up, puts on the cast. Talked to him this morning, he seemed nicer on the phone. Still gruff and brief, but included pleasantries such as, “Pleasure speaking with you.”
Surgery scheduled for 12:15 pm Monday...
Second Opinion
Man, the doctor at University of Chicago was such a sweetie, I wanted to hug him. So was his nurse assistant. His opinion was do a closed reduction surgery. When she’s knocked out, they inject a special dye and X ray her to see if the ball goes in the socket right. If there’s too much tissue there for it to stay in good, then they do the open reduction.
So.
WWLKD? (What would...
13 Months Old
13 month old baby, Stevie Wonder says in Superstition. I almost forgot this month’s age, preferring the brevity of “one” to the question of “How old is she?”
Sleeping update: Dude. She slept through the night. Still wakes up sometimes, but a quick nurse and she’s back in the crib. Naps consistently after lunch for a couple hours. It’s a miracle....
September 2011
11 posts
Took Maybelle to the chiropractor. Nice lady. She did some gentle adjustments and said the muscles around the right hip are really tight. Suggested I go to a physiatrist or a physical therapist that specializes in pediatrics. But I don’t really see how that will help put the ball in the socket and keep it there.
Did the Shriners application. Message boards are saying that Children’s...
The surgery scheduling lady called me today. Maybelle is scheduled for surgery on Monday, October 17. Said surgery should last 3-4 hours, but plan to be there 8 hours at least. Not sure of the time. Other surgeries are scheduled for that day and the youngest goes first, she said.
What about insurance, we get Medicaid, I said. Should be no problem, she said.
We should be getting a call from...
1 tag
Took these updates off of Facebook, so if you wanna keep up on Maybelle’s situation, you’ll have to come back here. The latest is we have a pre-op consultation with the orthopedic surgeon scheduled for this Friday. We’ll know more then. Also left a message for the family doctor for help getting a second opinion. In the meantime, there’s the multitude of the Internets. I...
Got the appointment pushed up to one on Friday. The Children’s outpatient building was being partially demolished, next to a giant construction site. Went to the Orthopaedic department, 8th floor. Little kids with casts on their arms and legs.
Maybelle was examined by a resident, then the doctor. Wanted new X-rays. We just had them, that’s why we’re here, I said. Well did you...