Exactly one week ago we woke up, wiped the weary out of eyes and nervously made our way towards the orthopedic office to welcome the long awaited newness of a cast free existence.
There was a slight buzz of excited anticipation...
Well, until that cast saw scared the LITERAL pants off of Annie.
She sure recovered very quickly though and even had one first great stretch before getting fit for her orthopedic brace that she will wear 12 hours a day for the next 6-10 months or so...
Get ready for it, friends....
SHORTS!!! A DIAPER THAT CLOSES!!
It has been a long 16 weeks. As timing would have it, I literally left the very next day for Child Life Conference in Cincinnati over the holiday weekend. Leaving my floppy, splayed, Mommy lovin', leggy baby weighed so very hard on my heart. But with Nonnie in town and Kelly working from home... I knew she was in great hands.
So. Aside from hanging out in our tiny bathroom for tornado warnings (more of that later), it has been a week of settling in to this new rhythm and celebrating a bunch of GREAT firsts!
Like table sitting in a highchair...
and park swinging...
rolling in both directions and even a little sitting action. Annie will hit those milestones one way or another!!
There is still a learning curve in regards to positioning in her brace at night, working out really tight tendons and building up muscle. If you want to see me lose my mind, just think about pulling on one of her legs... I might have lost my cool a couple times with a very excited big little sister and some quality leg pulling. GEEZ...
I think that knowing there is always a chance that she could fall out of socket in this window of time before bone ossification, keeps me on edge. Especially because that most likely would mean a new path of femoral or pelvic osteotomy (aka more aggressive surgeries) and another lengthy bout of time in spica. NO.THANK.YOU.
I'll learn to deal here soon. Until then, both crazy and normal versions of myself will continue to give daily thanks and stand in awe of the amazing resiliency of my beautiful daughter. My heart has been so changed by this entire process.
To all of our family, friends and community *virtual included*, we are so incredibly thankful for your prayers, love and support. It was felt in even our most hardest of moments.
What a season of living.