Sponge Bathing Beauty

Greetings and a Reminder:

I write this blog as we go through ET Mehta Casting with our daughter Olivia. The blog is intended to inform, possibly inspire, and raise awareness of Infantile Scoliosis and its treatment/cure. Please share our story. For more information please check out http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/ 

We gave Olivia her first sponge bath yesterday, and I have to say it went pretty swimmingly. (haha, see what I did there?) Here is a description of what we did. Just like the diapering entry, let me start by saying these are mere suggestions and what may work for us may not work for others. 

We used the kitchen sink for the counter space and the larger basin. If you have a double sink, all the better. First we laid her down on the counter with a rolled towel under her to wash her hair. My mom used to wash my hair this way. I remember being scared that I was going to go down the drain. Olivia was really good about it. 

Next we filled the sink with about an inch of warm water and my husband had her stand in the sink while I washed her from the waist down. If you have a double sink you can have the water on one side and your little one standing in the dry side. We then took her out, and dried what we washed. Brian sat her on the counter and with a facecloth I washed her arms, her hands, and her face. Finally, we laid her back down and with the damp facecloth wiped the skin we can reach that's in the cast and the parts of her torso that are exposed. We dried her really well and she was fresh as a daisy! 

I've been told that another good way to sponge bath your nugget is to lay them out somewhere comfortable for you on a towel and clean them with a small basin of water and a facecloth. I think this is a great way to clean the casted babies who aren't quite standing on their own. In Olivia's case, she is an active 16 month old so having her feet in the water and Daddy helping, makes it a lot less messy. I'm always concerned that I'm not cleaning her thoroughly when it's a sponge bath. I also worry that I'm not rinsing her well enough. To me, sponge baths are just one big mess. I felt that the way we did it yesterday with her in the sink wasn't messy and worked very well. 

If you have children in casts and want to share what you do for bathing please comment on this post. All feedback is greatly appreciated! 

Olivia continues to astound and amaze. I just can't get over how well she is doing with this cast. It's like she doesn't even know it's there. Her 2 year old cousin Aliyah was very curious about her cast when we went to visit. I told her that it's Olivia's turtle shell. Aliyah then tapped it and said "Leeva turtle." I now refer to it as her turtle shell. 

The next entry will focus on clothing and bibs. Until then, here are some pictures from today's cousin play date...

Diapering

Greetings and a Reminder:

I write this blog as we go through ET Mehta Casting with our daughter Olivia. The blog is intended to inform, possibly inspire, and raise awareness of Infantile Scoliosis and its treatment/cure. Please share our story. For more information please check out http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/ 

As promised in my last blog entry this post will be all about diapering. Before I begin, I would like to again thank all of our readers for their continuous support and encouragement. All the kind words we've received and the check-ins have been very touching and greatly appreciated. We are also close to 1500 page views! Big thumbs up. Please continue to share!

Ok, on to diapering! Let me start by saying these are mere suggestions and what may work for us may not work for others. There are many variables: age of baby, size of baby, shape of baby, shape of cast etc. In this post I will talk about a couple of different diapering suggestions; cloth, doubling up, night time, and just standard diapering. 

Cloth

We generally use cloth diapering for Olivia's nighttime diapers. Those of you that use cloth diapers know that every cloth diaper brand is different and will fit your baby differently. We own a large sampling of cloth diaper brands so we were able to sort through and decide what would fit with the cast and what wouldn't. Our best picks were the ones that were generally low rise fitted. A key is to have the diaper set to it's largest size (no snaps). 

Our picks that seem to be working well: Rumparooz, Blueberry/SwaddleBees, Trend Lab, Bumkins, Tiny Tushie, Bummis Tots Bots, and gDiapers (for day use only). I can't speak for Thirsties, because I generally wasn't a fan of their fit for Olivia originally, but these may work ok too. The ones to avoid are the Kawaii Baby. They are inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. They are also high rising and therefore not good for the cast. 

Flushable diaper liners are a huge must for those messy #2s. I also suggest you add some extra inserts for night time absorption. They will have a HUGE tush, but they're in bed so who cares?

Disposable Doubling

When we were at the hospital the nurses did what I like to call "disposable doubling."  They would place on her a diaper one size smaller than what she normally wears, tucking the tops up into the cast, but not securing it closed, and then putting a regular sized diaper on over the cast secured closed. We found that the top diaper worked as a shell and never actually got wet so we would use the same top diaper repeatedly. 

The nurses suggest this method as a preventative from poop going up the cast. The cons of course is that you're doing double the diapering. Again, use the top diaper as much as you can to reduce costs and waste. This would be a good method if you have a baby that tends to get messy in that department.  

Standard Diapering

What has been working for us just fine since we've come home from the hospital (knock on wood) is just diapering her the way we always have pre-cast. Olivia has been wearing her normal size disposable diapers. The cast has already loosened up a little bit and we are able to tuck the diaper right underneath. We have just been really diligent in checking her diaper every three hours to make sure it doesn't get too wet. 

Nighttime

We haven't tried this yet, but a suggestion that I have seen is placing two maxi pads back to back and sliding them just under the cast like a belt. This will prevent any nighttime leakage from getting up the cast. This, in addition to the duct tape, should work really well in preventing cast leaching.  

Well, that's all the diapering info I have at the moment. If you know of other suggestions please feel free to comment on this post with them :-)

Next post: Sponge Bathing Beauty! Until then....

We're Home!

Greetings and a Reminder:

I write this blog as we go through ET Mehta Casting with our daughter Olivia. The blog is intended to inform, possibly inspire, and raise awareness of Infantile Scoliosis and its treatment/cure. Please share our story. For more information please check out http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/ 

We are home and ready to begin casting life. When I left you yesterday Olivia was lounging around in the hospital. Once we got the OK we went into the play room so Olivia could adjust to moving in her new cast. It took a little time, but she was soon on her way, walking, picking up objects and sitting in chairs. She had some trouble with sitting on the floor but she has now almost mastered this. We had some dinner and then it was time for Brian to go and to prepare for the long night ahead.

I truly can't ask for a better baby. Between diaper changes, vitals checks, the door constantly being left open and our roommate having discomfort problems every two hours Olivia had gotten a total of four hours sleep (from 10 to 3:30) with being awake an hour and a half in between. She did not complain AT ALL. When she was woken up she would just lie there and babble and play with the music box they attached to her crib. She did get a little fussy when the nurse took her temp, but a nothing more. She is truly a saint! I love her ssssooo much!

Olivia and I were then able to sleep from about 4:30 to 7:30. Brian came back to the hospital at 7:30 and we had breakfast. After breakfast I duct taped Olivia's cast and got her dressed. We were discharged at 10:00 and headed home. Olivia has truly been doing awesome and has adjusted very smoothly. She still gets stuck here an there, but always works her way out of it. We tried stairs and she did well with those too. 

Our next step is working out diapering. We are going to try a few different things and I will later write a separate entry about what works, what doesn't and the plan we have decided to take. Until then....

The Cast is On!

Greetings and a Reminder:

I write this blog as we go through ET Mehta Casting with our daughter Olivia. The blog is intended to inform, possibly inspire, and raise awareness of Infantile Scoliosis and its treatment/cure. Please share our story. For more information please check out http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/ 

First off, I would like to thank our readers! We have surpassed 1000 page views! Of course I'm sure at least 1/4 of those are just me. ;-) Please keep sharing!

I am writing to you in Olivia's room at the hospital. She is currently enjoying a much deserved nap. This poor girl has been up since 5 this morning and CRANKY! She DID NOT want anyone to touch her, look at her, try to make her laugh. Nope! She wanted none of it! 

We arrived at the hospital at 6 AM on the dot. I took the advice of a mom from my support group page and grabbed a wagon for Olivia and our overnight stuff. We waited back at the Pre-Op clinic for about 30 minutes. Her vitals were taken and we were sent to a holding area in the OR Wing. All the nurses just couldn't get over her beautiful red hair. One nurse gave her a balloon, which she enjoyed punching around for about five minutes. We also got to pick her cast color. We went with pink! I'll have to find some pink fairy wings we can put on with it. :-)

Dr. G then came in to say good morning and to check if we had any more questions. He also mentioned how he and his team found my blog! Yes! Next, her anesthesiologist came in to explain what they would be doing and how I could go in with her while they put her under and that they would be running an oxygen tube down her throat to make sure she could breath ok. They explained that with the gas her brain falls asleep faster than the rest of her so her arms and legs may continue to move and her eyes may roll back and it may look scary but that it was all normal. My response was that I would not get worried unless I noticed her team was getting worried.

They dressed me all up in my blue scrubs and we were ready to go. Once in the OR I sat with her on my lap and they got her used to the mask a little bit by playing with it around her face and putting a grape scent on it. The t-shirt she is wearing under the cast was put on and then it was time to "knock her out." The next moment reminded me of when you watch a mystery movie and someone comes up from behind and covers the victim's mouth with a cloth soaked in ether. They held the mask on her and she was ssssooo upset and I was just working to calm her down. They told me she was out but I was disoriented because she was still kicking, then they reminded me that the brain falls asleep before the rest of her. I'm not going to lie. I thought I would be prepared, but it was still scary. I gave her a kiss and I was escorted back to Brian.

We were then moved to the waiting room where I sat and enjoyed a little Kindle time while Brian enjoyed his third cup of coffee and we waited. About 45 minutes later Dr. G came in to tell us she did well. They x-rayed her in cast and the spine is almost perfectly straight. That's a great start! Following Dr. G's visit a nurse came and escorted us to the recovery room. Miss Olivia was sleeping soundly.

We were warned that she was not going to be happy when she woke up. Our recovery nurse said that she may be particularly tough because she's a redhead. Ha! She said that her sister is a redhead and I told her that mine was too so I'm prepared. While she was out they put an IV in her foot (which I knew she was going to be very unhappy about) and they had given her some of the sedative she was given for the MRI to help her come out of the gas more gently. Our recovery nurse was concerned that she had a little bit of a diaper rash, but we learned later from our room nurse that it's actually a pretty mild rash. Anyway, we let her sleep for about 45 minutes and then woke her. 

I have to say she was not nearly as angry as I thought she was going to be. As I suspected she was really angry about the foot IV. She was probably more angry about that than she was the cast! It took  her about 45 minutes to calm down. A popsicle and some "overhead entertainment" helped. We found that if we bounced a random object around on the plastic about her crib that she was distracted and entertained. It was actually a great distractor for me too. I love the "get the mask into the kidney basin" game. 

Next stop, Olivia's room! I got all out stuff from our locker and we were on our way. She was definitely in need of a nap at this point seeing as she had be up since 5 AM and anesthesia doesn't count as a nap. We met our nurse who checked her out. In her anger she managed to kick her IV out causing her to bleed all over the bed. This girl knows how to get what she wants! Once we got the bleeding to stop (and I had something to eat because I was about to faint from the blood) we got her all settled in and she finally fell asleep. 

She got a good two hour nap then lunch! She is definitely a happier baby now. We also met with the cast tech and he gave me moleskin to bring home and showed me the best places to duct tape her. She is currently playing with some toys that the child life specialist brought for her. My next post will have cast pictures and will talk about her first real sitting up experience and attempted mobility in the cast. Until then...

Last Bath for Two Months!

Greetings and a Reminder:

I write this blog as we go through ET Mehta Casting with our daughter Olivia. The blog is intended to inform, possibly inspire, and raise awareness of Infantile Scoliosis and its treatment/cure. Please share our story. For more information please check out http://www.infantilescoliosis.org/ 

This will be a quick post because I have to get my beauty sleep! We're up at 4 AM for Olivia's big day. It's funny, people have been asking me if we've told her what's happening tomorrow. We actually haven't. I'll talk to her about it in the morning as she's getting ready, but I don't think she'll understand, and even if she does there's no sense in getting her all worked up ahead of time. 

As promised here are some pictures from her last bath. Goodnight all. Wish us luck! Big post tomorrow. :-)