I will admit I had no idea what clubfoot was until Bridger was born. I have come across a lot of blogs and I am surprised at how many babies are born with it. I figured I would share our experience with it for moms, dads, family, friends out there who have a baby with clubfoot or are going to have a baby with clubfoot or even someone who knows someone with clubfoot.
We did not find out Bridger had clubfoot until he was born. The doctors never saw it on my ultrasounds or anything. To be honest I don't know if I ever would of noticed until the doctors said something. {I am sure I would of eventually} Bridger only has one foot with clubfoot, it is his left foot. From my understanding no one really knows what causes it. They told us it was a combination of genetics and the way they baby is placed in the womb.
I was not emotional at all about it really. I have read a lot of blogs where they were emotional and cried a lot about it and thought that their babies feet were perfect just the way they are. I was not like that at all. Call me a bad mom but I looked at it as Bridger has this issue with his foot so lets fix it! Us as parents just looked at it as we were so thankful that he was born in this day and age we have the resources to fix it and in such a for-lack-of-a-better-word simple process. It is no different than babies that have to wear helmets for a flat head or even people who get braces to straighten their teeth. I saw it as something like that. We understood that there was nothing we could of done and that it was no ones fault. It is just something that happens and the main focus was that we were going to the best of the best and it was a simple fix.
We kind of got a late start on treatment because the pediatrician told us to just stretch the foot all through out the day. And when we went in for his 2 week check up there was no change so he sent us to a specialist in at Primary Children's Medical Center {Utah} Dr. Holmes is our doctor. Usually they cast right when the baby is born or in the baby's first week. At 3 weeks old we went in and Bridger got his first cast put on. So for the first 5-6 weeks we would go in once a week and Bridger would get a new cast and each week they would turn his foot 20 degrees. Even though it is just helping the foot turn they cast the babies whole leg. From the top of the thigh all the way down to the toes. It never hurt Bridger they were just stretching it and then casting it to hold the stretch. It was not to much of a pain, we just had to give him sponge baths because you can't get the cast wet. Pretty much all of his clothes still fit around it just fine. We even covered the cast with baby legs to give it some style. The casting process was the easiest of it all.
Once the casting was done they have to clip the Achilles tendon. This part was a little hard on me. We went in and they removed his last cast and then they put a numbing cream on the back of his heel and we waited for an hour and then they took him in a room and clipped the tendon. It took probably 5 minutes. It is just an in office procedure. Bridger cried but not for to long and we were able to give him Tylenol. They compared it to him getting circumcised, but not hurting as much. So that eased us a little bit. After they clip the tendon they put one last cast on so his foot stays while the incision healed. That cast was on for about 3 weeks.
Then came the hardest part of the process. Getting the final cast removed and the transition into his brace. Not only is the brace a pain but when they remove the cast the leg that was casted was hypersensitive. So when we touched his leg or when it would get put in water or even just the air touching it bugged him. His leg had pretty much been in a cast his whole life up until this point always being nice and warm and cozy in a cast not being exposed to all of the elements. So that took some getting used to. The came the brace! Seriously if you don't have a partner or someone to tag team with during this time you might just want to rip all of your hair out. So the brace is shoes and then a bar that connects them. The clubfoot side is angled to keep the foot from turning back in. All while getting used to the hypersensitivity of his leg, Bridger also had to now learn how to move both legs as one and also had to learn how to kick both legs at the same time with the brace on.
It was hell! Bridger was supposed to be wearing the brace 23 hours a day and he could barely stand 30 minutes of it. We had a whole different baby, he would scream and I mean scream and would not stop. So for the first two weeks we were major slackers. Bridger did not wear his shoes half as much as he should of. So when we went in for a check up 2 weeks later. I felt a little shamed. Bridger's foot was stiffening up and starting to turn back in. And if his foot was not able to be fixed with the brace then he would have to have a big surgery. Now that is what scared me and I could not handle my little baby having a big surgery. So the doctor and nurse pretty much told us to suck it up and just let him cry and eventually he will get used to them and we just needed to get over the hump of it. They told us they have had mom where their baby has cried 24 hour straight. And you just have to let them or they will never get use to the brace. I remember driving home from the doctors and that night Bridger probably cried for 3 hours straight. I felt so bad but I had to give him the tough love that he needed.
After a good week of tough love we were finally over the hump. Each day got better and better. I will admit nighttime was hell! I think the hardest part was Bridger getting used to sleeping with the brace. They're was defiantly some sleepless nights. But the good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it was amazing when we finally reached and got our happy, smiley baby back.
For us Bridger had to wear the brace for 23 hours a day for 3 months and once everyone is use to the brace it is a breeze. Bridger loved his 1 hour of freedom. The brace is just a pain it gets in the way and sometimes it is hard to maneuver around, especial pajamas We had to cut all of the feet off of his footy pajamas. We have figured that two piece pajamas are the very best also the gown type of pajamas those are great too. It didn't stop Bridger from hitting any milestones. He learned how to roll over with the brace and also how to sit up with the brace. So it did not slow him down at all.
The day after Bridger turned 6 months old we went in and Bridger was able to graduate from wearing the brace to 23 hours a day to just wearing them at night when he sleeps. That is the very best ever! This is the last of the process he just has to wear the brace at night until he is 3. Sounds like forever but he is already 6 months and it has gone by so fast.
Here is blog post that give a little more detail to our journey. They are in chronicle order.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
I will tell you, you are going to get the people that stare especially with the cast. You know they are wondering "how did you break your baby's leg?" and there is also the stares with the brace. You honestly just have to ignore it. People are dumb and ignorant, honestly they are. Just know your baby is rocking the cast/brace and getting their foot perfect and that is all that matters.
Clubfoot is nothing when you think of how many other things can go wrong. I guess it can be scary but I feel like we were educated enough and had awesome doctors, so we felt like we had nothing to worry about and the truth is you don't. There is nothing to worry about we know Bridger will be perfectly normal and will be able to play any and every sport he wants to. This is just a little hiccup. There is nothing to worry about. Bridger is now 6 months old and you would of never know he was born with clubfoot by look at it. He has perfect little feet.
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