Thursday, January 31, 2008

Big Day Tommorow

It's been too long since I've posted, but I've just been overwhelmed with taking care of Savannah in her cast. I enjoy keeping this log of her journey, and I need to most more often. I promise to try and get better with my posting.

Tomorrow is the big day. Savannah will be getting her cast off finally, and we can continue on to the brace. I wish this whole ordeal was over, but since I still must face the rest of it, I am ready for the brace. I am also ready to regain some normalcy around here. Being able to change a diaper with ONE diaper instead of FIVE will be a welcome change, not to mention the ability to bathe her again. I know that will make her happy because she loves to splash in the water during bathtime. I miss seeing her play in the tub.

There isn't much else to say. I am nervous anticipating what it will be like for Savannah getting her cast off. I am wondering how she will react to the noise of the saw and everything else. I am just ready for it to all be over so we can just move forward.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Spica Queen

Spica Queen is what I call my daughter since she's been in her spica cast. We are going on a little over 3 weeks since she's been in her cast. We have 16 more days to go before the cast finally comes off. This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I'm ready for the next phase of her treatment, which is the brace.

She will be in the brace until she's 18 months, which feels like forever to me. I keep telling myself that at least she will have a lot more movement in the brace than in this cast she's in now. I am looking forward to that at least. She can also take a bath again, which I am also glad about. She loves the bath, and has missed that a lot. She hates sponge baths and cries during those. It's just miserable for her, and for me seeing her so upset.

I am hoping the brace will give us some sense of normalcy back. There's so many things I miss about her besides bathtime. I miss her crawling and cruising everywhere. I miss the way playtime used to be when she was actively crawling, etc. What I miss the most is being able to hold her close and snuggle because now all I feel is that hard cast. She misses snuggling to me and tries to anyway, but she really can't the way she wants too. I also miss her standing up in her crib when she woke up in the mornings and reaching for me. I miss this terribly, and can't wait for the day she can do it again, and I can hold her close too. I guess there's nothing normal about your baby being in a body cast, or at least not much anyway.

I guess normalcy is over-rated in my house these days. Things like a simple diaper change with one diaper is not normal here anymore, although I'm ready for it be normal in this house again. All these different size diapers are overwhelming, not to mention my 11 month old wearing a pad at night. I know it's for extra protection through the night, but it still feels weird. Feeding her has definately changed since we can no longer use her high chair. She can't fit in it with her cast, and I don't think she'll be able to fit with her brace either. I was feeding her in her beanbag until a man that works with my mother made her a special table. Now she gets to sit at her table and eat... not to mention play now. That table has been a life saver in this house.

Everything has changed with her, so any normalcy the brace will bring back will be welcomed. There's not a day that goes by that I don't hate seeing her in that cast. There have been days I've wanted to cut it off her myself. It's been very hard to deal with at times, but I'm making it through one day at a time.

The support that I have received from family and from friends (online and off) has been amazing. I can never express how much I appreciate all the moral support, prayers, the gifts of diapers, shirts, stuffed animals, and the friend that made the special table for her. You all have changed the quality of life for my daughter, and you've made this process much easier for me and for Matt.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Life Changing

It's been awhile since I've posted. We've been so overwhelmed with taking care of Savannah, and lately she hasn't been sleeping well at night. Being sleep deprived makes it really hard to function and post as much as I'd like too. Only one major thing has happened since I've posted last, and it has totally changed Savannah's quality of life while in the cast, not to mention mine and Matt's.

A man that works with my mother made a special table for Savannah. He hand-made this table, and designed it so she could play like a normal baby. It's the most wonderful thing seeing her play in her new table. She's so happy, and she's able to play normal again. Words can not express what it is like for a parent of a child who is disabled (whether temporarily or permantly) to see their child given the chance to be a normal child. Seeing her playing in her new table has brought tears to my eyes (Matt's too) more times than you can imagine. This man, whose name I will keep private, has changed my daughter's life more than he is probably aware. He has single handedly given her the ability to play and function like a normal baby while she is stuck in that confining spica cast. We are also able to feed her in it. Her appetite has also increased and is better than normal since we've had the table. There are no amount of words that I could say that could adequately thank this man. I just hope he knows how much we love the table, and how he has changed the life of a little girl and made her very happy.

I am going to update this post later with pictures. I'm just behind.