The Time Is Right

The time is right to head back to St. Louis.

This is what happened to his brace yesterday.


Yes, I could take it in to his othotist here in town, but because we are off in 4 days, I fixed it myself. Thank goodness for my sewing machine.



And, yes, his brace straps are filthy. Yes, I have scrubbed them. This is as clean as they get. I think some new straps from Dave in STL are in order.


Another reason to be heading back... I am having a lot of doubts right now about his foot. Maybe it isn't doubts. Maybe it is me wanting his foot to be perfect. Maybe I have read too many posts these days on the clubfoot yahoo group of parents excited that their child's journey is done. Maybe I am just tired of battling with him to stretch his foot every day.

I want his foot to have 20 degrees of dorsiflexion. I want his foot to be straight. I want him to run without that foot turning in.

Maybe my hopes are too high.

Or maybe I am seeing a problem.

Either way, it is time to go back and see Dr. Dobbs for Matthew's check up.

Besides, they are calling for snow on Sunday. Seems everytime we go to St. Louis, it snows.

Countdown to St. Louis, 4 days.

Changes

I love Matthew's physiotherapist. I do. She is knowledgeable, loves Matthew, willing to get direction from doctor's, confer with other p/t's, and she has given me not only her office and cell number, but her home number and home email address as well.

Why would we change?

Because the commute to her office is horrid. The reason Why I Hate Tuesdays.

I have found someone who is 7 minutes from our house. He is not a pediatric p/t but he works with kids and is willing to take on Matthew. We have an appointment on Wednesday. And I am nervous. When I told him that his current p/t was willing to come in and show him what she has been doing with him, he seemed ok, but then called later and told me it wasn't necessary. She is still meeting us there.

He also told me to book a late appointment. After 7 pm. Ummm, my kids are in bed by 7:30 pm.

So, my red flags are cautiously raised, but still hoping it works out.

Countdown to St Louis, 5 days.

The Tooth Fairy Cometh...Again!

Yet another fun side to having children so close in age, they loose teeth at the same time!

Ryan lost his first tooth today and gets his first official visit from the tooth fairy!



Matthew lost tooth #4 four days ago.




And, picture day is on Tuesday. Yay for toothless grins!

Physiotherapy - You're Doing It Wrong!

Have I ever mentioned that I do NOT have a degree?

Apparently I have been doing Matthew's p/t wrong. Placing too much pressure on the ball of his foot rather then lower down, causing some mid foot break.

Crap.

Will adjust hand positioning while crossing fingers I haven't made things worse.

Have I ever mentioned that I do NOT have a degree?

Baby It's Cold Outside

This morning was a chilly one. 3 C (37 F) and with the wind chill, 0 C (32 F). Brrrrr.

The boys asked if we could dig out mitts for them. Fortunately, the temperature is supposed to go back up for the rest of the week. I won't need to start looking for the winter gear quite yet.

Also, fortunately, my little garden has a few more days without a frost threat. Good thing, because all of a sudden

Tomatoes!

I had all but given up on these plants. They grew so tall and had all sorts of blooms, but no tomtatoes, until now. Three little ones.


We have been enjoying these ones already. This is from my 50 cent tomato plant. The tomatoes are smaller, but very nice. This plant has produced over 12 tomatoes! The leaves are starting to yellow, but the tomatoes are still turning.



My strawberries are still producing as well. In fact, they look really good and have sent out numerous runners. Next year should be a good year for strawberries.

There are still carrots growing. I assume if there is frost, I just dig the remainder up. I was hoping to let them grow a bit more.

My little garden has grown in two months.

And I'm not ready for it to be done yet. Still holding on to those last few warm days.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

Today is my birthday! Happy Birthday Me! I'm not afraid of my age and am proud to say today I am 41 yrs old. I have yet to hit a milestone that has bothered me. In fact, I embrace each year as a wonder. Every year gets better, so I look forward to this one.

This is what my boys got me for my birthday.

My husband let them go crazy in the dollar store. Each item was carefully inspected and picked out for Mommy. Yes, that is a wonderful sequined belt that may have fit me when I was 12 right beside the hair rollers. What a scream! I have to admit I had been looking forward to this gift all week.

I think these were their particular favorite items for Mommy.

These items were secretly removed from the bag, hidden behind their backs and one at a time placed specially in my hands while my eyes were closed.

I'm not a person that wants for material items. That said, these are items I will never forget. Ever.

Physio...MY physio

Once upon a time I was a gymnast. Not a very good one. But a gymnast none the less. I liked it and worked hard. But still, not a very good gymnast. Then, one day, the head coach thought I had something. Not great gymnast potential but great coaching potential. My coaching career was born.

I have done or coached gymnastics for over 30 years. (I guess that hints a bit of my age...) In those 30 years, I have done some damage to my back. I remember some specific injuries. One in particular, after coaching for 5 hours trying out some Russian fronts. After all, if the boys could do them, why not the girls?

In case you are interested, this is a regular punch front that we all did
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofoYHPpDb_k

This is the Russian that we were working on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTN2g4diQ0I

Maybe it was the fact that I had just coached for 5 hours. Maybe it was the fact that I was an inferior gymnast, but after landing a few Russians on a crash pad rather nicely, we decided to land them on the regular spring floor.

I landed mine with perhaps a slight twist in my back. I will say, I did land it on my feet thank you very much... Doesn't mean much when you are in your 40's and you have some rather extreme back pain.

After that day, I had some terrible back pain. I saw a chiropractor, it went away... but never far. It seemed to crop up every now and then.

Having 2 kids at an older age, I had some terrible Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. I blamed it on being old and having 2 kids in less then 16 months. But after reading up on it, seems its cause can be possibly because of a misalignment of the pelvis.

I have been seeing a physio for myself. I am in a lot of lower back pain. The worst is in the morning. I can barely get up out of bed but a hot shower and some stretches in the shower make it bearable.

Not knowing a lot of my history, my p/t said my hips are out of alignment. So much so my legs are different lengths. He has been working to get my hips back to position and strengthening my now mushy core.

Since starting on this path, my back still hurts more then ever. But, now, my hips hurt and my foot has been in spasms daily.

I hope this is progress. If I was a race horse, I would fear the worst.