First Week Behind Us

We have made it through our first week with Addison in her spica cast and it has been interesting! While she has adjusted as well as could be hoped for, the hot summer days are upon us and it is a challenge trying to keep her entertained but still keep her cool. She loves to be outside, so we are now restricted to taking walks with her in the early morning or later in the evening when it is a bit cooler. A shame, because she also loves water so we were looking forward to some outdoor pool action this summer, but that will have to wait until next year!

We have also had to make a few adjustments around the house. The day after we brought her home we did a quick scan and realized she would no longer fit her high chair or her swing that she loves so much. Before the surgery I had purchased a new baby bjorn carrier that was quite a bit bigger than her current one anticipating that she was going to be like a little brick following surgery...however, it does not fasten the same way was the old one and because of her cast, we were unable to actually get her in it...so off we went to exchange it. We found a much better one made of lightweight mesh with much needed back support and snapped that up, so now she is riding in style. This is the one we originally purchased (the comfort carrier): http://www.babybjorn.com/products/baby-carriers/comfort-carrier/comfort/.  Because of the way it fastened, we exchanged it for this one: http://www.babybjorn.com/products/baby-carriers/baby-carrier-synergy/synergy/. This one also had the added benefit of being mesh, so we thought it might be cooler during hte hot summer months!

Her favourite mode of transport these days!

While we were out we came across another godsend, the handy sitt chair http://www.minuihandysitt.com/ that basically fits on any regular chair and allows you to push her right up to the table, now she feels like a big girl sitting at the table with mum and dad. We also grabbed a jolly jumper, which she loves. She can't actually jump in it herself, but with some help from mom and dad she gets a good bounce in now and then.

Addison sitting at the big people table in her handy sitt

I don't know what we would do without this fabulous chair!

She isn't sleeping as well as she used to as I don't think she likes to lay on her back. When she wakes at night it is very difficult getting her back to sleep. We have purchased a crib wedge that elevates her back slightly and have been padding her feet with memory foam and/or rolled up blankets to provide some ankle support at night, but it doesn't seem to please her very much and she cries quite a bit when we try to put her down. Before surgery she loved to sleep on her side snuggled up to me and rarely slept on her back, so in hindsight we should have prepared her better for that prior to surgery!

The other big obstacle is that she is not too crazy about her new carseat, she was never crazy about being in the car before or being in her other carseat, but this new one is the Britax Hippo http://www.adaptivemall.com/hippocarseat.html and it really is a hippo size-wise! The benefit of it is that she fits in it and we can take her places in the car.  The Stollery hospital has loaned us one for the duration of her casting, which is fantastic! She is a little bit too small for it, so we have to pad it with memory foam behind her back in order to fit her correctly. We also purchased a head rest for it to cradle her little bean, hopefully this will help her to nod off in it while we are driving just like she used to do in her old carseat! Needless to say, until she gets used to the Hippo seat, we are doing a lot less driving these days!

All in all, we are so happy that she has retained her cheery attitude. We are still getting plenty of smiles and giggles and coos. Now we just have to work on the sleep!