My little guy

Seconds after Timothy was born as the nurse was laying him on my chest I could see there was something wrong with his feet. Clearly they were not anything like Jeffrey's' had been at birth but none the less I knew they were not okay. It's funny because with Kati and Bear Jeff was so worried about how their feet would be and yet he had not worried about Timbo.The is what his feet should have looked like......

Instead they looked like this.
You can see the curvature of his feet and if you could have felt them, the bones felt like you were tracing a "c". We were told it was just positional and it would go away on it's own but Jeffrey and I knew this wasn't the case. We took him to see Jeffrey's foot doctor to get a specialists opinion. (To go with the spirit of Gray's Anatomy I will call him McGoodDaddy because from talking to him you can tell he has his priorities straight and his kids come before his practice.) Anyway he agreed there was a problem but wanted us to wait and come back in three months. He said when we came back we would either do nothing or get him casts or braces. He did say, much to our happiness, that this did not look like something that would need surgery, praise God.

This picture brings us up to date when we went to Dr. McGoodDaddy on Monday. Timothy and Daddy were having a great time laughing it up while we waited for the Dr.

What Timothy has is called Metatarsus Adductus. It effects 1 out of 1,000 live births and there is not a know cause. (If you would like to read more about it visit www.orthoseek.com and click on Metatarsus Adductus) We learned something pretty interesting, Timothy curls his toes a lot when we stand him up and Dr McGoodDaddy told us he does that to compensate for his problem and it helps him balance. At this visit he again stated that surgery was not necessary. We talked about casts that would have to be changed every week and he said that was an option but he thought a Wheaton Brace would work just as well. Because his legs and hips are fine we did not need the kind of shoes that would have a bar locking them together. I am so glad that he will be able to wear his braces and still move his legs independently and freely.

He told us he should wear the braces as much as possible

and also told us they are washable.

He gave us a prescription for his braces and the names of some places we could get it from. We also made an appointment to go and see McGoodDaddy in three more months.

We had to make an appointment to see the next Doctor (for the brace) and I had to wait until the next day which was frustrating because I wanted Timothy to be wearing the braces right away. We will call him Dr McClosedEyes, I don't know if the man had a migraine or if I was just that repulsive to look at, I mean I know I wasn't wearing any make-up but Jeff still thinks I look pretty and he can't be that blinded by love, can he? When we first got there I asked if I could take pictures (because my stories have to be more interesting if there are pictures) and I was told yes however I couldn't take any because he cried when McClosedEyes held him. I had to hold Timothy while they did all the measurements for the braces. They had to order the braces and I will have to wait until Monday to pick them up. Again with the waiting, I am not pleased, but Monday is not that far off and I am just excited to get something to help him before he starts walking.

For myself I will take a picture of his feet each week so I can see the progress the braces are making and I will post them for y'all to see as well.

Oh, I almost forgot. Dr McClosedEyes said he needed to wear them a minimum of 10 - 12 hours a day. Apparently they might be a little uncomfortable for Timothy to wear. I had to go buy him some socks to wear with the brace as well. No we are not a bunch of country bumpkins, it's just that his calfs are a little chubby and all his socks cut off his circulation so I needed some new ones. The Dr also said the Wheaton Brace was not meant for weight baring. I'm bummed because I love to let him hold my fingers and stand on my lap. McClosedEyes said that was fine as long as I was hold his weight up, which is not the same thing at all. Oh well, Jeff said to just wait and do it when I am giving his feet a break from the braces. I also asked about the exersaucer and he said the chair has to be holding his weight and not him standing in it.

I will post a picture of him in his braces when we get them. If you want to see a picture of a Wheaton Brace go to the above mentioned website and they have a link that includes a picture.