Oy Vey...

So we're pretty much operating off of Murphy's Law here at our house. That is to say:

1. If anything can go wrong, it will.
2. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the first one to go wrong.
3. If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
4. If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
5. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
6. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
7. Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
8. Mother nature is a bitch.

Hayden's Mitchell shoes arrived today, even in light of the border fiasco yesterday (a very dramatic shootout apparently). They are lovely - really soft leather and a flexible inner shoe. But....they sent us two different sizes and none of the hardware to go with the bar we have. $1,100 and you'd think they could get it right.

But let me rewind as I may just fall asleep while I am typing this.

On my way out to the hospital via Skytrain yesterday, I was having the worst anxiety I've had in a long time. I had called the orthotist the night before and given her the heads up about Hayden's leg and told her to bring her smallest shoes because there was no way he could be casted again. The way I was feeling I was worried that if anyone asked in even the kindest of ways if I was okay, I was going to burst into tears. But lucky for me, they are a jolly bunch there at RCH and once I arrived and listened to them banter I was able to compose myself. They probably think I am a tough cookie, when inside I am just dough.

Hayden still had his left cast on and I was waiting to consult with Dr. Pirani before we removed it just to see if he concurred about putting him into the Markells temporarily, so the orthotist busied herself fitting his right foot for a shoe. Hayden was fine with it and was intrigued with what she was doing. Dr. Pirani gave us his okay to put him in the shoes. I found out that what was going on with his skin is called "maceration" (the cast tech told me) and occurs when moisture gets in there or in Hayden's case, it was most likely from sweat. We removed the left cast (which incidentally was already slipping again) and the back of that knee was not doing well either and Hayden began to get agitated. He fussed while we got the shoes on and attached the bar. The orthotist had added a special gel padding inside the shoe to prevent the foot from slipping and she explained many things to me that made a lot of sense. Hayden's heel will never fully fit into the heel of the shoe at this point because of the shape of his little fat square feet and all of the chub around his ankles. But she told me as long as his feet are flat on the bottom he is fine. There is a hole punched on the inside of the shoe heel so you can look in to see where the foot is. Oh, and she did not charge us for the shoes, even though they are brand new because we will be using them a short time only. Nice, eh?

I hung around for a bit to see how he'd do and in the meantime talked to an expecting couple about clubfoot at Dr. Pirani's request. Hayden's crying began to escalate and I finally decided to get going. He became hysterical while I got him ready to go, but I thought he'd calm down once I got the stroller moving. He did not. I got to the entrance of the Skytrain station and was at a loss about what to do. He was not happy and I couldn't see enduring a forty minute ride on the train with a screaming baby. I tried making him a bottle in case he was hungry and he sucked at it a bit and then resumed screaming. I started to lose it. Hubby called me at that particular moment and I fell into some sort of a panic attack that bordered on hysteria itself. He asked if I could come to his office, but I did not want to make the walk from the Braid Street Station to his office, which incidentally is about a mile (I checked because I walked it last week). He told me to wait at the hospital and he'd come and get me. I wandered back up the hill and waited inside - baby freaking out the whole time. The orthotist happened to walk by and commented I was still there and I told her he was NOT happy. She thought that perhaps the backs of his legs were hurting and that we should cover the sore areas, which we did. This seemed to calm him for the duration of the car ride home.

He fussed and cried off and on for the remainder of the evening. I removed the shoes to see if there was anything wrong there and there was not. He was quite calm as I put them back on and after that was even happy for a little while. But the night did not go well. He maybe slept for an hour stretch at the longest. He'd wake, cry, shriek, wail, shake, nod off, etc. He nursed a couple of times because he had missed dinner due to his crankiness. We had given him some pain relief because he is also teething. By five AM, we were frazzled and I decided I'd come downstairs. As you can imagine, there were some harsh words between hubby and I by this time because we were both so tired. He nursed and fell asleep again. Around 7:00 I removed the shoes again just to make sure his feet were okay - totally fine. Same scenario - happily let me put them back on and then was fine for awhile. He was cranky on and off today, but something in the form of a miracle occurred in all of this: he napped. For more than half an hour. TWICE. In the morning I got him down for an hour and twenty minutes. At lunch he had another half hour nap and in the afternoon, he went down for an hour and a half. Each time he was in his crib!! That is where he is now, sleeping soundly! The difference is that I can put him on his tummy now and he much prefers that.

So back to the Mitchells - major bummer that they fouled up the order, but at least he seems to be tolerating the Markells okay. I think that his extreme freaking was about a number of things, namely: suddenly his legs are lighter and now his knees are free, but his feet are attached together; the backs of his knees are tender; he's not used to having a tight shoe around his ankles; he's teething; he's exhausted; he's been having some intestinal trouble. Roll that all into one and I don't think anyone would be happy.

He had a nice bath with me today during his "hour break" and enjoyed it immensely. He kicked his feet and put the entire head of his rubber ducky into his mouth. He was all over that warm water action. Then I let him roll around on our bed a bit which made him joyful. I have had to put socks over his hands to stop him from scratching himself. Observe:


And finally, thanks to all of you who put encouraging/sympathetic comments on my last post. Without a network like you, I don't think I'd survive. I feel loved, I really do. I promise more upbeat posts very soon! We're into the home stretch! Hurray!