Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a safe & happy Memorial Day weekend!  We had a great weekend. On Saturday, Harlow, my Mom, & I went and picked up a canopy and a Step 2 Sand & Water Adjustable Activity Table.  I thought it would be something fun for Harlow to play with since she can't play in an actual sandbox or go swimming because of her cast.  She absolutely loves it!  She played with it almost our whole picnic yesterday.

Last night I thought we would have a "Family Movie Night".  I thought Harlow might like the movie, Cars, so that's what we watched.  Let me note that "we" refers to Derek & I.  Harlow was too busy playing & doing more important things.  I suppose it a very good thing though that she isn't into sitting around and watching tv for an extended period of time.  Next family movie night will occur in about 3 years lol!

Tomorrow we are taking Harlow to the Hershey Zoo.  I've been wanting to take her to the Philadelphia Zoo, but I'd rather save that zoo for when she can walk and really enjoy it.  The Hershey Zoo is pretty lame.  They only have animals found in North America - this means no monkeys, no giraffe's, no kangaroo's, no lions, no tighers, etc.  They have things like buffalo, owls,  & coyote's.  Oh well, Harlow will at least like to see all the different animals, so I'm sure she will enjoy it.

3 Diapers Everytime

Don't complain about how many diapers you go through until your kid is wearing diapers in a spica cast. This is what we go through every diaper change....

First I rip the tabs off a size 2 & size 3 diaper. Next, I place a Poise Pad in the size 2. After I get Harlow's old diapers off and her cleaned up I then stuff the size 2 diaper into the back of the cast (she is on her belly) & then I stuff the size 3 diaper into the back of the cast overtop of the size 2. Then I roll Harlow over & I stuff the size 2 into the front & then the size 3, making sure both are securely tucked in the whole way. After that I take a size 5 diaper and put it on her, on the outside of the cast.

Three diapers & a pad for one diaper change. Sometimes not all are dirty and I can reuse the outer layers once or twice. So when you think you go through a lot of diapers be thankful it's not as bad as it could be.

On a plus note it's been over 4 WEEKS! A full month we've made it! Yay for the Gloster's! I'm so proud of Harlow she has been doing so great.

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Keeping A Cast Clean

Hahaha. It is near impossible for the cast to not get dirty. Harlow crawls everywhere in her cast, but the crawling is more dragging her legs along behind her. This means the cast is getting dragged along carpet, grass, playground stones, etc. We try to put her on a blanket and she crawls off. How do you tell a child who already can't run around and play not to go off the blanket? I mean, really, that's just cruel. So needless to say, we have a dirty cast.

I've been scrubbing the cast with soap & a wash cloth everytime I sponge bath her but it's to the point it's just not coming clean. It's ok to clean the cast lightly, but remember not to submerge or pour water on the cast.

Changing the moleskin due to pee getting on it is a whole other cleaning issue that I'll save for another day, but be warned, it's so not fun. ;-)

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Red Lasers

Sorry, it's been too long. There has been lots going on. We've almost made it 4 weeks. In almost 2 weeks she will undergo her cast change. If we are super lucky she won't even get another cast, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Last week we started having red laser treatments done on Harlow's incision. Red laser treatments are known for there healing. They will heal up her scar quicker and with hope she will eventually have no scar at all. The red laser will almost help heal the cut tendon quicker. With luck it may heal it enough to eliminate additional casts. She will have 4 treatments before her cast change but her fourth treatment is the day before the change. So we will just wait and see how things play out.

Our new puppy, Minnie, is doing just great. She has adjusted to her new home great this week. She is fully litter box trained. She has an accident on occasion, but 99% of the time she using the boxes. She eats like a piggy & her upper respiratory infection is almost gone. She has a great personality.

I never mentioned my business before, but I make baby & toddler item. Most pacifier clips, but I'm venturing out into some other items. I have a few hair clips posted on my etsy store Whimsical Lo. I just made 2 little boy ties. I sent them to some friends with boys to test them out and give me feedback so I can't wait to hear back so I can make any needed adjustments and get more made. There isn't a lot out there for boys, so I hope these go over well.


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New Puppy

Meet Minnie, our newest addition.




Ok, Ok, maybe we didn't need another pet because we already have 2 dogs, 1 cat, & 1 guinea pig. Everything happens for a reason & she is the perfect addition to our family.

Harlow loves her! This pic was taken right before Harlow's sponge bath. Minnie curled up on her back for a little puppy snooze.



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2 Weeks

It's been 2 weeks since Harlow had surgery. We have survived 2 weeks of the spica cast process. Only 4 more weeks until the first cast change.

This past week has gone pretty well. Sleeping has been going well the last few days. I hope it keeps going well! She has been sleeping in her bean bag.

Her Pappy made her a scooter and a special table. She isn't strong enough to scoot around on her own but she loves when you push her across the floor on it & when you spin her on it. She loves the table. She can sit at it perfectly in her bean bag. Plus they made it with a white board top so she can write right on top of it. It also has little containers screwed on for all of her "necessities".

Hoping for a quick 4 weeks coming up :-)

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Sleep

We're back to not sleeping as well....darn! Friday not was not good at all, last night wasn't too bad except for her being wide awake at 5am lol. Hopin tonight is a good night.

Today was a great day. My birthday & Mother's Day! My Mom, Harlow, & I went to the street fair together. It was fun, but they keep getting less crafters every year. After that, we came home and spent family time playing outside on the playground. Overall, a perfect day <3


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One Week Completed....

We've made it a full week! Things have been going very well. It's really not as difficult as we thought it might be. Most of the time she is just as happy as she was before so it's not bad taking her out and trying to be as normal as possible. Possibly only 17 more weeks to go! Hopefully a lot less than not, but not getting my hopes up.

If you're reading this because you have a child who will be going into a Spica Cast or know someone who will be, I thought I'd give you a few tips of what has really helped.

1. Definately have a bean bag chair. Harlow has been sleeping in it at night, it seems to be more comfortable than lying in bed. She also eats in it & watches tv in it.

2. Spica Casts differ greatly in how they are put on, but an umbrella stroller works great when they are "frog-legged". We fold up a blanket and put in behind her lower back so keep her from sinking back into it.

3. Get back to your normal routine as soon as you can. When you make it seem like the cast isn't a big deal, your toddler will too.

4. Encourage your toddler to learn to crawl. So them how to army crawl. You might not think they will be able to pull the big cast, but you will be pleasantly surprised. Harlow was crawling just 4 days after her surgery. Now it's been a week and she is crawling like its no big deal.

5. As much as you want to give into their every want, don't. You cannot let them throw all the discipline they've already learned out the window. I'm not saying they can't have more special treatment than they used too, but don't give in to everything. Harlow is very spoiled and I won't lie, she's more spoiled now that she's in the cast. However, she is still expected to use the manners she was taught. She still says "Please", "Sorry", & "Thank You" when appropriate. She also isn't allowed to hit, smack, or bite when she is frustrated. Some things are never ok.

6. Be sure to stock up on lots of activities that they can play with laying on the floor or sitting in a chair. Coloring books, white boards, little toy figures, books, etc. Toddlers get bored quickly and they get bored even quicker when they are just sitting around all day.

That's all the tips I can think of at the moment, but I'll continue to add more throughout this journey.

Yesterday was a good day. We had a fun family Sunday. My wonderful husband let me sleep in while he had Daddy/Daughter time with Harlow. Harlow did really well yesterday. She didn't have any major frustration breakdowns. Sleeping even got a little better last night. She slept for 4 straight hours at one point. We put her bean bag next to her toddler bed just in case she flips over and accidentally falls out of bed she won't fall to the floor, she'll land on the bean bag. Well she was sleeping in her bean bag and then next time she woke up crying I went over and she was in her bed! She must have grabbed the toddler bed rail and pulled herself in lol! Kids sure adapt fast.

Today Harlow has her post op appointment this afternoon. When we got there the lady couldn't find our appointment. Then they announced the doctor was running an hour behind! Finally we got called back. The nurse put Harlow's pink on her cast, so now is happier that she has a more fashionable cast to sport around. Dr. Hennrikus gave me an A+ for keeping her cast so clean - Yay me! I asked him about her not sleeping & he told me most times kids will not sleep through the night in the cast....so basically many weeks of lacking sleep - no Yay for this.

I asked if he thought she may not require a full 18 weeks but as I expected he didn't want to predict sooner. He said it's better not to get our hopes up just in case she needs the 18 weeks plus we'll be much more excited if we don't know it's coming off earlier.

She will go back June 2nd for a prep op appointment and then get a cast change on June 8th. Cast changes do require anesthesia but she will get to go right home once she wakes up.



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Location:Spica Cast Day 5 & 6