Boots & Bar

 Our happy little 5 week old after his fourth casts were taken off.  His feet look really good and have good range of motion.

 He did not like getting these boots on, but then he fell asleep.  They really tighten down the middle buckle to get the heal to stay down.  His heel actually is not all the way down, but it is supposed to eventually go down.  The bar in between his legs is actually the nicest one they have on the market.  It allows him to move each leg independently, instead of both together.  His feet barley fit in the carseat with that bar, so I am not sure how it will work when we have to adjust in bigger.  We will cross that bridge when it comes.

After three hours of being in the boots and bar I took them off to check on how they were doing.  Both feet were swollen on the top and his little toes were so squished, it broke my heart.  This picture was taken an hour after they had been off, so the swelling had gone down some.  I called Hangar Clinic, that is where he was fitted for the boots.  They said to leave it off for the rest of the day and then try an hour on and an hour off the next day.

 Ephraim really does not like these boots.  He is only comforted slightly by laying on Mom, but is not able to sleep very well, he squirms and kicks which waked him up.  It was tough!

Then after a day of boots I noticed a blister was forming on his heel.  I left the boots of for the night and called Hangar Clinic Friday morning. They had me come right in.  They made some adjustments to the boots to help the heel stay down (adding foam to the back).  Then they tightened that middle strap even more.  I kept him in it all day and checked Friday night, both heels were red, but I put them back in for the night and all day Saturday.  Saturday night I gave them a break for a few hours and then back in for Saturday night.  By Sunday morning both heels had blisters and the left heel had a blood blister.  That was it, I could not put those boots on him with blisters on both feet.  I knew I couldn't call until Monday so I left them off for most of the day Sunday, I did try for a few hours but he was miserable.  I left them off Sunday night as well and called in Monday morning.

They had me come in first thing Monday morning and after looking the feet decided to send me back to Dr. Shaw the Orthopedic Surgeon.  Shaneis, at Hangar Clinic, did not think he had enough dorsiflexion in his heels.  I called Dr. Shaw and was able to get an appointment for the next day.  We went in today and the Physical Therapist, Ellen, measured his feet and said his dorsiflexion was good.  He has good range of motion, he is were they like to see it to start the boots.  She tried putting the boots on him to see how they looked, but he was screaming and kicking too hard.  She was not able to get them on.  Dr. Shaw came in and, after looking at his blisters, decided that Ephraim should not go back into the boots.  It was not working.  He said we could cast for the 3 month time that he was supposed to be in boots and bar.  We can do 3 weeks at a time instead of weekly since he is already at the right point.  We are basically just maintaining it there.  After that we will try boots and bar again but only for naps and nights.  I think that will be much better as he is not going to be kicking so hard at night.  It has been a tough week seeing my little tiny baby in pain and then seeing those blisters form.  I felt so torn not knowing what was the right thing to do.  I am glad we could go back to casting, he has been a much happier baby today!

4th Casting for Ephraim

 I almost forgot to get a shot of his feet after taking of the 3rd casts.  But I caught a shot at the doctors office.  There is a little bruising on the ankle in front, but not bad.  They are looking so good and have good mobility.  In fact Dr. Shaw was so impressed he said that we could move to Boot&Bar.  They sent me over to another office to get fitted for the shoes and they will have them ready next week!  I was so excited for that news.  Originally we were told he would be in casts for 8 weeks and then possible a tenoctomy with another 3 weeks of casts.  We only have 4 weeks and NO TENOCTOMY!  I am so happy!

 Here is our cute little one month old in his LASTS Casting!  Purple and black for Halloween.

Ephraims Blessing

 On October 8th, 2017 Ephraim Kevin Cramer was given a name and blessing by his father Jeffery R. Cramer.  Both sets of Grandparents made the long journey from Idaho to share this special experience with us.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful blessing.  It is is wonderful to have the priesthood here on earth and in our home.  We love our little Ephraim and the sweet addition he has made to our family.

 Ephraim got to attend Time Out for Women on his special blessing weekend!  It was in Castle Rock so I was able to attend both days, but come home and sleep in my own house.  It was such a treat to be able to attend and here wonderful talks, testimonies, and music.  I loved spending the time with my Mom and great friends.

We love Baby Leggings!

When I found out that Ephraim was going to have casts all the way up to his thighs and then be in boots with a bar I did a little research.  I found out that pants do not work so well, or footed PJ's.  The best thing, especially right now during casts, is leggings.  It has been so fun to coordinate his onesie and leggings.  I am really liking his style.  I can use them with the boot and bar as well as when he is older and crawling around.  Here are a few shots of our styling baby!

Week 3 White Casts

 Taking off the 2nd casts.  This time I did it by myself, but it wasn't too hard.  Peter was asleep, so that helped.  Ephraim was so happy, I was even able to shoot this little video. 

 The unravel and unravel and unravel, until he looks like a mummy with just white cotton on his feet and legs.  Then it is BATH TIME!  This time he really enjoyed the bath.  I just filled up the sink and let him squish his little legs in there, he as very content. 

 The feet look great.  His regular Doctor, Dr. Shaw, who is an Orthopedic Surgeon was out of the country performing surgery on kids in 3rd world countries that have club feet.  The Physical Therapist not only measured but also wrapped the casts.  She took a little longer than the Dr. and seemed to be more of a perfectionist about it.  In fact she almost had the first leg done, and then had to unwrap it because it was not right.  But I would rather take longer and have it done right.  I was impressed that even she was trained in Italy by Ponseti (which is the Dr. that discovered this method of healing club foot without surgery).  She trained with him 10 years ago and he was 90 years old.  He has since passed away.  The Physical Therapist explained everything she was doing, which was kind of nice.  She explained what position they were holding the foot and why.  She talked about the muscles up in the leg and how they needed to reposition them so that the foot was not only straight but could also lift up in walking.  She said his progress looked great and the only measurements that are not in the "normal range" is the ability to move up as you would to walk, but it will come.  I am so impressed how straight they are with only two casts so far. 

 White Casts this week since he is going to receive his baby blessing this Sunday at church.  He always wears leggings over the casts, but I don't have any white leggings.  I didn't want his casts to stand out as lot of people don't even realize he has them. 

All done and ready to go!

Week 2 of Casts

 This was our first experience of taking off the casts.  Dad was able to help out, which was great.  It really wasn't too hard, just a lot of unwinding.  Ephraim didn't even cry. 

 Wow, look at those straight feet!  We could not believe how much improvement in just one week.  The Doctor told us they would go right back if we left he cast off overnight, which we did not.  We took him in that morning for his 2nd casting.

 At the Orhopedic Surgeons office, happy baby wiggling his feet and toes.  It was so nice to be able to touch them for a little bit.  Oh and give him a bath, a full bath, not just a sponge bath.  He didn't like it, but I was glad he was good and clean.

 Not a happy boy.  There a lots of hands in there.  A Physical Therapist comes and measures his feet first, and then she holds the feet in position while the Doctor wraps the leg. At the end they really hold it and mold it into shape.  Ephram does not like it one bit.

New red casts!