Bowed Leg Problems (Update)

Hey luvs!

Thank you all for your kind words yesterday as I dealt with my emotions behind there potentially being a problem with my lovebug’s little legs.  I truly appreciate your continued support and encouragement.

Yesterday’s appointment literally lasted less than ten minutes and it turns out that Baby O isn’t bowed leg after all.  All this time what I thought were cute little bowed legs are really what the medical profession considers to be “internal tibial torsion”.

What’s this?

Per John’s Hopkins...“Internal tibial torsion is a condition in which the tibia (the larger of the two bones going from the knee to the ankle, forming the shin) is rotated inwardly (internally) or outwardly (externally) along its long axis. The rotation of the tibia also causes the foot and ankle to be rotated. Such rotation is seen throughout the course of normal development, but too much rotation is considered a developmental abnormality.”

How does this affect Baby O?

In Baby O’s case her tibia is on the abnormal spectrum. The doctor informed us that her tibia is rotated inward quite a bit. A normal person’s tibia would line up to their 2^nd toe while Baby O’s is lined up to her 5^th toe on her right leg and past the 5^th toe on her left leg. Keeping her message to us very positive she informed us that some of the inward rotation will self-correct over time, however she didn’t suspect it would be enough to eliminate future issues down the road :(.  

What’s next? With the diagnoses above she informed us that we had two options.

1. We could do nothing and see how she continues to develop over time.
2. We can try having her sleep in special shoes (braces) for the next 4 months.

The specialist presented her options with no pressure and totally left the decision to Dom and me. However, I left secretly more stressed than when I went in, I think it was because she was very technical and spoke in medical terminology the entire visit, so I was unsure what all this really meant. This is why I was truly thankful that Baby O had her 15 month appointment with her normal pediatrician later that day. During her checkup I discussed her condition in detail with her pediatrician; she broke it all the way down for me. I left feeling relieved and decided that for the severity of Baby O’s internal tibial torsion option 2 was the best way forward. 

Guess I’ll be updating y'all on her progress over the next few months :).

Bowed Leg Problems

As I sit here nervous as ever for Baby O's 9:40 appointment with a pediatric orthopedic specialist I can't help but pray that the outcome of today's visit is no different than the last...

A few weeks ago I received a frantic call from her teacher saying that Baby O wasn't acting her normal self. She informed me that she had a really bad cough and there was a coughing virus going around the class. With her not sure if the virus was contagious I immediately chucked my co-peeps the deuces and headed to get my baby to take her to the doctor.

Turns out her allergies and asthma were just acting up so she'd have to start breathing treatments again... Thank God. However, as Baby O was walking out and blowing kiss bye to the staff the doctor stopped us in our tracks. She noticed the bowed legs y'all and begin to express concern. Just like that my I'm a good mom high was blown, and the ever so concerned mom reared her ugly head. Leaving the doctor stressed as hell with breathing treatments, allergy medication, a referral to the dentist (for all those damn teeth), and a othropedics specialist was just too much.

Powering through the anxiety I made the appointment. We arrived with me expecting the worse (from my web md research) only for him to tell me that in his opinion she was growing as she should. Yes! her legs didn't concern him, may baby was clear until he hit me with a... However. Since children weren't his speciality he'd prefer I get a second opinion from someone who only sees kids. 

So now I sit waiting on more good news hopefully :). Even tho, I Lost all eight hours of sleep lastnight and woke up concerned, watching my active lovebug play this morning reminded me that no matter what this doctor says she's perfect.  

Momma Drama: Mystery Scratches

Hey luvs!

I want to take a moment circle back on Monday’s article about being THAT Mom. Although I’m shamelessly proud of the title I still would like to go into further detail regarding the bullets I posted. Not for validation, simply because the stories behind them are important. Starting today I will be doing a series called (Momma Drama) which goes into further details regarding each of these incidents and future ones like it.This honestly should be good because as my co-peeps put it I have the most bizarre conversations lol.

Oh so no one knows where this scratch on my infant came from?

This was the start of my THAT Mom life with Baby O’s school so it’s the most fitting place to start.  One day I went to pick my lovebug up (she had to be about 7 months) and as I was gathering her things I glanced over and noticed a scratch on her neck. This was no little scratch. It actually looked more like someone had been digging into her skin, and I could tell it hurt and from the dried blood. Of course, I immediately stopped what I was doing to get closer look at it. After my inspection I ask the teacher what happened to which she informed me that this was her first time seeing it.

SAY WHAT? 

                                              

Apparently, Baby O had been shuttled from class to class that day so her primary teacher was just seeing her. I was too alarmed by the change in classrooms as it this happened a lot on the school infant unit. I was surprised that I visited every infant class and NO ONE knew where the mark on my baby had come from.

WHAT THE F*&%?

Internally PISSED yet visibly calm, I proceed to pack up the rest of Baby O’s belongings, picked her up, and marched down to the director’s office. When I got to her office I politely requested a moment of her and time during which I pointed out the marks on Baby O, and let her know that while I understand that accidents will happen while my child is in their care I was very disturbed. As I had spoken to her staff and none of the infant teachers knew where the marks came from. She informed me that they the team keeps a very close eye on the children, and couldn’t believe that no one on her staff had seen this if it happened on their watch.

To which I responded with the following...

It has become a daily tradition in our household that my husband and Baby O take a morning photo so something like this would have been noticed prior to her arrival had it happen at home. Not to mention I watch her like a HAWK at home, since she is my only I actually don’t have anything else better to do. Not to mention I bath her nightly and I can promise this was not there. This means it happened in your care, so now that we know where this happened let me tell you my issue once again. My issue is that NO ONE on your staff seen this and I had to walk in a place of “care” to discover a mark on my child. My issue is that I was not identified of this issue prior to arriving at your facility. That shows negligence on the schools behalf in my opinion. I don’t ever want to walk in this facility in find a mark on my child that you all aren’t aware of...Like NEVER. I pay you all to educate and protect my child while she is here and that is not something you feel your staff is capable of please let me know immediately.

I could tell that my polite yet firm ton surprised the ish out of her because every day prior my demeanor mirrored that of a ball of sunshine lol.  I left our little meeting with feeling accomplished as I believed my point had gotten across and knowing I’d be receiving a follow up call the next day with further clarification of what may have happened. Since, a few teachers had already left for the day I knew she needed to contact them and I thought it was only fair to allow her to do so. Especially, since the bullshit story she initially tried to feed me of this being self-inflicted wasn’t flying past me lol.

In any case I received a call bright and early the next morning to which the truth was revealed, because Baby O led them to it.  Apparently, little miss independent had been snatching her own bibs off her neck and no one cared until...Momma found them scratches.

Fellow HeartBEATS

Do you remember the first time you had to SPEAK UP in the name of your child? If so please share :)

Teething is the devil

Sorry for not posting on Mondays any longer but I honestly need the extra day to get my life. The last few weekends in my household have been spent with an uber clingy (to mom only) and whining Baby O. She has teeth 15 and 16 coming through and they are making for a very unhappy tiny tot. 

Hence why I feel that teething is the devil. For all the moms who are thinking it or ever thought it...It's finally out in the universe lol. No in all seriousness it feels as if I've spent the last year of Baby O's life with her teething. It's been a mess, not only do she get super attached to mommy, but she also has a ton of sleepless nights and some God awful diarrhea behind it. With so many looooooonnnnnggggg nights it's totally hard to imagine the days where I was excited for her first tooth to come. All I can think about now is how I wouldn't wish these teething nightmares on my worst enemy lol. 

In any case...

If you have a child that suffers from chronic teething (Yup! I just diagnosed Baby O) like mine and insist on having all 20 baby teeth by the time she's just over a  year old try remain patient. Although it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but this too shall pass. And when everything else fails you can always invest in the items below to see if it helps easy your child's level of discomfort. 

• ORAJEL TEETHING SWABS - Using this will make sure those little sharp teeth in baby’s mouth don’t come down on your fingers :)
• Frozen yogurt - Just take a regular go-gurt pack and freeze it
• Children’s Motrin - A little at night can help make sure everyone sleeps well
• Cold Washcloth
• Crunch Snacks - Baby O loves to much on Cheerios when teething
• Plenty of mommy cuddles throughout the night

Fellow heartbeats....

What remedies do you have for dealing with teething?