Casting Life - Days 1 through 3

Savanna woke up normally the first morning after the casting, like she wakes up other mornings, with super cute babbling.  She had slept around twelve hours the night before due to her big day.  I hope the new pillow in her crib helped!  (It's a small throw pillow with a pillow case.)

Friday (Cast Day #1) was a good day, but it started out kind of rough after she was out of the crib.  She knew she used to be able to sit, crawl, and walk, but that morning it was suddenly a lot more difficult.  We estimated that her cast probably weighs around four to five pounds, which is around 1/5 of her weight.  That's quite a bit!  So, at the beginning, we just hung out sitting and playing with the iPad.

As the day progressed, so did she!  Look how she was moving by the end of the day...

Everyone says that there is a learning curve to life in a cast, and they are right.  It's been quite challenging to say the least.  Day #1 in the cast was rough but okay, Day #2 was possibly the worst, and Day #3 (today) has been better.  Things we've learned about life in a cast so far...

• The first couple of days can be really rough.  When you are used to seeing you little one move around pretty well, and all of a sudden it seems like they have been setback several months, it's tough on everyone.  She has been falling A LOT these first couple of days as she gets used to her new center of gravity and extra weight.  These falls tend to be pretty hard falls too because she is not used to "falling safely" and catching herself with the extra weight and bulkiness.  Also, getting up is more challenging.  Savanna kept getting frustrated when she couldn't get up because her legs kept sliding out from under her.  Also, she had recently learned to get up without holding onto something, but she can't do that anymore.  I know she will be back to doing it soon though.
• Eating brings new challenges.  
• Her highchair with a straight back was too constricting for her.  I had to switch back to her old highchair that is slightly reclined.  However, in both cases, the tray is at its maximum, and we could still use more room.  Also, with her leaning back slightly, it's hard to get as much food to her mouth (since she mostly feeds herself).  Needless to say, I may be in the market for a different type of highchair.
• She gets full a lot faster, and then her stomach hurts.  Thank goodness for the cut out on the front of the cast, but it still is pretty constricting for a girl that likes to eat like she does! :-)  After every meal now, she starts to fuss or cry to get out of the chair quickly, and then we have laid on the floor together a few times to give her stomach some space.  This morning, she just walked around a bunch after she ate, and that seemed to help.  At dinner two nights ago (Day #1 after casting), she decided to walk and eat!  

• We are now trying to feed her smaller meals more often to help with this problem.

• Diapering is actually much easier for us (thankfully!) than I had heard.  She is in the same diaper size still, and all we need to do is make sure it is tucked up under the cast.  Pants with elastic that can fit over the bottom of the cast are great.  If they don't fit over the cast, then everything may start to slide off of her. 
• Anesthesia (and/or surgery) can cause a babe to have gas (or maybe it was a coincidence??).  Savanna didn't have a great night of sleep her second night home.  She was also likely still getting used to the new cast.  
• We have heard that kids will likely go up a shirt size in a cast, but Savanna went up two.  She is now in 3T shirts and 18 month to 24 month pants.  I'm so glad for the hand-me-downs that I was given recently.  I didn't think I would need 3Ts for at least a year!
• She gets tired more quickly because of the extra weight and falling, so we try to take breaks more often (if/when I can get her to sit still!).

All in all, it is getting better.  She slept great again last night.  I know that with each day she will continue to get stronger and stronger.  :-)

Wish us luck for our first sponge bath attempt with a toddler!!