Petrie Cast- Our Introduction

Well, look who's standing!  After a trying 30 hours, Hip Chick decided the pain was worth it and stood on her own, with a little help from Mommy and our coffee table .  We were a little concerned up to this point, as she had complained a bit more with this procedure than for the first cast change and perhaps even more than her surgery.  She would request an attempt at mobility (standing, crawling, walking) and then howl and shudder in pain once her request was granted.  After a few hours, she would ask again and the cycle continue.  Just before dinnertime tonight, she finally achieved her goal.  

She began inspecting her new cast last night.  She repeatedly ran her hands back and forth across the bar, as though she was examining it for either weakness or leverage.  We knew that her ability to push through the pain would be the tipping point toward determining exactly what her cast can do.

During this timeframe, a few things popped into our own attention.  First, after being enclosed in a spica for so long, we are convinced she held the cure for cancer in her belly button.  That... was... filthy.  Second, the exposed portions of her upper thighs are extremely tender and covered with peeling, yellow, scaly skin.  Mommy is tackling that as soon as she can bear for me to touch it.  Third, she has long, thin sores along her left hip, where it looks like the top layer of skin rubbed raw from inside the spica.  Baby girl complains of this frequently and we are treating with Neosporin, per her surgeon's advisemet.  

I have also learned that she has quite the impressive choke hold.  It is painful to her for us to pick her up and the bar connecting her shins is a stretch for me.  (We had been advised the bar could help us stabilize her legs and hips to carry her.)  This usually means she grabs onto my neck as tightly as possible, digging her shoulder into my throat as she yowls.  I can now rest peacefully with the knowledge that she could effectively defend herself from an intruder when she grows old enough to move into an apartment of her own.

We overlap doses of Lortab and Motrin to control the pain, much like her surgery in March.  If this is any indication of what it may be like for her cast to be fully removed, we have a bit of preparation ahead of us.  But if those preparations help her walk again... they will be worth every moment.