"What do you think of..." I asked.
"Does this sound okay?" I questioned.
'Will I sound like a dick if I write this?" I said...many times.
The fact is, my dear husband, Grant, has not read my Blog. Until now.
Grant and I have been best friends for nearly eighteen years. Half our lives.
We share everything. Everything. But this Blog has been the first thing that we have not.
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| Elke and Jenny start to remove the cast |
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| Noisy, noisy, noisy! |
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| Katelyn tried to sit up not 30-sec after the cast came off! |
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| Happy!!!!!!!!! |
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| Kate's legs were very dry, red and scaly under the cast |
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| 'Pass the Parcel' at Kate's combined 'Plaster Cast Blast/2nd Birthday' |
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| Kate's (first) cake... it's okay, that's not her Port |
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| Four days post-spica |
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| Six days post-spica...morning cartoons on the lounge |
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| LOL - action shot on the Dino! Fathers' Day, 2012 |
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| Kate's 2nd Birthday - 6 September, Delight at her 'Fur-Real' "Bub-bay" (puppy) |
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| First hydrotherapy session, 6 September 2012 |
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| First hydrotherapy session, 6 September 2012 |
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| Birthday Dinner! |
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| Katelyn's 'shy' act where she closes her eyes..if she can't see you, you're not really there! |
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| mmm, choc! |
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| 23 August 2012 - koala cuddles! |
It's just that this whole thing with our baby daughter, Katelyn, has just been, as he put it, "too close".
And now - now that the first leg of our DDH journey has come to an end, he feels he is able to revisit the highs - and the lows - of these past few months. Eek - I hope he still likes me after reading all this!
Katelyn's cast was removed after thirteen long weeks on 23 August 2012.
It was a wonderful day. Without wanting sound all poetic and stuff, that late Winter day was blissfully warm and full of the promise of Spring.
After dropping Harry at Nan and Pa's, and Will at Preschool, we arrived at John Hunter Hospital a little after ten in the morning.
We met the wonderful Elke and Dom and went through to the cast removal room. Thanks to some prior warning from the girls, we'd come prepared and armed with some chocolate for the ordeal we'd heard was to come.
Turns out, the chocolate was forthcoming, but the drama was not. True to form, our brave little girl not only abstained from crying throughout the noisy cast removal process; she giggled her way through it! The only tears came when faced with her first bath in three months; that was all a bit too much.
It was so good to hold her so close again - and, to this day, almost three three weeks' later, she's still just like a koala, and can't cuddle close enough.
We all had our best nights' sleep in three months that Thursday - Katelyn was so much more comfortable, and able to turn over on her own. Our family celebrations continued that weekend, where our 'Plaster Cast Blast' saw the party continue late into the night.
Kate's second birthday on 6 September coincided with her first hydrotherapy session at the Hospital. Following a somewhat rocky start - where she insisted on having ALL the floating rubber ducks in the pool - she shone like a star, mastering the ability to 'cruise' along the side of the pool before the session's end.
We are just so proud of her determination, strength and resilience - it's not yet been three weeks post-spica, but she's already trying to walk on her own. It's going to be a long road, but she's taking the first few steps....and they're big, strong ones.
The horrible cast might now be off, but our DDH journey has, regrettably, just begun. Our hydrotherapy sessions will continue for another five weeks, after which our 'land' physical therapy will begin. We'll also be back to the Hospital in another four weeks for some 'standing, supervised x-rays' which will enable us to gain a more complete picture of the rehabilitative route ahead.
In other news, the past week has brought, at least, some clarity as to why Katelyn suffers with this very crappy condition. Turns out her mummy suffers from a condition called 'hyper-mobility' - which can result in - yep, you guessed it - DDH in their daughters. When someone is hyper-mobile, their joints stretch far further than what is normal - I'm in, like, the 5% of the population who has this - lucky me. I know you can't turn back time, but I can't help thinking what could have been if I had known about my condition and been more watchful of Katelyn and her propensity to develop her condition. Hindsight, huh?
Anyway, I'm super appreciative of everyone who has read my Blog and expressed their support along the way. Although Grant is only now just reading my account of our journey, I have shared with him everyone's positive thoughts, helpful advice and kind wishes, and we have both been buoyed by the lovely words and comments. Thanks heaps xoxo
