The Fraser Family: March 2011

January and February flew by for our family. On January 11th, Brynn had his 1st hip surgery.

The surgery went well; however, it was a little more difficult then our surgeon had anticipated. Instead of removing 1 cm of Brynn's femer (which helps move the ball into the socket without creating a lot of pressure on the joint) Dr. Klingele ended up removing 3 cm (just over 1 inch) because Brynn's hip was so tight. Because it was so difficult to get Brynn's ball into the socket, Brynn has not had the other hip fixed. They were afraid if they took Brynn's cast off to fix the other hip, durring that time, the 1st hip he fixed most likely would have poped back out of the socket. Therefore, we are waiting until the end of summer or early fall to fix Brynn's other hip. We want the 1st hip to be completley healed before we fix the other one.

When Brynn first came home in his full body cast (from chest to feet), I have to say that I was absolutley terrified. It felt like I was bringing the twins home from the hospital for the first time. I was unsure how to hold him, how to bath him, how to change his diapers, etc.. I felt like I was a first time mommy again! I guess it is human nature.. because within 2 days we had a new routine, I was finally comfortable with Brynn's cast and things felt like they were back to normal.

Issues with the cast:

1. Keeping Brynn happy-

This was our first challange. Brynn was crawling and pulling himself up for a few months before he had the surgery, so he knows what freedom feels like, and he just wants to go! So we got Brynn an umbrella stroller that we push around the house and take with us on outings. I push Brynn and Mia either walks holding my hand, sometimes running in front of me, :) or she helps push Brynn. I also found a lady on the internet that makes chairs/tables for kids in a Spica Cast (thats the actual name for Brynn's body cast), and we ordered him one! He absolutley LOVES this chair. It allows him to sit straight up, he can play with his puzzels, books, etc., and he can also rock back and forth.

2. The cast is heavy-

I think the cast added about 3lbs to Brynn's weight, and he still loves being held and carried around... this is giving me a daily workout and I keep joking that my right bicept is going to be way bigger then my left one!

3. Making sure wet diapers don't leak into the cast-

Having the cast get wet inside and out is a big no-no. Therefore, through trial and error we had to find a way to keep pee from leaking out of Brynn's diaper. Our solution: Wrapping one diaper around Brynn's we-we and tucking it into the cast. This allows for all the urine to collect in one diaper. We then tuck another diaper around that one to collect poo-poo and then finally another diaper around that to keep everything in place! It sure is a process!

4. The cast smells :(-

I thought that I could keep Brynn smelling nice, eventhough all the doctors told us that would not happen, plus eveyrthing I read on the internet said that the kiddos start to smell. I felt if anyone could keep the smell away, it would be me... not so much! I have to say we did a good job for about the first 4-5 weeks, but by week 6, we were very ancious to get his cast changed.

Now we have a yummy smelling baby again! Brynn had his cast changed on March 2nd. They made the cast much lower on his tummy this time around and only casted his left leg to the knee, so he is able to kick the lower half of his left leg and he LOVES the freedom. This was Brynn’s 7^th surgery and it was the one and only time that I loved the sterile, medical smell! Overall, I think Brynn is much more comfortable in the new cast!

Other then adjusting to the “New” Brynn, we have been staying busy going for walks, cooking, playing and of course watching Brynn and Mia’s favorite programs… Little Einsteins and Jungle Junction. I swore the TV would not be on… but sometimes that is the only thing that makes Brynn happy! So when Brynn is out of his cast I keep saying the TV is not going to be on for at least 3 months J

Mia has been absolutely wonderful with Brynn in his cast. She will say “Brynn’s cast” and point to it. She still is a little mommy to him. She knows his favorite toys and makes sure he always has one in hand. If Brynn drops a toy or book, Mia is the first to run over, pick it up and hand it back to Brynn. She just loves him so much! It makes my heart so happy J Mia also sings “Twinkle Twinkle Little Start” and the “ABCs”. We have therapists and a teacher come to the house once a month to evaluate the twins, and this past week we were setting new goals for the twins. We said that we wanted Mia to start learning colors and the teacher told us colors are a little advanced for someone Mia’s age and she would not expect a 2 year old to know colors. She said Mia should work on knowing different shapes and how to put them in their correct slot. Simon and I started laughing because Mia has known the different shapes for months now! She is our little smarty-pants! She has also started doing pretend play on her own. I saw it for the first time last week. She played with her Deigo and Dora dolls for about 30 minutes, pushing them all around in her shopping cart. She was so into it, because I called her name and she didn’t answer. I looked in the dinning room and she was talking to the dolls. She didn’t even hear me call her name. It is so fun to watch how creative a not even 2 year old can be! On a side note… on Valentines Day daddy got Mia her own little flower and she carried it around with her saying that daddy got it for her. She is just so cute!

While being in a body cast, we wanted to spend our time with Brynn working on eating, talking, learning sign language, and learning parts of his body. Because Brynn is not talking yet, he gets really frustrated when he is unable to communicate what he wants. We have taught him to “Pound it out” when he gets angry, he will sign up, more, and please. We are working on thank you and all done. He will play peak-a-boo, and point to different parts of his body when asked. He will roll his arms, and do other cute little things, and he has even started to color! He is just so precious! We are working on his feeding. He is starting to put cups in his mouth, but is till not sucking out liquid. He continues to take tastes of different things and constantly has his fingers in his mouth. We are moving slowly but in the right direction! That is all we can ask for from our little fighting miracle baby. We are just ready to have the cast off, which will happen sometime in April and allow him to crawl and walk around. I just want him to feel like a normal toddler again!

Other then that, the twins are turning 2 at the end of the month. I can’t believe it! It has gone by so fast. My two little peanuts are NO longer peanuts L but I have to say that this stage that the twins are at right now, has been my favorite! Simon also has his interview at OSU on March 21^stso please keep him in your prayers! We would love to stay here in Columbus, and I also ask you to keep Brynn in your prayers… that his hip heals oh so perfectly and he slowly begins to eat!!