Big Sis spent the morning with her best friend, and had a wonderful time. It was good to know she was having fun, and for Daddy and I to be able to focus wholly on Starbaby.
First he had his cast removed as usual, and then we went through to the bathy-room for a quick splash in the baby bath - as usual, Starbaby loved being in the water. Now, at 4 months, he is quite the little kicker, and manages to cover the floor in water very quickly!
Once he was dry and nappied, one of the lovely Playworkers came in and put some anaesthetic cream on the back of his foot, and covered it with two transparent plasters-without-the-non-sticky-bit (if that makes sense!) to make sure the thick cream didn't leak out.
It needed 40 minutes to work, so we went for a little walk so Starbaby could have a sleep in the ring sling while we were waiting. Then we were taken to the treatment room, the plaster-thing removed, and the cream wiped off.
I lay Starbaby on the 'bed' and was given a little bit of sugar solution to help distract him from any pain. The consultant came in, and instructed his 'deputy' and the nurse on how to hold Starbaby's legs etc...by this point I wasn't really taking much notice of them, as I was totally focused on my little boy.
The tenotomy wasn't much fun - Starbaby got quite upset - but at least it was over quite quickly. The consultant did the cutting part (eeek) and then I heard them talking about putting steri strips on. As soon as it was done, I picked up him and fed him, while Daddy held a dressing onto the back of his foot to make sure it didn't bleed everywhere. It took a good few minutes to calm him down, but we got there in the end and then he had a lovely, snuggly feed.
While I was feeding him, the nurse put a permanent dressing on the back of his foot, as well as the standard dressings he now has every week on the top of his foot and back of his knee, as it's quite sore in both those places.
Then it was back to the normal casting room to have his cast put on, this time by the consultant and nurse, rather than by two nurses. Starbaby got quite upset, so despite the fact my hospital haven't been supportive of breastfeeding-while-casting, I leant over him and fed him - he was still in the position they needed him, but he was calm. In fact, the nurse didn't even notice at first! Then she said "I was wondering why he was suddenly so calm!"
Here's my beautiful little boy, post-bath:
... and his gorgeous foot (corrected bar the heel which needs to 'come down' - hopefully the tenotomy will fix that...
My two beautiful boys!
Was thinking of you on Tuesday, So glad it went well & what a brave little boy (plus a very brave mum & dad). Hope you had a good night x
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