5th casting

Well, another week where I am delayed with getting pictures up on this blog....
Anyway, we went in Tuesday for another packed day of appointmens. We started in the am with physical therapy. Since I remove ryan's casts weekly, I scheduled the PT for the same day as ortho so that the therapist could work Ryan's legs a bit. I am concerned that he has been in these casts for so long and hasn't worked the muscles that he does have, that I thought it was a good idea to schedule things this way, even if it does make for a long day.
It's nice to have someone else do the stretching of Ryan's joints. The wrist splints he got from his OT last week seemed to have loosened up his wrists noticably, so I hope that continues to go well. He will get fitted again this week for a 2nd pair of wrist splints, this time they will be ones where he can move his fingers and thumbs. Since the OT and PT is in the same office, Ryan has many admirers when we head in....it's amazing how quickly the medical group gets to know who you are. I still don't know all of their names!!!
By the time we got to ortho, I was exhausted, but Ryan still had quite a bit of energy to continue expressing his displeasure. Rinsky said that Ryan's feet were more or less at the point we wanted them at at this point....which surprised me because they still look like a wreck to me, but he clarified that we have only been turning his ankles from their inward position to a straight position...not working on making his feet flat. So, we are wating to be scheduled for surgery #1, which looks like it will be the week of July 14th. This surgery is a tendon release surgery, for his achilles tendons, which should help to flatten his feet. After the surgery, he will have 3 straight weeks of casts. Oh, and he has an ultrasound scheduled for this Tuesday to see what is going on with his hips...if they are dislocated or not.
Ryan has his first cold.....from his big sister lily, who refuses to listen to her mother and slobbers her 2 year old kisses all over Ryan's face. Oh LILY!!!! Other than being a little fussy from congestion, he's doing great, eating like a champ, and keeping his parents up from 3am to 7am....apparently he is on NJ time.
Love you all.....I'll get the pics up hopefully on Sunday.

4th casting

Once we returned from NJ, it was back to doctor appointments. Ryan began both physical therapy and occupational therapy. Physical therapy will focus on stretching at this point, while occupational therapy is concentrating on his hands. Ryan was fitted with custom wrist splints, which he wears while he is napping.
Ortho said we would look at the beginning of July for Ryan's first tendon release surgery. He was, once again, pleased with how Ryan's feet are looking.
Ryan has begun to flash his gummy smile around and he continues to be a pretty easy baby, all things considered.

Ryan in NJ

OK - I'm revising this first line from last week, as there is a picture of Ryan's 3rd casting I was able to get up today. I tried to get 3 pics up, but I have not figured out how to get multiple pics on the single posting..... the rest of this post is the same as it was last week...
Ryan did AWESOME on the flight out. So did Devin and Lily, but Mommy forgot to pack some cash, so no cocktails during the flight (which I really could have used).
It's been record hot here in NJ - 100 for the past 4 days. This has made us stay in, as I don't want to risk Ryan out in full leg casts in that kind of heat. Needless to say, it has been relaxing because of that, just sitting back, watching some movies, etc.
Ryan had his 3rd set of casts put on June 4th. He will go in again once we return to Cali and have round 4 put on June 17th. He also starts both physical therapy and occupational therapy Monday, the 16th, and we are looking forward to getting that started.
He's still eating like a champ and has begun to throw a smile once in a while, which is a joy to see. I promise to get pictures up of this vacation and Christening as soon as I get back.