Friday, March 7, 2008

Straighten up!


Yesterday was Kaela's big day. We took her to pick up her new/first back brace. I wish I could write and say all these great things, but really I just want to say it sucks! Don't get me wrong, I am all for helping her and trying what we can to straighten her spine without surgery, it just basically sucks we have to even worry about it! Now that that's been said...I will obviously post pictures of her in it so you can see what it looks like but what it is doing is pushing against her chest to push her back 'in' to help with the kyphosis and then there are straps in the back that pulls her spine back towards the middle and straightens her up! FUN huh? Poor little girl does not like it (who would really?) and she hardly moves in it. She can roll, but doesn't do much of it when it's on. She can't get her feet up to her mouth with it on which she really enjoys doing :) She has to wear it 23 hours a day! But the first week the doc said to do shorter days to get her used to it. I'm sure she will get used to it as she wears it more, but it just seems so tight and like it restricts her breathing even more (she has that super narrow chest)...I worry too much. Just hope and pray that it works for her! Most research shows that bracing does not help...but we will see.
Now to the exciting news...yesterday I put a bowl and spoon on the floor (Kaela likes to play with them) and as soon as she saw it she dragged/army crawled over to it! I've never seen her move so fast....it was sooo cute! She probably thought there was food in it, this girl loves food! I'm sure she was envisioning ice cream or something in the bowl the way she moved but she did it! GO KAELA! I'm sure it will be much harder with the brace on, but hopefully she will figure out how to move in it. She looks taller now that she's not all crooked. We are off to get a new car seat for her tonight. We are going to get another Britax for Matt's car, but want to fit her in some to see how she fits with her brace. Talk about a fun filled Friday night huh?
Now, a little cute story about my oh so cute William. Today I was changing Kaela and feeding her after her bath and I knew Will was in his room, but thought I should go lay him down for his nap. Well, I go into his room and say, "hey buddy do you want to lay.....oh my gosh!" The little guy had gone into the refrigerator ( I knew he was in there because the door was left wide open, but hadn't realized he had left with something...good watching my kids right?) and taken the baking soda that was in there out! Guess where it ended up?? Yes, all over his bed. He wasn't interested in making a mess, he knew exactly what he was doing...he was going to dig in the fun sand 'stuff' with his diggers. He has his huge yellow digger up on his bed digging in the baking soda. There was even a big clump of it that he was so excited to show me. He says, "rock." So he had baking soda and rocks to dig in! How fun! It was pretty cute...and of course I took pictures before cleaning up the mess:)
I'm also going to post a couple pics of Will in his new Thomas the train hat! He looks SOO cute in it. He got this in the mail the other day from a very special friend along with a Thomas cup, plate, and bowl. He is going to fit right in this spring when we go to Thomas Day at Green Field Village!
One last thing...for those of you who don't already know, one of Kaela's friends, Owen, is about to become famous. Owen and his parents are going to be featured in the paper and their will also be a video. Check out their blog "How life is measured" to find out more about Owen (super cute little guy) and his new found fame :)

















10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, 23 hours!!!! thats so long, but im sure she will be okay, I do a little speed crawl myself if there is food close by.And lastly I hope you got the bed clean!!!

Leah

Anonymous said...

Oh man, Sarah, how did you keep from totally losing it when you saw Will in his room with all that baking soda? I think I would have sat right down on his floor and burst into tears! You are SUCH a good mom that you have the perspective to go and get the camera, instead! I hope and pray that Kaela gets used to the brace, and most importantly, that it works for her. She is SO beautiful. We need to see her more often!

Katherine

Rachliedel said...

Hey Sarah! I expected Kaela's brace to look a lot different. I know it doesn't really matter how it looks on her, but I didn't even know it was a brace for a second. I'm sure she'll get used to it and not even know it's there after a couple of weeks.
William is so cute. I laughed so hard when I saw the pics. I love how he looks so happy with himself. I miss you guys!

Rachliedel said...

One more thing, until today I had no idea how to leave a comment. I know that's a little sad, but it's true.

Tonya said...

I feel for you Sarah! It is so difficult o watch them in their brace, wanting to help them but at the same time, it pains us to see them struggle! Hopefully the brace will help Kaela and prevent surgrey later!! She will get use to it though. Just make sure to watch in a few months for marks to indicate it's too tight.

Jennifer said...

Oh Kaela! Here's praying that brace does it's job! My nephew Jeffrey had to wear a brace too and I remember helping my sister get him into it. Not fun. Will is too cute! That boy needs an inside sandbox so he can dig to his heart's content! Wonderful pictures Sarah and Matt.

Anonymous said...

HI Sarah, Matt, Kaela & Will !!!
I read every word of your blog today and feel like I understand tons more what is going on with Kaela's body...BUT...no big news for me about how much she and Will are loved and cared for. You are a wonderful family. LOVE Aunt Shell
p.s. thanks Rachel! now I don't feel like such a dweeb for being new at posting a comment xo

Kim said...

Sarah,
I know the brace seems hard right now and I am sure Kaela does not love it, but hopefully with all the annoyance that it is, it will prevent any surgery! I am praying for that for you guys.
As far as William-what a little ham! He is so creative! The Thomas hat is ADORABLE. Preston would love that. I linked your blog on mine. Looking forward to hearing more about your wonderful kids.
-Kim

Anonymous said...

What, when, and where is Thomas day??
That brace is VERY stylish.. :)
Hopefully it will help her.
That baking soda mess is LOVELY... WOW.. that must have been one full box! LOL
too cute!

Little Jaden BIG World said...

Hi sarah,
yes we did meet at the bowling event back in March. It's nice to get back in touch with you. I Added your age to the polp Links
and would like to meet up with you for maybe a playdate with Kaela, Knoah, Jaden, and the sibblings.
Infact im looking into hosting A carwash Fundraiser In Canton, mi in July sometime and hosting a Labor day Party. GIVE ME A CALL SOMETIME SEND ME YOUR Email Address so i can give you my number or get it from Tonya.