Abigail has Metatarsus Adductus. It is fairly mild foot problem that causes in-toeing. We have taken her to the orthopedic surgeon several times since she was little and everyone told us that it is not a problem and she will grow out of. So before we changed insurance with Caleb's new job we decided to take her again just to double check things. There was not very much improvement since her last visit so the doctor decided to try a month of casting. Basically they wanted to see if they could get her feet to stretch enough to hopefully give her a boost in the right direction. She got them switched at 2 weeks and then Daddy took her into his ER and took them off himself at 4 weeks. We took advantage of the casts and went to Disneyland so we could cut in line, which was a nice bonus. Overall though the casts were pretty terrible. We tried to live life normally but basically it was like having a gigantic 7 month old baby. We had to carry her everywhere and set her up with toys all around her. Amazingly by the last two weeks she was able to walk around in the casts! That made it a little easier, but by that time she was pretty much frustrated and done. That is why daddy took the casts off instead of waiting an extra couple days for actual appointment to take them off. The hardest part is after the casts were taken off she took about a month to get back up to walking normal and running. Even now her legs tire easily and her ankles are weak and roll in more than they should. So it was four weeks of torture with unfortunately not a lot of benefit.
Abigail has always snored. I mean not just a little heavy loud breathing, it was like your 90 year old grandpa you could hear down the hall with loud gasping and all. She would wake up at least 3 times a night, and sweat profusely all night long...she and I were exhausted most days from the lack of sleep. So I started googling "toddler snoring". I found millions of sites hood sleep apnea caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids. She had every symptom, and on all the sites it had a huge list of very serious side effects if the problems goes untreated into adolescence. I talked to Caleb about it and he checked out her tonsils to find that she had no more than a 1/4 an inch between them for air to get through. So we set up an appointment with the Peds ENT.
The ENT checked her out and was amazed at the size of her tonsils. They were so large that he showed me how they were actually visible on her neck. I just figured she had kind of a chubby chin and neck, but apparently that was just all tonsils. He also explained how most of her speech problems were being caused by the tonsils as well. Basically we had no choice and had to take them out. we got her scheduled for the surgery. A few days before the Surgery daddy brought home a lot of hospital things. We played Doctor, and gave her baby dolls "Sleepy Juice" and stuff. I think all the prep really paid off because she was so calm and brave going into surgery. She did an amazing job. the results of the surgery have been wonderful! No more snoring, sweating or waking up. Her whole face and neck look totally different, her speech is improving, and even her temperament has improved. The surgery was quick and easy and recovery was only about four rougher days. I am so proud of her. She was so brave through her casts and surgery, and I am so glad it is all done.
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