Spica Parent's Name:

Tim & Jackie

Do You Have a Blog About Your Spica Journey?

www.bountifularrowsfarm.com

Spica Baby's Name:

Evelyn

Spica Baby's Age When He or She Was First Casted:

8 months

Weeks In The Cast:

12

Favorite Spica Journey Memory:

Finally getting the cast off this past September, and her first bath!

Biggest Lesson Learned:

I was at first overwhelmed by all the items you could buy to help with your child in the Spica cast. I was worried I wouldn't know what to do with her for 3 months, and that she would just sit and cry.  There are so many suggestions, which are helpful, but waiting until your baby/child is home in their cast first to see what you really need is best.  We found out quickly that she was most content just laying on her stomach on the floor. She learned to crawl in the spica on day 2!  We used the bean bag chair for her to sit in to drink her bottle, her booster seat at the table, but otherwise...we didn't really need anything.  We made her a chair out of a box, but even that was quickly discarded.  She just liked to lay on the floor, play with her siblings (she's the youngest of 6), and drag herself around!

What Do You Wish You Knew:

That it honestly was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be! Kids handle things much better than I would have thought! 

Also, that when the cast comes off...it's hard for a few weeks/months.  She was in a lot of pain, and it took over a month for her to even extend her leg, she kept it up like it was in the cast. Diaper changing and dressing her brought her to tears. It was slow progress, but at almost 4 months post spica cast (16 months old) she is just starting to walk on her own.

Favorite Gear or Must Have Item:

Munchkin travel booster seat and a bean bag chair

Final Thoughts or Advice:

As to advice...A big thing for us, was being able to completely fasten her diaper like normal under the cast.  The whole stuffing and praying it wouldn't leak thing was stressful! Once we figured we could get a size bigger diaper, and slide our hands under the cast enough to fasten it, then she could sleep on her stomach again, crawl around,  and there was a much lesser chance of it leaking. We made it all 12 weeks with a clean cast!  And as a final thought...the time in the cast went by quickly, it was easier than we thought it would be, and it definitely grew us in our faith to trust that God was working everything out for the good of all of us! Our journey is not over yet, we have years of appointments ahead, but we know it will be ok, and if she does need another cast in the future, we'll make it through again.