Spica Parent's Name:

Kelly

Spica Baby's Name:

Lilly

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

2.5 months

Weeks In The Cast:

14

Favorite Spica Journey Memory:

Her smiling in the hospital bed after her surgery even though she was in pain.

Biggest Lesson Learned:

Cotton balls are very important and to never take a regular diaper change for granted. No, the cotton balls are not perfect, but they are the cheapest alternative and I believe the easiest to change. Every time Lilly had a bowel movement or urinated, she would get it in the legs of the cast and cleaning it out was a nightmare. So we stuck cotton balls in the sides and and around the buttocks making a perimeter so it would not get in those deep pockets of the cast. It has worked pretty well for us.

What Do You Wish You Knew:

That stuffing the cast is very important with diaper changes.

Favorite Gear or Must Have Item:

1. Nexcare waterproof tape. This has been great, but we found this towards the end. It works really well around the edges better than the moles tape.
2. Cosmetic round sponges/Carefree pantiliners rolled up like in the shape of a rolling pin (the cosmetic sponges we didn’t roll up, we put in as is). This is great for the top parts of her hip areas. I would put some Neosporin on it when it was getting red and it seemed to help.
3. Dove antiperspirant spray/Womens baby powder gynecological deodorizing spray. I would spray this on the diapers, then use them under the front of her cast and bottom of cast, threading up to where the tops of the cast are in the front and back. The sprays would not touch her skin, it was on the diaper touching the cast but helped the odor and the diaperswould help keep her skin dry and away from the dirty cast.
4. Boppy pillow (designed for preemies)/Fisher Price Bunny Infant to Toddler Rocker. THESE ARE A MUST!
5. Diaper covers with snap buttons. I bought some on Amazon really cheap to cover the diapers and it worked really well and also toddler leggings to cover her cast when we went out to church, etc. (people never even noticed she had a cast on hardly ever, plus she was in a car seat half the time).
6. XL bandaids. These covered the back of her thighs when it would start to get red, but we did not have to use them as much once we started using the waterproof tape
7. TENA PADS-MODERATE. We tried to use equate brand, but forget it, it just doesn’t work as well. These pads might seem to be pricey, but they give out great coupons on the website if you sign up. Its worth it to get this brand specifically.
8. Baby Powder. Helps with the odor as well and keeps the cast dry, especially when doing sponge baths.
9. Band Aid Hurt Free Antiseptic. I used this around her top of her hips where we were constantly shoving diapers around her because it was really getting red and chaffed. This helped with discomfort and kept it clean.

Final Thoughts or Advice:

Never give up. This is hard but it will make you stronger and you won't take the simple things in life for granted!