Surgery - and 3 months old

This past Monday was Hawk's corrective surgery on his feet, after 10 weeks of Ponseti casts, changed every week. While it was daunting and gave us some anxiety to anticipate the surgery, it was the necessary next step in correcting his feet shape. We feel very confident in our orthopedic, and the surgery was pretty quick - just over an hour to insert a temporary pin through the top of his foot and into the talus bone, and then cutting the Achilles tendon and  positioning the foot at 90 degrees. Now he is in a final set of casts for 4-6 weeks. Afterwards Dr Raustol will remove the pins and Hawk will wear soft splints on his feet (to prevent regression), and later orthotics in his shoes.

The week of his final casts and 6 days before his surgery, I took his casts off at home in the morning before his appointment. It was great to see how his feet have changed so much and now you can see the arch!! It was hard to photograph, though. And you can see how he doesn't have much muscle in his legs yet. He'll certainly be adding that to his daily therapy routine once the casts are off!

Sunday afternoon before the surgery, Jim and I drove Hawk to Asheville, where we stayed overnight at the hospital guesthouse. It made the morning easier since we had to report for surgery at 5:30 am. It helped to settle our fears, too, to be close by and ready for the morning. We were also SO thankful that Mom drove from Durham to be with Timo and Mattias!!

Saying good bye; Timo just learned how to make silly faces

Such a sweetie

The front of the guesthouse

The hardest part of the surgery was waiting for it to begin! Hawk couldn't nurse or eat anything after 3 am so he was just crying and crying... At one point Jim was holding him and he slept briefly. Then, when the doctors and nurses arrived to take him back, he perked up and started looking around and smiling at everybody. Typical Hawk!

After the surgery he woke up just fine - and hungry! I fed him and held him about 2 hours until he was ready to get dressed, and then we headed home. He slept a lot the next 24 hours and was a bit sensitive about moving his feet, but by Wednesday he seemed his normal, content self. The casts this time are the 'regular' ones so they are thicker and heavier. We continue to be so thankful for the great medical care he is receiving!

Learning to snuggle with his hawk

On August 3rd he turned 3 months old! He is almost 9 1/2 lbs (about 4.2 kg). Current likes include: bring held facing out, sucking his fists, listening to his brothers playing, doing stretches on the floor or pad, walks in the stroller, listening to rain, nursing to sleep. Current dislike include: cold diaper wipes,  stretching his arms above his head, and being put in his crib to sleep when he just wants Mommy to hold him. (Actually he does great in his crib at nighttime, but it's the daytime naps that haven't leveled out yet.)