Update on Eli's feet

We went back for our follow-up visit with the pediatric orthopedic specialist.  As I had mentioned before, our pediatrician had noticed a problem with Eli's feet at his 2 month well-baby check. After an initial visit with the specialist, he said Eli had 'metatarsus adductus'. He showed us some physical therapy stretches to do and asked us to follow up with him in two months.  If they hadn't improved, Eli would need casts on his feet to help them develop normally.  

When we went to our pediatrician for his 4 month well-baby check in early May, I asked her to look at his feet and she said that she hadn't noticed any improvement.  We were pretty upset and frustrated because we had been doing those stretches as much as we possibly could and expected at least a little improvement.  I was fully prepared (and dreading) the visit to the specialist because I was pretty sure he was going to say we needed casts.

We showed up to our appointment at 8:30 last Tuesday, full of nerves, only to be told that somehow we had mixed up our appointment days.  Our appointment had actually been the day before at 8:30.  If you know me at all, you know that I never do that.  Like ever.  I'm usually very organized and can keep dates in my head like no one's business.  However, with the stress of our upcoming trip and all the showings with the house, I somehow got the dates mixed up.  Oops.  They were nice enough to find an opening for us the next morning.

Of course, they were somehow running an hour behind that day (!!!) which only added to my nerves as we waited to be seen.  Our hospital is a teaching hospital, so we were first seen by the resident.  He looked at Eli's feet, and with no hesitation said that the flexibility had remarkably improved and he didn't think there was any reason for casts at this time.  The specialist came in a few minutes later and agreed with his assessment, but told us to continue doing the stretches.  We are supposed to come back for another appointment in one year when he is walking, to make sure that his feet are developing normally and not causing him a problem.

To say that was a major relief would be a HUGE understatement.  I felt as though a weight of worry had been lifted of my shoulders.  I am so, so very grateful to my husband who was incredibly diligent at doing those stretches with Eli every chance he got because clearly, so far it has worked.  Hopefully, they won't cause him a problem learning to walk and we can put this whole mess behind us.  Until then, I can definitely breathe a little easier.