Sweet baby feet

My pregnancies with both of my boys were so very different which was surprising to me at the time and still is now.  Not only were they almost exactly two years to the day apart (so it's not like I was drastically older) but they were both boys.  I have heard that some people feel like there is a huge difference between carrying boys and girls but for me it was very different with two babies of the same gender. 

My pregnancy with Caleb was pretty eventful.  It seemed like every time we were at the doctor's office, they found one more (small) thing of concern which led to another appointment to check it, and another, and another.  My whole pregnancy with him probably needs another post itself.  Caleb was born two weeks early and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces.  Because the trend is that second babies are born earlier than first babies, I expected Eli to be born early too.  That indeed was not the case.  We welcomed sweet baby Eli into the world 3 days LATE at 9 pounds, 1 ounce.  Wowza. 

To say we were shocked would be an understatement.  No one, including the doctor's had expected him to be quite that big.  In fact, after he was born, the baby scale was being used by another delivery team. As we waited for it to become available, the small group of nurses and doctors in my room were taking guesses on how big he was based on his appearance.  We all guessed around 8 pounds or so, but we were very wrong.  He sure didn't look that big because he's also pretty long and we loved (love) every little adorable ounce of him.

Eli continues to grow on pace with his weight and height and he's Mommy's big boy.  At our two month well baby check-up, our doctor mentioned that she thought his feet looked like they turned in a little too much and referred us to an orthopedic specialist.  To be honest, I had never really noticed a problem.  I've always felt that babies are pretty flexible, especially as newborns, so we (and the rest of my family) thought his feet looked normal and I wasn't too concerned.  We took him to the specialist in March and he explained to us that Eli's feet are indeed turned in too much. He said he has a very common problem called 'metatarsus adductus'.  He explained to us that because he was such a big baby, he actually ran out of room in my belly to grow.  He showed us how he must have placed his feet to create more room for himself and by doing that, his feet grew a little more turned in than they should have.

The doctor showed us some physical therapy stretches to do with him as many times as we can a day.  The idea is that we can try to stretch out that ligament in his foot which right now is so tight that it prevents his foot from straightening completely. Hopefully, as the ligament is stretched, his foot will begin to correct itself and grow properly.  He said it is a slight problem and the stretches should help.  We have to return to see him mid-May so he can check his feet again.  Hopefully the stretches will have done their job but if not, he may have to wear a cast to correct them.  I'm not entirely sure for how long he would have to wear it but I figured that it wasn't worth worrying myself until we reached that bridge. 

I'm a pretty hardcore worrier so to say I haven't been anxious about this situation would be a complete lie.  It's hard to tell at this point if the stretches are helping.  Eli certainly does stretch his foot out straight when he is playing but then returns it to the regular position also.  I'm not even sure if the specialist expects the problem to be fixed by our next appointment, or if just by having it improve we can avoid the cast.  I know that this is not the worst problem in the world by any means and that if he does need a cast, catching it now as opposed to when he tries to walk is a good thing.  However, I'm sure no mother wishes for their child to have any health concerns including having to wear a cast.  We see his pediatrician next week for his 4 month well-baby check and I hope that she can give us some insight on if they look a little better than they did. So for now, we continue to do the stretches as often as we can and we pray that no further medical intervention is needed.