The Kindler Five...: 67 Days to Go!!

Only 67 more days for Emerson to wear her newest contraption - her body cast! We're on Day #3 and things are finally getting better. Emerson's hip surgery was a success! We were so relieved to find out that nothing "surgical" was needed on the day of the procedure. The surgeon was able to manipulate Emerson's ball of her hip right into the socket and it was stable enough to just place it and then cast it in place to stay that way. This was a big relief and blessing. The first night was not fun at all - poor little Em would sleep for 30-45 minutes and then would wake up screaming. Either that, or the nurses would come in to check her vitals just when she feel asleep! Needless to say, we are glad to be home. Last night went much better. She went to bed around 6:30 and was up every two hours until midnight. But after having a bottle she was able to sleep until 7:00 without waking. Of course, that doesn't mean Josh and I got any uninterrupted sleep - we are having to set our alarm to reposition her every 2-3 hours at night so that she doesn't get bed sores. I think we'll get used to it though. It will just be like when she was a newborn. She is currently taking nap #2 today and her mood/comfort level seem much better today. She is back to her joyful, happy self most of the time!

The cast was quite shocking to see at first and she was pretty grumpy coming out of the anesthesia, as expected. We've really have had to get creative as far as where/how to lay her down, how to prop her up to feed her, etc. She doesn't fit in a highchair, stroller, etc. I just had a friend from church bring me the greatest gift to borrow - a carrier that I can hold her in when I need to get things done, or if we want to take a walk to the park, for church, etc. She is super heavy with the cast, so this takes all of the weight off and she loves to face forward so that she can see everything going on around her. This is going to be really helpful to have during the next few months! Thank you Staci!!

On April 12th we will be repeating the same procedure. If the hip still seems stable, then the doctor will put a new cast on - it will only go to the top of her knees this time. We were told that it is "not likely" that she will need the surgical procedure at that time, but there is still a chance. She'll wear the second cast for another 5 weeks and then she will then have to wear a brace for a while (not sure how long), but we will be able to take it on and off.

We are blessed by God's Grace and Care and are also blessed to have so many people praying for Emerson during this time in her life! Thank you all for everything you do and have done for us. We appreciate every one of you! Here are some pics of our hospital stay and some at home. Many more to come in the next few months. We know that we will get the hang of this shortly and the time will be over before we know it. Emerson is such an Angel!!

Here's the ballerina with her new ballerina legs :). So glad to see her so happy today!!