Different Legs

As noted at her last clinic, Lil Bit has a slight difference in leg size.  One is a tad smaller than the other.  That is also the one she moves more.  Kinda seems contradictory doesn’t it?  Well, we don’t know yet.  More wait and see.

Her dr didn’t express any concern over it at her visit. We didn’t think anything about it either.  I have just noticed since then, you know, now that my attention has been brought to the matter, that she does indeed move that leg more.  Much more. The other leg moves, yeah, sure, but the smaller one is much more *active*.

I mentioned it on the spina bifida board and they all say it’s quite common for legs to differ in size. Sometimes it is/can become an issue, other times not.  At this point, it doesn’t *mean* anything.  It could be her dominant side, or not. That could be her weaker leg, or not. She may need a brace for that side, or not.

She appears to have less flexibility on that side. Her foot tends to flex upwards more.  It doesn’t point as much as the other. It seems more tensed up.  And when I ‘pull’ on that foot, to flex it up and down, doing both feet at the same time, you can definitely feel where the smaller, right leg, tenses up sooner and resists movement. Then she’ll forcefully kick it!  So funny.

So, nothing to worry about for the time being, but we’ll be keeping an eye on that.  And I’m sure we’ll cover that at her next clinic.  No biggy.  Just thought I’d update y’all here with what I had. We don’t have much going on right now as she’s done with surgeries and doing well. And we’re not struggling with anything. No more diapering issues or anything.  Just normal day to day stuff around here.  Oh, we have made the switch to Luvs diapers. We were steady with the Pampers for a while, just because I didn’t want to introduce a change just yet for fear of break outs/reactions. But I made the switch recently, for the sake of our pocketbook 😉 and all is well. She can now wear diapers the right way, I think I may have already mentioned that.  All is well.  She’s growing like crazy, cute as can be.  She’s my little sweetheart. 🙂

She got a pretty new headband today. :squee:

 

First Clinic

Today Lil Bit had her first clinic appointment.  That is where we go in and every one of her Spina Bifida doctors come around for a visit.

First she had x-rays done to check the scoliosis. Then she had urodynamics which is to check her bladder, kidneys.

Of course, x-ray results came to us later, but, I’ll start there…

Her spine has an 18* curve to it. So, a bit, but nothing to be too concerned about at this point, especially with her being so young. It’s not like they’re going to put a brace on her now anyway. So, that will continue to be monitored, but, it’s nothing major for now.

Urodynamics brought good results. At first dr. said he was going to change her to another medicine but then, after the test, decided that wasn’t necessary.  She is now off amoxicillin. There looked to be no more reflux. Bladder contracts as it should. He did say there was a sensory deficit as there was no reaction when a needle was inserted. But he didn’t seem overly concerned. Otherwise, all looked good, better than her first test.  Big thumbs up there.

She’s up to 10# now. We knew she was getting snug in her car seat with the insert in there.  The insert is only to be used up to 11# We had just removed it this weekend, not knowing just how close she was to that limit. Yay Lil Bit!

Then the various Spina Bifida folks came in, one by one, to give her the once over. Checking movement of legs, asking about progress, issues, concerns. Everyone was impressed and gave her thumbs up. One did note a slight difference in leg girth that will be watched. But there doesn’t seem to be any loss in function. In fact, when he said that I noted how funny because that is the leg she seems to kick more/harder. So, that will be watched as well, but, no concern at this point. Her incision is now healed, approved by doc. Now it’s just everyday living, but continuing on our ‘wait and see’ path.

So, a good visit. She’ll go back and have x-rays again in about 4-6 months.

Praise the Lord for His awesome healing thus far!

No Mudflap

We’re trying no mudflap today. That should cut down on the time it takes to change each diaper. 🙂 Still cleaning the nearly healed hole, but no mudflap will at least be *one* less thing to contend with. They weren’t staying on well and needing changed every time anyway. Hopefully we don’t run into any issues. Her back is nicely healed that low, so, we should be alright.