Recovery

A little over a week down, and two and a half more to go before Alice can come out of the heavy spica cast. Two Fridays ago she had the surgery at Children's Hospital to insert rods into both femurs. The doctor had to break them in several places to get them straight enough to insert the rods. The surgery took a little over 4 hours. I was thankful to have my friend Barb there with me so we could knit and keep my mind off of what was happening to my baby. Phil and I then took turns staying at the hospital with her until she could go home. Those first few days were very hard. You might imagine her shock and dismay to wake up and find she now had two broken legs! She was in a lot of pain and the medication was upsetting her stomach so she wouldn't eat. Alice has an amazing spirit though and the past several days we have seen her smiling again. Here she is watching Tangled (again):

We can usually keep her distracted and busy during the day - with movies, Duplos, books, coloring, stickers, scissors, etc. It's only at night time that she realizes how much she hurts and itches - it is really uncomfortable for her. The cast is very restrictive and she is a kid who likes tossing and turning in her sleep. This means we are waking up several times a night to get her calmed down, shifted around with more pillows if necessary, and sometimes fixed up with an extra bottle. The screaming fits are the hardest... We have suffered these before with Alice, when we first brought her home and the last time she was in a spica. She was inconsolable at that time too, and it tears at my heart to hear it all over again. We feel empathy for her as we know she is suffering, but also frustration because we are doing all we can to help her while she heals... and it is so difficult to understand what she is saying when she is whining/crying/screaming at us. Phil and I are doing our best to exercise patience and positive discipline - insisting that she calm down and tell us in words what she wants before we will give her whatever it is. Last time she came out of the spica, it took over a month to get back to normal communication because we had felt so sorry for her and gave in every time she let out a pitiful whine. Cast or no, she is still a three-year-old with developing language skills... Alice needs to be able to communicate with us without driving us crazy.
We had a nice visit with family over Thanksgiving - it was good to have a change of scenery and be cared for by people we love. I am so thankful for them, and that we are handling this recovery during the holiday season as it moves along so quickly! I had better get a start on our Christmas cards... We already have our tree up (decorated by Nathan, Jamie, and Evelyn) and the house is looking very festive with paper decorations, lights, and other Christmas decor.  This will be our first Christmas here, and we are all looking forward to it.