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2nd Trimester
suzieq9980
member
Clubfoot
suzieq9980
member
Ok....so we had our level 2 ultrasound and first of all IT'S A GIRL!!! We are SO SO excited to know the sex of our little one:)
Sadly, we also received news that our little one appears to have a clubfoot. Needless to say we are still processing this news. We've had a few days of crying and such and are beginning to come to grips with it. Does or has anyone had any experience with this in their child? We are scared and want to do what is right by our daughter. Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!
TTC #2
BFP 6/1/14 -- Blighted Ovum: 7/9/14 -- D&C: 7/10/14
BFP 6/1/14 -- Blighted Ovum: 7/9/14 -- D&C: 7/10/14
BFP 3/26/15 -- Chemical Pregnancy: 3/30/15
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Clubfoot
Congratulations on your little girl!
I don't have any experience with a clubfoot or know anyone that does, but I'll be thinking of you and hoping you find out some helpful information.
First, congratulations on a little girl- they are tons of fun!
Second, I don't have any information for you but I was going to suggest maybe posting on the special needs board. There are a lot of women on there and they seem very accepting of any LO who has any physical, mental or emotional difference- I'm sure you could find someone on there who has information for you or can start to point you in the right direction.
Thinking of you, DH and LO- I hope that you get the support and care that you need so that DD can thrive!
Congrats on your little girl! I do not have experience personally with this, but my husband had a clubfoot, and my MIL has told me all about it numerous times. From what I understand he spent quite some time in a full leg cast, then special shoes from the doctor.
Do you have a pediatrician yet? I'd suggest finding one ASAP, hopefully with experience with this condition, and start planning the process after birth.
I'm lurking from the 1st Trimester board and saw your post...
First of all congratulations for your beautiful baby girl! I'm so sorry for your "mixed" news yesterday. At our level 2 ultrasound with DD we found that she had a cleft lip and probably a cleft palate. I totally understand how you're feeling. It's so hard to process. Someone at the time told me: "No one is perfect, you just know some of your daughter's flaws in advance."
I found tons of resources on the web that gave us so much helpful information about what to expect and how to prepare. Www.ivillage.com had a cleft lips & palates forum that was extremely helpful especially when it was time for her surgeries. I found that the more research I did, the more confident I felt about my and my husband's ability to care for DD and to give her the best possible start in life.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your LO!
I was born with a club foot... a long time ago (the early 80's).
It made my mom sad, but frankly, it's been no big deal for me. Mine was severe enough that they tried the shoes and casts, but it didn't work. I had surgery when I was 9 or 10 months old and they straightened the foot out enough that I have no problems. It's still about 2 sizes smaller than the other foot - and the leg is a bit shorter so I have a slight limp, but it's not something most people notice. I've been able to do everything anyone else can - run, walk long distances, play sports, etc. The main thing it affects is my balance in yoga, or when I was younger it took me longer to learn to balance on my left leg than my right, because the muscles aren't even in my calves.
Moral of the story: stay positive. This is more of an inconvenience than a huge diagnosis.
ETA: I had no other related or unrelated health problems. I was a very healthy baby.
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Thank you for your responses so far! It is helping me to make peace with this.
Mrs. Han Solo how did you finally learn to accept and cope? I love what your friend said to you! I've been getting the "it could be worse." I work in special education so I am well aware of how much worse it could be but it doesn't make me feel any better. The fact is there is still something wrong with our daughter and naturally that makes us jump to the question "is there anything else that the doctor's missed that could be wrong with her?" We hope and pray she is otherwise healthy.
No matter what, this little girl will be loved and cared for but I want to be able to do something NOW for her. That's what stinks is that we are stuck in a holding pattern. Thank you all for your support and for your congrats! I was shocked it was a girl....I thought for sure boy:) We are so excited and I can't wait to see DH playing with princess dolls!!!
BFP 6/1/14 -- Blighted Ovum: 7/9/14 -- D&C: 7/10/14
Tokenhoser,
That makes me feel SO much better! I am glad that she will have a normal life. May I ask you how inconvenient it is to shop for shoes? It sounds so silly but that is one of the things I'm worried about for her. I want her to be a normal teenager and be able to shop for shoes and go to the beach and such.
BFP 6/1/14 -- Blighted Ovum: 7/9/14 -- D&C: 7/10/14
Tokenhoser,
That makes me feel SO much better! Thank you for sharing your story and calming this new mom down! It is great to hear how it has minimally impacted your life. I am so glad that she will lead a normal life. May I ask you how inconvenient it is to shop for shoes? It sounds so silly but that is one of the things I'm worried about for her. I want her to be a normal teenager and be able to shop for shoes and go to the beach and such.
BFP 6/1/14 -- Blighted Ovum: 7/9/14 -- D&C: 7/10/14
That is the one thing that is a bit of a pain - I have always just bought to fit the bigger foot and made do. There are places online where you can get shoes that match mis-matched feet. The only thing that's hard is heels - I usually need a strap across the top of my foot to keep it on, and super high heels don't work because my ankle doesn't quite flex all the way up and down (and it makes my limp a bit worse just because of how heels fit).
Who wears shoes at the beach?
I like to swim, and never had any problems walking on sand or playing beach volleyball with my friends.
I know it's terrible to find out everything about your little girl isn't 100% perfect; I just hope it helps to hear that for me, this is something I think about and deal with rarely. I did have a fairly long scar on my foot/ankle, but over the years it's just faded away. Things have probably improved a lot in 30 years, too, and the best treatment for me then is probably not exactly what your baby will experience. It could be mild enough that surgery isn't even necessary.
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I hated the "it could be worse" comments!
As far as learning to accept and cope, it just took time. Like you, I worried for the rest of the pregnancy that there might be something else wrong. We were afraid to do an amnio so we did lots of additional sonograms and with each one we got a little more assurance that there weren't any additional issues.
I know exactly how you feel about the holding pattern. It stinks. The best thing you can do right now is to get prepared. Like a previos poster suggested, we found a pediatrician that was familiar with cleft issues. She referred us to a specialist and his team that could handle the surgeries, etc. Dh and I did lots of research on the internet and got lots of advice from moms that had been through it already. You might start with the March of Dimes website.
Congratulations again and keep thinking about those princess dolls!
Congrats on your little girl!!
While I'm not an Orthotist (the person who will be seeing your little one for bracing) I have had the training for it.
Based on experience, the sooner you get treatment for your little girl, the less it will impact her later in life. There are many treatments from just bracing to serial casting or even corrective surgeries, all depending on how severe her club foot is (mobile or fixed).
If I were you, first thing I'd do is find an Orthotist in your area who specializes in pediatrics. There are most often associated with a Children's hospital if you live in a larger city. Many Children's hospitals even have a "Clubfoot Clinic Day" where all the kids with clubfeet come in one day to see the specialist. It may be a great way to talk to other parents about what to expect.
If you don't have a hospital nearly who does this, it's also a great idea to go to an Orthotic clinic and actually talk to someone about what to expect, and how club foot is treated in your specific area. This way, you won't get completely swamped with all the various procedures that are out there, but aren't even done where you live.
It really is a commonly treated condition these days, and outcomes are typically great. Good luck to you, and grats again on being Team Pink!
Derek - February 2013 Caelyn April 2011
Hi, congrats on your lil girl and sorry for the mixed news. But I just wanted to tell you that my cousin was born with club feet, and he had to wear leg casts for a while, and I want to say he had surgery also, but he's now 16 and you'd never know it. I'm not sure if he has any scars or if his feet look any different, but as far I know it's been a non-issue since he was a baby. I believe he learned to walk at the right age and he doesn't have a limp or anything.
So while it's painful to find this out, and to sit there unable to do anything about it for now, like some PPs have said, it is unlikely to impact your LO long term and I would say as far as the range of possible issues, the amount of pain and intervention should be pretty minimal to moderate... nothing extreme (not that I'm a doctor!). GL and congrats again!
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Congrats on your little girl!!
My child doesnt have clubfoot but i have several friends whos children were born with club foot and they had therapy and you could never tell that that had it!! The kids get around great and run just as fast as any other children i know!!
2 of the boys are teenagers now and I actually didnt even know he was born with that until some one told me. Looking at him play and run I would never have thought it!!
Your little girl will be fine.. Do your research into it.. But out of the several children i know a couple of them it was pretty severe but still get around wonderfully!