So close...

Yesterday was consumed by Ethan's casting. Poor kid was circumcised last week and struggled with the pain of it and then we have a day like this.

At 7 am, we began preparations in order for Ethan and I to make it to an appointment at 11 am. I fed them and then Doug and I soaked off Ethan's cast in sugar water. After about 30 minutes, it was off and he was sticky. We gave him a bath and got him dressed. I quickly hopped in the shower and 15 minutes later, they were hungry again. We did the 9:30 feeding and then I packed up Ethan in the car while Doug stayed behind with Sydney. A photo after his bath...

At the doctor's office, I asked to be taken back to a patient room early. There were about 25 people in the waiting room (including young kids) and we were instructed at the hospital to "limit their exposure to other people for 3 months." After an hour of waiting, the doctor came in and told me he was ready for braces! No more cast!

They called the Orthopedic doctor to make sure the brace had arrived (he was fitted for it last week). It had not. They said it may be another week...bummer. So, Ethan got another cast. This time, the doctor asked an assistant to do it. I held him while 3 people worked to get the cast on and used a LOT of plaster. Over double what Dr. Faux normally uses. It didn't look the same (knee wasn't quite bent as far, etc.) but I told myself that it was only temporary.

We went home and I fed them right away at 1 pm. Thanks to my sister, Christine, for coming by to help me burp them after Doug went to school. Ethan was pretty fussy although exhausted. He would fall asleep for 10-20 minutes and wake up crying for only a few seconds and fall back asleep. It was strange. This went on until 5:30 pm and I called the doctor after giving him some Tylenol. We made arrangements to meet him at his office at 8:30 pm. Doug and I worked to soak off his cast after the 6 pm feeding without success. It was too thick...we couldn't cut through it. I could tell he was hurting and it made me so sad. Here is a video of Doug and Ethan while he is holding him in a bucket of sugar water:

At 8:30 pm, he got a new cast and slept so hard last night--5 hours apart for 2 feedings! Thank goodness Sydney agreed to do the same. Long day and all in the name of his cast.

Good news is that his brace is now in and we're getting it put on Friday morning after we soak it off. The casting journey is coming to a close.