Prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My son was cast with the soft plaster casts and he did well. He has bilateral

clubfoot and is now in the DBB shoes this is his first week and he is now 3

months old. Lucky for you you are prepared and have information about clubfoot.

Our ultrasound did not detect this so we were very suprised. The soft cast is

great because you can peel it off an hour before your appt and give your baby

a bath to remove dead skin etc and the baby's legs lotioned up and ready for

the next cast. People will ask questions and stare but do not let that get to

you. I would always just tell them and explain what it was. No biggie!

Good luck with baby!

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My son was cast with the soft plaster casts and he did well. He has bilateral

clubfoot and is now in the DBB shoes this is his first week and he is now 3

months old. Lucky for you you are prepared and have information about clubfoot.

Our ultrasound did not detect this so we were very suprised. The soft cast is

great because you can peel it off an hour before your appt and give your baby

a bath to remove dead skin etc and the baby's legs lotioned up and ready for

the next cast. People will ask questions and stare but do not let that get to

you. I would always just tell them and explain what it was. No biggie!

Good luck with baby!

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Glad to hear your appointment went well with Dr. Mosca. He is our son's

ortho too and we are so happy with him. Yes, the fiberglass casts are

different than what Dr. P. uses but I think a lot of the other docs use

them too. others can pipe in here.

As far as how things will be different with casts and brace. I remember the

casts were pretty easy as far as clothing and fitting in carseats, etc.

When they are newborns the casts just fit in their jammies. We did not have

a problem with Weston fitting into his carseat, swing, baby bjorn, etc. And

since he's our first child we didn't know anything different. Yes, the

bathing is kind of a pain. You get in a routine though and it goes so fast.

We bathed Weston every other day.

We haven't had much trouble with Weston fitting in anything with the bar

either. The only thing I can think of is one of his strollers. I just put

him in it without the bar and then attach it once he is in the stroller.

And once they have the bar. snaps on pants do help a lot. Also, good socks

are a must. I prefer the baby Gap or Old Navy socks with grips on the

bottom. You will get inventive as new situations arise. The only thing

that has been a little difficult is that he can tear up the house with that

bar! We are constantly vacuuming his room, as there are paint chips

everywhere from banging the bar against his crib! Pretty funny.

And Weston has acquired all developmental milestones right on target. These

cf kids are pretty amazing. That bar doesn't slow him down one bit and

believe me, at times I wish it did!

Take care and good luck with your little one!! Lori

_____

From: nosurgery4clubfoot

[mailto:nosurgery4clubfoot ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 8:45 PM

To: nosurgery4clubfoot

Subject: Prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Glad to hear your appointment went well with Dr. Mosca. He is our son's

ortho too and we are so happy with him. Yes, the fiberglass casts are

different than what Dr. P. uses but I think a lot of the other docs use

them too. others can pipe in here.

As far as how things will be different with casts and brace. I remember the

casts were pretty easy as far as clothing and fitting in carseats, etc.

When they are newborns the casts just fit in their jammies. We did not have

a problem with Weston fitting into his carseat, swing, baby bjorn, etc. And

since he's our first child we didn't know anything different. Yes, the

bathing is kind of a pain. You get in a routine though and it goes so fast.

We bathed Weston every other day.

We haven't had much trouble with Weston fitting in anything with the bar

either. The only thing I can think of is one of his strollers. I just put

him in it without the bar and then attach it once he is in the stroller.

And once they have the bar. snaps on pants do help a lot. Also, good socks

are a must. I prefer the baby Gap or Old Navy socks with grips on the

bottom. You will get inventive as new situations arise. The only thing

that has been a little difficult is that he can tear up the house with that

bar! We are constantly vacuuming his room, as there are paint chips

everywhere from banging the bar against his crib! Pretty funny.

And Weston has acquired all developmental milestones right on target. These

cf kids are pretty amazing. That bar doesn't slow him down one bit and

believe me, at times I wish it did!

Take care and good luck with your little one!! Lori

_____

From: nosurgery4clubfoot

[mailto:nosurgery4clubfoot ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 8:45 PM

To: nosurgery4clubfoot

Subject: Prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Glad to see you here! Dr. Mosca is one of the good ones... you are in

good hands with him.

At 09:45 PM 6/30/2005, you wrote:

>Hi folks,

>

>We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

>and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

>what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

>is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

>that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

>surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

>soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

I have not been to Dr. Mosca, but he's close enough that if I ever needed

another doc, I'd absolutely make the 2.5hr drive to Seattle to do

so. There are a few parents here who have seen him, and I know from these

parents that even Dr. Ponseti thinks Dr. Mosca does a fantastic job with

the fiberglass casts. I assume there's a certain finesse to making them

work properly, and thus that is why the Ponseti Method calls for the

plaster casts. Plaster is easier to mold tight on the baby's foot and it

holds the correction nice and tight. I wouldn't trust just anyone with

fiberglass casts, but Dr. Mosca has proven he can use them effectively with

this method so I think you can relax about that one. I think there's

another doc on the west coast that uses fiberglass with good results

too... I'm thinking in San Diego? Dr. Colburn maybe?? Someone correct me

please...

Darbi's first cast was done by a Ped Ortho here at Doernbecher Children's

Hospital (OHSU) and it was fiberglass. Personally, I preferred it. I

could actually get a shoe over the foot on that cast! It was much lighter

and thinner. This cast was a good cast, and while I don't know what this

doc is doing now as per the Ponseti Method I do know he did a fine job on

her first cast. We switched, mainly because there was a Ponseti Certified

doc here at Portland Shriners and I felt more comfortable with a certified

doc. and I was uncomfortable about the fiberglass cast (this was before I

saw that it did a fine job). Bonus... Shriners is free. So it seemed

logical to switch. Turned out this certified doc modifies and had I not

had this list I would surely not have the perfect footed daughter I have

now. But when he treated Darbi the only thing he modified was the bracing

hours... which I of course could remedy at home. Yes, we still see

him... yes... he uses AFO's now... yes... I know... long sordid story

many here know... so sad. Yes, they hate me there now lol!

>He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

>would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

>the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

>was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

>runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

>what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

>we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

>We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

>assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

>we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

>2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

>Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

>appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

>that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

I cannot recommend more taking a week or even two if you prefer to be with

babe and no casts at first. Have your babymoon, enjoy those little clubbed

feet just the way they are and take lots of pictures. It's ok to do this,

and I wish I hadn't jumped right into the casting with my daughter. She

was casted on day 5, the day after I got out of the hospital and I have

only a few memories of her little clubfoot. And just a few pictures. When

I found out it was a true clubfoot, I wanted to get going on the casting

right away reading about the need to do so online. But I didn't need to be

that worried about it right then. I could have waited and enjoyed those

first days without the stress of castings and appointments... and to never

see her CF again. LOL, I'm sure it's hard to imagine a mom lamenting about

not seeing the clubbed foot but that's the way I feel. It was kind of cute

actually...

>Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

>with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

>thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

>legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

>work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

>kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

>in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

>out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

>pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

>(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

>that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

Do you know baby's gender? I've found that my experiences with clothing

were much different that reported online. I found that after the first few

weeks, it was summerish more (if it can possibly be in Oregon in March and

April) and I used less and less one piece outfits for her because she was a

girl. I could put her in a dress with panties and change her with the FAB

on just fine. I found that for night time wear in the winter that she did

well in stretch pants and a onesie shirt like a turtle neck. I dressed her

for the morning each night in such an outfit and that way I didn't have to

change her clothes in the am when we all had to pile in the car to drive to

school. She also would be dressed pretty much for the day this way. Sure,

the occasional accident happened in the early am and she'd mess her clothes

but even so, this worked well for us. Later on in the winter I would just

dress her in a turtle neck onesie and stockings and she'd wear that all

morning long too. I would have done it this way for a boy too, since I

think boy babies are just fine in stockings if it keeps their legs

warm. In fact, I have dressed both my boy babies in stockings under their

pants in the winter. Neither of them had clubfoot.

So my personal feeling is that special clothes aren't always necessary

(however handy if they're available). I used what I liked, be it with

snaps or not. Boys will undoubtedly wear more jumpsuits and rompers than

girls might (depending on your style). It just seems they make lots of

little boy baby stuff in the jumpsuit/'romper category where you'll want

snap legs and girl clothes are often well... dressier in style. I didn't

like dressing Darbi in those jumpsuits so much, even pink ones. I liked

dressing her like a little girl much more (that's what I get for having two

boys first - I was totally ready for a little girlie action!). The

stretch pants were easy to slip down to her ankles to change diapers so

snaps weren't ever a big need for us. There ARE little jeans and pants out

there for boys that have snap legs. You just have to find them. Even so,

I found that the elastic waists on jeans for babies was usually plenty big

enough to pull down to the ankles to change diapers. (yes, the Darbs did

wear her brother's jeans... still does. Way too cute my mom

thinks... she requests that I dress her in her brother's jeans when I come

over lol!)

You may want to ask what bar Dr. Mosca uses. If it's a fixed length gold

bar, you will be able to take the shoes off the bar very easily to change

pants and such. It really only requires one shoe to be removed and you can

slip the pants right over the bar still attached to the other shoe. The

red bar is much more difficult to re-attach to the bar when you remove the

shoes, takes two pairs of hands to do it with babe's feet in the shoes. So

if possible, you may want to request the gold fixed bar for the first few

months of 23/7 and maybe a bit longer after that. Not only to change

clothes, but if you read the tips information for the FAB you'll find that

I also recommend taking the shoes off the bar when you apply them every

night at first because it reduces the chances of improper fit (and thus,

problems tolerating the brace). After you're used to putting the brace on

you won't want to take the shoes off anymore and can switch to the red

adjustable bar, but at first... it really is a good idea and so much

easier with the gold fixed bar.

Now, as you may already know ... is time to relax and enjoy the rest

of your pregnancy. You are in fantastic hands with Dr. Mosca, and it'll

all be fixed in short order. Don't worry about the clubfoot, it will not

be nearly as bad as it sounds. The past two years have flown by for us,

and no one would ever know Darbi was born with a clubfoot. People are

amazed when I tell them (IF I tell them - no reason to mention it now that

she's so old and doesn't wear her brace out of the house much) she was born

with clubfoot. She looks, walks, jumps, runs, does anything like any other

child and you simply cannot tell... well other than her walking a little

*ducky* because she's still a little overcorrected. But that won't last

and hey... we're all web footed out here in OR-E-GONE anyway :-D (PLEASE,

PLEASE... let SUMMER start!!! Wah!! Rain's great... but enough is

enough! It's July and feels like March! Blech...)

hope to hear lots from you when babe gets here. Don't forget to ask any

questions you may have here, even if it seems trivial. There's always

someone whose got an answer that works for you!

Kori

Darbi's Mama as of 3/38/03

Rt. CF - FAB 12-14hr/d

>

>--

>DS 5/02

>EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Glad to see you here! Dr. Mosca is one of the good ones... you are in

good hands with him.

At 09:45 PM 6/30/2005, you wrote:

>Hi folks,

>

>We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

>and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

>what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

>is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

>that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

>surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

>soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

I have not been to Dr. Mosca, but he's close enough that if I ever needed

another doc, I'd absolutely make the 2.5hr drive to Seattle to do

so. There are a few parents here who have seen him, and I know from these

parents that even Dr. Ponseti thinks Dr. Mosca does a fantastic job with

the fiberglass casts. I assume there's a certain finesse to making them

work properly, and thus that is why the Ponseti Method calls for the

plaster casts. Plaster is easier to mold tight on the baby's foot and it

holds the correction nice and tight. I wouldn't trust just anyone with

fiberglass casts, but Dr. Mosca has proven he can use them effectively with

this method so I think you can relax about that one. I think there's

another doc on the west coast that uses fiberglass with good results

too... I'm thinking in San Diego? Dr. Colburn maybe?? Someone correct me

please...

Darbi's first cast was done by a Ped Ortho here at Doernbecher Children's

Hospital (OHSU) and it was fiberglass. Personally, I preferred it. I

could actually get a shoe over the foot on that cast! It was much lighter

and thinner. This cast was a good cast, and while I don't know what this

doc is doing now as per the Ponseti Method I do know he did a fine job on

her first cast. We switched, mainly because there was a Ponseti Certified

doc here at Portland Shriners and I felt more comfortable with a certified

doc. and I was uncomfortable about the fiberglass cast (this was before I

saw that it did a fine job). Bonus... Shriners is free. So it seemed

logical to switch. Turned out this certified doc modifies and had I not

had this list I would surely not have the perfect footed daughter I have

now. But when he treated Darbi the only thing he modified was the bracing

hours... which I of course could remedy at home. Yes, we still see

him... yes... he uses AFO's now... yes... I know... long sordid story

many here know... so sad. Yes, they hate me there now lol!

>He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

>would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

>the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

>was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

>runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

>what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

>we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

>We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

>assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

>we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

>2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

>Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

>appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

>that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

I cannot recommend more taking a week or even two if you prefer to be with

babe and no casts at first. Have your babymoon, enjoy those little clubbed

feet just the way they are and take lots of pictures. It's ok to do this,

and I wish I hadn't jumped right into the casting with my daughter. She

was casted on day 5, the day after I got out of the hospital and I have

only a few memories of her little clubfoot. And just a few pictures. When

I found out it was a true clubfoot, I wanted to get going on the casting

right away reading about the need to do so online. But I didn't need to be

that worried about it right then. I could have waited and enjoyed those

first days without the stress of castings and appointments... and to never

see her CF again. LOL, I'm sure it's hard to imagine a mom lamenting about

not seeing the clubbed foot but that's the way I feel. It was kind of cute

actually...

>Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

>with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

>thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

>legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

>work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

>kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

>in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

>out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

>pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

>(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

>that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

Do you know baby's gender? I've found that my experiences with clothing

were much different that reported online. I found that after the first few

weeks, it was summerish more (if it can possibly be in Oregon in March and

April) and I used less and less one piece outfits for her because she was a

girl. I could put her in a dress with panties and change her with the FAB

on just fine. I found that for night time wear in the winter that she did

well in stretch pants and a onesie shirt like a turtle neck. I dressed her

for the morning each night in such an outfit and that way I didn't have to

change her clothes in the am when we all had to pile in the car to drive to

school. She also would be dressed pretty much for the day this way. Sure,

the occasional accident happened in the early am and she'd mess her clothes

but even so, this worked well for us. Later on in the winter I would just

dress her in a turtle neck onesie and stockings and she'd wear that all

morning long too. I would have done it this way for a boy too, since I

think boy babies are just fine in stockings if it keeps their legs

warm. In fact, I have dressed both my boy babies in stockings under their

pants in the winter. Neither of them had clubfoot.

So my personal feeling is that special clothes aren't always necessary

(however handy if they're available). I used what I liked, be it with

snaps or not. Boys will undoubtedly wear more jumpsuits and rompers than

girls might (depending on your style). It just seems they make lots of

little boy baby stuff in the jumpsuit/'romper category where you'll want

snap legs and girl clothes are often well... dressier in style. I didn't

like dressing Darbi in those jumpsuits so much, even pink ones. I liked

dressing her like a little girl much more (that's what I get for having two

boys first - I was totally ready for a little girlie action!). The

stretch pants were easy to slip down to her ankles to change diapers so

snaps weren't ever a big need for us. There ARE little jeans and pants out

there for boys that have snap legs. You just have to find them. Even so,

I found that the elastic waists on jeans for babies was usually plenty big

enough to pull down to the ankles to change diapers. (yes, the Darbs did

wear her brother's jeans... still does. Way too cute my mom

thinks... she requests that I dress her in her brother's jeans when I come

over lol!)

You may want to ask what bar Dr. Mosca uses. If it's a fixed length gold

bar, you will be able to take the shoes off the bar very easily to change

pants and such. It really only requires one shoe to be removed and you can

slip the pants right over the bar still attached to the other shoe. The

red bar is much more difficult to re-attach to the bar when you remove the

shoes, takes two pairs of hands to do it with babe's feet in the shoes. So

if possible, you may want to request the gold fixed bar for the first few

months of 23/7 and maybe a bit longer after that. Not only to change

clothes, but if you read the tips information for the FAB you'll find that

I also recommend taking the shoes off the bar when you apply them every

night at first because it reduces the chances of improper fit (and thus,

problems tolerating the brace). After you're used to putting the brace on

you won't want to take the shoes off anymore and can switch to the red

adjustable bar, but at first... it really is a good idea and so much

easier with the gold fixed bar.

Now, as you may already know ... is time to relax and enjoy the rest

of your pregnancy. You are in fantastic hands with Dr. Mosca, and it'll

all be fixed in short order. Don't worry about the clubfoot, it will not

be nearly as bad as it sounds. The past two years have flown by for us,

and no one would ever know Darbi was born with a clubfoot. People are

amazed when I tell them (IF I tell them - no reason to mention it now that

she's so old and doesn't wear her brace out of the house much) she was born

with clubfoot. She looks, walks, jumps, runs, does anything like any other

child and you simply cannot tell... well other than her walking a little

*ducky* because she's still a little overcorrected. But that won't last

and hey... we're all web footed out here in OR-E-GONE anyway :-D (PLEASE,

PLEASE... let SUMMER start!!! Wah!! Rain's great... but enough is

enough! It's July and feels like March! Blech...)

hope to hear lots from you when babe gets here. Don't forget to ask any

questions you may have here, even if it seems trivial. There's always

someone whose got an answer that works for you!

Kori

Darbi's Mama as of 3/38/03

Rt. CF - FAB 12-14hr/d

>

>--

>DS 5/02

>EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

I'm glad to hear that your appointment with Dr Mosca went well.

There are a few doctors who prefer to use the soft fiberglass casts, though they

are certainly in the minority. Dr Ponseti is attached to the paster casts

because they really are easier to manipulate just right. Also, they are

significantly less expensive. However, it is a very minor deviation and Dr

Mosca has superb results.

I found that Jonah could wear just about anything over his casts. We used the

sling, the swing, the front carrier, all with no problems. When he started

wearing the FAB, he wore lots of outfits with snaps along the inseam--lots of

overalls. I also found that pull-on style pants worked very well, I could pull

them down far enough to change his diaper and he just always looked so much more

comfortable in them.

Jonah got a late start with the Ponseti method, going into the FAB at about 5

months. He was immediately able to sit on his own with the FAB as a sort of

tripod. He learned to crawl and pull up to a stand while still in full-time

wear. In fact, he crawled much faster in the FAB than without. Now, he thinks

it is a kick to try to walk in it.

You will likely get many stares and questions and you will figure out how to

answer those. It irritated me some when people would ask how my newborn son had

broken BOTH of his legs (how *I* had broken both of his legs--and this is no

laughing matter: I have a friend who works for Child Protective Services and

they investigate every broken bone in children under the age of 2 ). I once

replied that it was a bad skiiing accident. My husband and I joked to each

other that " you should see the other guy " . With the FAB, I started to think

that everyone had a cousin, boyfriend, uncle's gardener, who had a clubfoot. I

occasionally told people that we wanted Jonah to be an olympic snowboarder, so

we were starting his training early. Or that the FAB was just to make it easier

to carry him around. My favorite, though, is the young woman who was just

gushing about how adorable the FAB was and where could she get one for her

child. Huh?

Take the time to get settled and get to know your new little guy some before

rushing off to get the casting started. Feel his feet, kiss them, and take lots

of pictures! In a few weeks of casts, his feet will be perfect.

We are tentatively planning to be in Seattle the first week of August. Perhaps

we could try to get together for coffee or lunch or something. We would be

thrilled to show off Jonah's precious feet.

Naomi

The Family

Naomi Hannah(02/21/01) Jonah(06/20/03, corrected bilateral clubfoot, FAB

14/7)

wrote:

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

,

I'm glad to hear that your appointment with Dr Mosca went well.

There are a few doctors who prefer to use the soft fiberglass casts, though they

are certainly in the minority. Dr Ponseti is attached to the paster casts

because they really are easier to manipulate just right. Also, they are

significantly less expensive. However, it is a very minor deviation and Dr

Mosca has superb results.

I found that Jonah could wear just about anything over his casts. We used the

sling, the swing, the front carrier, all with no problems. When he started

wearing the FAB, he wore lots of outfits with snaps along the inseam--lots of

overalls. I also found that pull-on style pants worked very well, I could pull

them down far enough to change his diaper and he just always looked so much more

comfortable in them.

Jonah got a late start with the Ponseti method, going into the FAB at about 5

months. He was immediately able to sit on his own with the FAB as a sort of

tripod. He learned to crawl and pull up to a stand while still in full-time

wear. In fact, he crawled much faster in the FAB than without. Now, he thinks

it is a kick to try to walk in it.

You will likely get many stares and questions and you will figure out how to

answer those. It irritated me some when people would ask how my newborn son had

broken BOTH of his legs (how *I* had broken both of his legs--and this is no

laughing matter: I have a friend who works for Child Protective Services and

they investigate every broken bone in children under the age of 2 ). I once

replied that it was a bad skiiing accident. My husband and I joked to each

other that " you should see the other guy " . With the FAB, I started to think

that everyone had a cousin, boyfriend, uncle's gardener, who had a clubfoot. I

occasionally told people that we wanted Jonah to be an olympic snowboarder, so

we were starting his training early. Or that the FAB was just to make it easier

to carry him around. My favorite, though, is the young woman who was just

gushing about how adorable the FAB was and where could she get one for her

child. Huh?

Take the time to get settled and get to know your new little guy some before

rushing off to get the casting started. Feel his feet, kiss them, and take lots

of pictures! In a few weeks of casts, his feet will be perfect.

We are tentatively planning to be in Seattle the first week of August. Perhaps

we could try to get together for coffee or lunch or something. We would be

thrilled to show off Jonah's precious feet.

Naomi

The Family

Naomi Hannah(02/21/01) Jonah(06/20/03, corrected bilateral clubfoot, FAB

14/7)

wrote:

Hi folks,

We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

(like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

--

DS 5/02

EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

At 10:07 PM 6/30/2005, you wrote:

>We bathed Weston every other day.

Oh, forgot about the bathing... I don't bathe babies every day. Nor every

other day. They just don't get dirty and it's a PITA in my opinion...

kinda like feeding them baby food with a spoon, what a mess! I just don't

have the inclination to do it very often. I think my babes got a bath once

a week, at best sometimes. So we got to spend our hour out of the brace

cuddling and whatever most of the time. If I even took them off for that

hour. Once she was happy in her shoes, I left them on most of the time for

convenience sake.

Some people think I'm weird, but I just never felt the need to get babies

all nakie and cold and mess around with that on a daily basis. I only say

that because it's not the norm... most people bathe babies a lot more than

I do. And to say that you don't *have* to use your hour out of the shoes

for baths if you don't feel like it.

Baths while in casts are a bit more daunting. What worked for us was to

put one of those large rubbermaid containers by the bathtub and put a towel

on it. Then I would lie her on the tub (with the lid on of course) with

her head over the edge and under my hand and wash her that way. Cover her

legs with a towel to protect the casts, and you can sponge baby up and let

the water soak up in the towel she's laying on. You can do something like

this on the counter next to the sink too. Whatever works for you.

Kori

[Guest guest]

At 10:07 PM 6/30/2005, you wrote:

>We bathed Weston every other day.

Oh, forgot about the bathing... I don't bathe babies every day. Nor every

other day. They just don't get dirty and it's a PITA in my opinion...

kinda like feeding them baby food with a spoon, what a mess! I just don't

have the inclination to do it very often. I think my babes got a bath once

a week, at best sometimes. So we got to spend our hour out of the brace

cuddling and whatever most of the time. If I even took them off for that

hour. Once she was happy in her shoes, I left them on most of the time for

convenience sake.

Some people think I'm weird, but I just never felt the need to get babies

all nakie and cold and mess around with that on a daily basis. I only say

that because it's not the norm... most people bathe babies a lot more than

I do. And to say that you don't *have* to use your hour out of the shoes

for baths if you don't feel like it.

Baths while in casts are a bit more daunting. What worked for us was to

put one of those large rubbermaid containers by the bathtub and put a towel

on it. Then I would lie her on the tub (with the lid on of course) with

her head over the edge and under my hand and wash her that way. Cover her

legs with a towel to protect the casts, and you can sponge baby up and let

the water soak up in the towel she's laying on. You can do something like

this on the counter next to the sink too. Whatever works for you.

Kori

[Guest guest]

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

,

Glad your visit went well. I'm sure it helped to meet him and get a

feel for how things will go. I've heard excellent things about Dr.

Mosca.

For what it's worth.. about your genetic question and metatarsus

adductus.. I asked Dr. Ponseti about this once. He indicated to me that

there is a connection between metatarsus adductus and clubfoot.. that

in children with unilateral clubfoot he studied there was an incidence

of 18-22% who had m.a. in the other foot, a higher number than you

would otherwise expect to see. I think he also told me there is a

higher incidence of m.a. in twins, in which one has clubfoot. Here's

what it says in the Intro to his book:

" Idiopathic congenital clubfoot. may be associated with other

congenital abnormalities. ... In the 70 clubfoot patients studied by

Laaveg and myself, 36 had unilateral clubfoot (Laaveg and Ponseti

1980). Eight of these (22.2 per cent) had metatarsus adductus, a

higher incidence than reported by Kite. Among the 1200 clubfoot

patients initially treated by me, I have estimated but not reported an

incidence of metatarsus adductus in 18 per cent of the cases. "

In a copy of an article he sent to me on m.a., he wrote that m.a. runs

in families. " In first degree relatives of fourteen of the 57 patients

studied, a history of metatarsus adductus was found. In one family,

three sister had this deformity. In another family, three sisters and

two brothers were affected. "

In a totally unscientific observation, it seems to me that there are

quite a few parents on the boards who don't know of any previous cases

of clubfoot in their family, but do know of cases of metatarsus

adductus. (I had what I believe was metatarsus adductus as a baby,

which was treated with 'special shoes', and there were quite a few

cases of it in my extended family. But no cf that I know of till my

daughter was born.)

Anyway.. just thought I'd throw that out there.. you're right that it

really doesn't matter ..

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

,

Glad your visit went well. I'm sure it helped to meet him and get a

feel for how things will go. I've heard excellent things about Dr.

Mosca.

For what it's worth.. about your genetic question and metatarsus

adductus.. I asked Dr. Ponseti about this once. He indicated to me that

there is a connection between metatarsus adductus and clubfoot.. that

in children with unilateral clubfoot he studied there was an incidence

of 18-22% who had m.a. in the other foot, a higher number than you

would otherwise expect to see. I think he also told me there is a

higher incidence of m.a. in twins, in which one has clubfoot. Here's

what it says in the Intro to his book:

" Idiopathic congenital clubfoot. may be associated with other

congenital abnormalities. ... In the 70 clubfoot patients studied by

Laaveg and myself, 36 had unilateral clubfoot (Laaveg and Ponseti

1980). Eight of these (22.2 per cent) had metatarsus adductus, a

higher incidence than reported by Kite. Among the 1200 clubfoot

patients initially treated by me, I have estimated but not reported an

incidence of metatarsus adductus in 18 per cent of the cases. "

In a copy of an article he sent to me on m.a., he wrote that m.a. runs

in families. " In first degree relatives of fourteen of the 57 patients

studied, a history of metatarsus adductus was found. In one family,

three sister had this deformity. In another family, three sisters and

two brothers were affected. "

In a totally unscientific observation, it seems to me that there are

quite a few parents on the boards who don't know of any previous cases

of clubfoot in their family, but do know of cases of metatarsus

adductus. (I had what I believe was metatarsus adductus as a baby,

which was treated with 'special shoes', and there were quite a few

cases of it in my extended family. But no cf that I know of till my

daughter was born.)

Anyway.. just thought I'd throw that out there.. you're right that it

really doesn't matter ..

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

With regards to questions about the casting...I see you are due in

September. Whether or not you will get questions or looks from

strangers will largely depend on how visible the casts actually

are. Since my son was born in November and we live in Minnesota, no

one ever really saw the casts. We get a lot more attention with the

FAB. But, mostly people think the shoes are cute and half of them

don't even notice the bar. I guess it all depends on how you dress

things up!

Good luck with everything! Things really do move quickly, and this

board is such a great resource. Sometimes I think I get better

information (more practical for sure!) than I do from the doctor.

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He

says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

>

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that

there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

>

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

>

>

> --

> DS 5/02

> EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

With regards to questions about the casting...I see you are due in

September. Whether or not you will get questions or looks from

strangers will largely depend on how visible the casts actually

are. Since my son was born in November and we live in Minnesota, no

one ever really saw the casts. We get a lot more attention with the

FAB. But, mostly people think the shoes are cute and half of them

don't even notice the bar. I guess it all depends on how you dress

things up!

Good luck with everything! Things really do move quickly, and this

board is such a great resource. Sometimes I think I get better

information (more practical for sure!) than I do from the doctor.

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He

says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

>

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that

there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

>

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

>

>

> --

> DS 5/02

> EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

When in casts, we bathed Aleksander every other day, but he loved it

so much that now that he out of them, he gets a bath in the big tub

every night. Either my husband or I go in with him so we know he's

safe, and we can fill up the tub more for him. He loves splashing

and kicking and just generally loves water. He absolutely loves it

when you pour water over his head and face. Not sure if that is

normal or not, but whatever works! Sometimes we want to skip that

nightly bath becuase it takes so much time, but I swear, Aleksander

knows when it is supposed to be time and if he doesn't get his bath,

he's CRANKY!

When he was in the casts, we spread a bunch of towels on the floor

and gave him a sponge bath. We would put a space heater on in that

room for a while before bathtime, just so he wouldn't get cold.

But, we have super small bathrooms so other options don't work too

well for us!

> >We bathed Weston every other day.

>

>

> Oh, forgot about the bathing... I don't bathe babies every day.

Nor every

> other day. They just don't get dirty and it's a PITA in my

opinion...

> kinda like feeding them baby food with a spoon, what a mess! I

just don't

> have the inclination to do it very often. I think my babes got a

bath once

> a week, at best sometimes. So we got to spend our hour out of the

brace

> cuddling and whatever most of the time. If I even took them off

for that

> hour. Once she was happy in her shoes, I left them on most of the

time for

> convenience sake.

>

> Some people think I'm weird, but I just never felt the need to get

babies

> all nakie and cold and mess around with that on a daily basis. I

only say

> that because it's not the norm... most people bathe babies a lot

more than

> I do. And to say that you don't *have* to use your hour out of

the shoes

> for baths if you don't feel like it.

>

> Baths while in casts are a bit more daunting. What worked for us

was to

> put one of those large rubbermaid containers by the bathtub and

put a towel

> on it. Then I would lie her on the tub (with the lid on of

course) with

> her head over the edge and under my hand and wash her that way.

Cover her

> legs with a towel to protect the casts, and you can sponge baby up

and let

> the water soak up in the towel she's laying on. You can do

something like

> this on the counter next to the sink too. Whatever works for you.

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

When in casts, we bathed Aleksander every other day, but he loved it

so much that now that he out of them, he gets a bath in the big tub

every night. Either my husband or I go in with him so we know he's

safe, and we can fill up the tub more for him. He loves splashing

and kicking and just generally loves water. He absolutely loves it

when you pour water over his head and face. Not sure if that is

normal or not, but whatever works! Sometimes we want to skip that

nightly bath becuase it takes so much time, but I swear, Aleksander

knows when it is supposed to be time and if he doesn't get his bath,

he's CRANKY!

When he was in the casts, we spread a bunch of towels on the floor

and gave him a sponge bath. We would put a space heater on in that

room for a while before bathtime, just so he wouldn't get cold.

But, we have super small bathrooms so other options don't work too

well for us!

> >We bathed Weston every other day.

>

>

> Oh, forgot about the bathing... I don't bathe babies every day.

Nor every

> other day. They just don't get dirty and it's a PITA in my

opinion...

> kinda like feeding them baby food with a spoon, what a mess! I

just don't

> have the inclination to do it very often. I think my babes got a

bath once

> a week, at best sometimes. So we got to spend our hour out of the

brace

> cuddling and whatever most of the time. If I even took them off

for that

> hour. Once she was happy in her shoes, I left them on most of the

time for

> convenience sake.

>

> Some people think I'm weird, but I just never felt the need to get

babies

> all nakie and cold and mess around with that on a daily basis. I

only say

> that because it's not the norm... most people bathe babies a lot

more than

> I do. And to say that you don't *have* to use your hour out of

the shoes

> for baths if you don't feel like it.

>

> Baths while in casts are a bit more daunting. What worked for us

was to

> put one of those large rubbermaid containers by the bathtub and

put a towel

> on it. Then I would lie her on the tub (with the lid on of

course) with

> her head over the edge and under my hand and wash her that way.

Cover her

> legs with a towel to protect the casts, and you can sponge baby up

and let

> the water soak up in the towel she's laying on. You can do

something like

> this on the counter next to the sink too. Whatever works for you.

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

--- wrote:

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

Hi, ! The only experience I've had with fiberglass casts was with a

non-Ponseti doc. I really, really liked it. It sounds like Dr. Mosca's

success rate is very good with fiberglass.

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We were told the same thing about metatarsus adductus and clubfeet, but there

have really been a lot of people on this list curious about that connection.

My husband and I, before Rose was born, joked that our baby should have

straight feet because I have feet that turn in and his turn out. Little did we

know...

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Sounds like a plan.

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

Oh, my word, I've been going through baby clothes, and these same thoughts have

been going on with me. Which clothes to keep?? LOL It's been so long since

we dealt with clubfeet, I feel like a novice in some ways...

Yes, the crawling/walking stuff, they just do! I think Rose was a little

slower in the walking department than she normally would have been, but we also

started the Ponseti method late, and she was wearing the brace full-time from

7-10 months. She really figured things out, though. Climbed the steps, pushed

toys around, she just really worked with it.

Yep, I've experienced the curiousity questions regarding the cast. Most of the

time people were just curious, but I did have an experience where someone was

rude. She was a cashier, gave me a dirty look and asked me WHAT did I do to my

poor baby's leg.

Thanks for updating on your appointment with Dr. Mosca.

Joy

http://www.geocities.com/joybelle15/rosesclubfootpage.html

____________________________________________________

Yahoo! Sports

Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football

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[Guest guest]

--- wrote:

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

Hi, ! The only experience I've had with fiberglass casts was with a

non-Ponseti doc. I really, really liked it. It sounds like Dr. Mosca's

success rate is very good with fiberglass.

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

We were told the same thing about metatarsus adductus and clubfeet, but there

have really been a lot of people on this list curious about that connection.

My husband and I, before Rose was born, joked that our baby should have

straight feet because I have feet that turn in and his turn out. Little did we

know...

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

Sounds like a plan.

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

Oh, my word, I've been going through baby clothes, and these same thoughts have

been going on with me. Which clothes to keep?? LOL It's been so long since

we dealt with clubfeet, I feel like a novice in some ways...

Yes, the crawling/walking stuff, they just do! I think Rose was a little

slower in the walking department than she normally would have been, but we also

started the Ponseti method late, and she was wearing the brace full-time from

7-10 months. She really figured things out, though. Climbed the steps, pushed

toys around, she just really worked with it.

Yep, I've experienced the curiousity questions regarding the cast. Most of the

time people were just curious, but I did have an experience where someone was

rude. She was a cashier, gave me a dirty look and asked me WHAT did I do to my

poor baby's leg.

Thanks for updating on your appointment with Dr. Mosca.

Joy

http://www.geocities.com/joybelle15/rosesclubfootpage.html

____________________________________________________

Yahoo! Sports

Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football

http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com

[Guest guest]

--- kannhoudek wrote:

> With regards to questions about the casting...I see you are due in

> September. Whether or not you will get questions or looks from

> strangers will largely depend on how visible the casts actually

> are. Since my son was born in November and we live in Minnesota, no

> one ever really saw the casts. We get a lot more attention with the

> FAB. But, mostly people think the shoes are cute and half of them

> don't even notice the bar. I guess it all depends on how you dress

> things up!

Hello! I am also due in September with a baby that is diagnosed with spina

bifida and bilateral clubfeet. I live in Wisconsin, and I'm curious where your

baby was treated. We are going to Abbott Northwestern for the spina bifida,

but they don't do the Ponseti method there for clubfeet. Thanks for your help!

Joy

http://www.geocities.com/joybelle15/rosesclubfootpage.html

__________________________________

Yahoo! Mail

Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour:

http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

[Guest guest]

--- kannhoudek wrote:

> With regards to questions about the casting...I see you are due in

> September. Whether or not you will get questions or looks from

> strangers will largely depend on how visible the casts actually

> are. Since my son was born in November and we live in Minnesota, no

> one ever really saw the casts. We get a lot more attention with the

> FAB. But, mostly people think the shoes are cute and half of them

> don't even notice the bar. I guess it all depends on how you dress

> things up!

Hello! I am also due in September with a baby that is diagnosed with spina

bifida and bilateral clubfeet. I live in Wisconsin, and I'm curious where your

baby was treated. We are going to Abbott Northwestern for the spina bifida,

but they don't do the Ponseti method there for clubfeet. Thanks for your help!

Joy

http://www.geocities.com/joybelle15/rosesclubfootpage.html

__________________________________

Yahoo! Mail

Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour:

http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

It sounds like you had a good consult with Dr. Mosca! About the

fiberglass casting...I think that if the doctor is well skilled using

fiberglass, that it really doesn't make a difference. Our local

doctor used fiberglass casting and when I questioned it, he told me

that fiberglass was the medium that he had been trained with and that

he was more comfortable using it over plaster. He offered to use

plaster if that's what I wanted but I decided to let him use

whatever 'tool' would enable him to do his best work. When I took

Owen to see Dr. Pirani (Ponseti certified), I was surprised to find

that he also used fiberglass, which made me feel a lot better about

our local doctor using it. I think for the most part, it depends on

the doctor's ability and what they're most comfortable using.

Hope that helps,

Daiga and Owen, 02/04/03

Unilateral LCF, FAB 14/7

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

>

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

>

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

>

>

> --

> DS 5/02

> EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to add. Weston was a newborn in the casts and my husband

carried him EVERYWHERE in the baby bjorn. When people asked what happened

to his baby's leg.. my husband would reply, " skiing accident " . Pretty

funny.

_____

From: nosurgery4clubfoot

[mailto:nosurgery4clubfoot ] On Behalf Of ALF6280@...

Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 8:53 PM

To: nosurgery4clubfoot

Subject: Re: Prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca

Hi ,

My son was cast with the soft plaster casts and he did well. He has

bilateral

clubfoot and is now in the DBB shoes this is his first week and he is now 3

months old. Lucky for you you are prepared and have information about

clubfoot.

Our ultrasound did not detect this so we were very suprised. The soft cast

is

great because you can peel it off an hour before your appt and give your

baby

a bath to remove dead skin etc and the baby's legs lotioned up and ready for

the next cast. People will ask questions and stare but do not let that get

to

you. I would always just tell them and explain what it was. No biggie!

Good luck with baby!

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Congratulations for your new baby on the way! We also go to

Children's in Seattle, Dr. Mosca is great. Just wanted to say hello -

I love it when people in our area post on the board!

Darby

Livi bi cf 3/15/04

> Hi folks,

>

> We had our prenatal consult with Dr. Mosca earlier this week,

> and he seemed very on top of things. The only difference between

> what he says and what I've seen online about the Ponseti method

> is that he uses soft fiberglass casts, rather than plaster. He says

> that he gets the same rates of correction (95% don't need major

> surgery, just tenotomy if anything) as Ponseti reports using the

> soft fiberglass. Does anyone have experience with this?

>

> He also seemed to believe it was pretty likely that the u/s

> would be right, though he has seen a couple of cases where

> the u/s dx of cf was a false positive. He didn't believe that there

> was any connection between the metatarsus adductus that apparently

> runs in my family (me, half brother, my dad) and cf, if that is

> what this is. That seemed a little surprising for us, but then

> we're seeing him for orthopedics, not genetic counseling!

>

> We have three appointments set up for weeks 1, 3, and 4,

> assuming the baby comes around my due date. If he's early,

> we're to call to set up an earlier appointment. The reason for no

> 2 week appointment is that Dr. Mosca will be out of town then.

> Once we know when the baby's actually here, they'll make an

> appointment with us with someone else for week 2 (or decide

> that the week 1 and 3 appointments are close enough together).

>

> Meanwhile, we've begun musing on how things will be different

> with casts and braces in our lives (not particularly worried, just

> thinking about it). I'm figuring that pants with snaps on the

> legs are really important, that some restaurant high chairs won't

> work so well, bathing will be different. We were thinking that

> kids who know how to crawl/walk might not do so when they're

> in the FAB/DBB, but from other messages here, I guess they figure

> out how to get around? The doula we were interviewing tonight

> pointed out that folks might wonder what the casts are for

> (like, " How'd they break their baby's leg? " ). I hadn't thought of

> that one. Has anyone had experiences like that?

>

>

> --

> DS 5/02

> EDD 9/5/05 -- left cf