Baby with club feet

[Misfit]

Not really sure where this thread would fit, but here goes.

My son was born on July 1st with club feet. I should mention the he was breech the whole pregnancy, and it was a footling breech. I had to have a c-section to get him out.

When I finally saw him in the nursery (7 hours later when the epidural wore off) I almost started crying seeing his feet. The arches of his feet (sides of feet) were touching his legs above the ankles. Luckily someone who specializes in this came in the next day and casted his feet to start the correction. 2 months later he had to have his Achilles tendon lengthened last week.

Are there any parents out there with children born with club feet?

[mommy2boftwins]

I have twins b/g and my boy was born with a club foot. Just the left one. They were transpositional (diaganol) and my boy had his feet in my girls face the whole time. We had several ultrasounds and each time it was the same although the ultrasound never showed the club foot. Anyways, they were born 11 weeks early (health issues with me) and stayed in the NICU for 9 weeks. I went to the ortho dr two weeks after my babies came home and they casted him then. He had to be casted 7 times and then got his brace and "shoes". He has done amazingly well. I think the younger they are, the more adaptable. We were lucky, he didn't have to have the Achilles tendon cut.
We also discovered he has a tethered spinal cord. We go to a neourosurgeon in 2 weeks. I may post a thread on this and see if anyone else has had this with their child.

Here is a websit to go look at. This is the kind of bar that I picked for my son. It allows him to have much more movement. He can move his legs independantly rather that together. Also, you get to pick a design for the "shoes". When you see the site you will understand. You may have to copy and paste this link into your web browser. Good luck and let me know how he does.

slch.org/tabid/285/itemid/5089/Dobbs-Dynamic-Clubfoot-Bar.aspx

I would post a pic of my son, but can't figure out how to make it small enough. If you want to give me your email, I can send you a pic.

[Misfit]

Well, sorry for the late reply lol.

His las appt the dr said that he was close to being out of braces. I was happy to hear that. My son just needs to figure out to stretch out his tendons by himself, and I just have to keep stretching his feet out. It's hard when he's just growing and growing. At 3 months he must weigh 20 pounds, but he's not overly chubby looking.

I think he had more than 7 castings.

My e-mail is misfit_rocker423@yahoo.com

I can send you a pic of my son as well if you like. Granted it would be from my cell phone.

[Momiof4]

Hello there..

I'm 35 weeks pregnant and my son has bilaterial club feet. I've had three sonograms done and so far nothing has changed. I found out today that my baby is not growing properly. He weighs 4 lbs and 12 oz. I have to go back in three weeks to have another sonogram done. The doctor want to see if he is developing properly. I am so stressed and upset at this whole situation. I have three girls and none of them had any health issues. Granted, I was young when I had them. I am 35 years old now. I've been researching clubbed feet and the more I read the more scared I get. I am afraid that my son might have other issues that I won't find out about until after he is born.

No one in my family or my husband family has any genetic disorder. I can't help but blame myself for what is happening. Did you ladies feel the same way I did?

[mommy2boftwins]

Hi Momiof4
First let me say do not blame yourself. Please take that stressor out of your life. Your son's club feet has nothing to do with anything you did/didn't do during your pregnancy.
2nd, I had twins b/g and my boy showed that he too was not growing properly. He weighed 10% less than his sister. That has nothing to do with you either. Sometimes these things just happen regardless. They only discovered my boy's slow growth because I developed eclampsia and toximia and they did and ultrasound the day before I delivered in the hosptial. We didn't know about his foot until he was born, that never showed on any of the ultrasounds and I had a lot during my pregnancy. I too am an older mom, I was 40 when I got pregnant.
Here are a couple of websites that you should visit. They have a lot of good info on club feet and the proper treatments. Remember, DON'T let anyone do surgery on your baby's feet. That is the old method and will result in loss of mobility.

http://www.stlouischildrens.org/tabid/89/itemid/2065/Ponseti-Method--NonSurgical-Treatment-for-Club-F.aspx

http://www.stlouischildrens.org/DesktopModules/EngagePublish/printerfriendly.aspx?itemId=5089&PortalId=0

This 2nd website will tell you about the Dobbs bar brace. This is what I chose for my son and have had very good results.

Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns
michaelkirkland@bellsouth.net

I can also give you some websites for support groups as well. If you are interested I can also email you pics of my son before/after. He is now 6 months old.

[Misfit]

Momiof4,

I didn't know my son had club feet till after he was born. Even then I couldn't see him because it took 7 hours for the epidural to wear off. I almost cried seeing his feet like that. I don't blame myself at all. I had a very stubborn baby who decided that in the womb, he was going to be breach, and not move from that position one bit. The reason that I think he was born with club feet was because he was sitting in my pelvis, and his feet ended up that way.

[soxtpa]

I just found out yesterday that my baby will be born with a club foot. I have read a lot about the Ponseti method. Does anyone know where in South Florida I can find a good doctor that I can get in contact with. I am only 31 and this is my first pregnancy so needless to say I am trying not to get overly freaked out.

[mommy2boftwins]

I would suggest that you contact the pediatrician that you have chosen for your baby and ask him/her to recomment to you a pediatric orthopedic doctor who specializes in treating club feet. If they don't know of one, contact the closest major children's hospital to you and ask them for a referral. My Dr is in with our local children's hopital and was trained in the ponseti method. Please don't freak out over this. You will be amazed at how fast the foot responds and how your baby will adjust.

[minalij11]

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/orthopaedics/clubfeet/physicians.html

You can refer to Ponseti's website for Dr in your area. I found my Dr in NY through this site. You can also mail Dr Ponseti and he will reply to all your conserns. Though the reply may be delayed but you will get a response. Here are his contact details. Good luck!
Telephone:

(319)356-3469

Address:

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
200 Hawkins Drive
010255 JPP
Iowa City, IA 52242

Via E-mail:

ignacio-ponseti@uiowa.edu

[Aurorianne]

my little guy was born with bilateral as well. hes had to have the tenotomy done and he is getting dennis brown boots fitted tomorrow. there was a good possibility mine would be born with Clubbed feet. his ultrasounds spoke volumes. we could never see his feet. im just glad he has them :P. we used ponseti method as well but my sons doctor kept leaving town for weeks on end and it ended up taking 13 sets of casts(#13 post tenotomy) and hes just shy of four months. dont stress. doesnt matter how old you are. im only 25. its not a huge deal. i think i spoil him because of his condition. and they are pretty resiliant at that age. so dont stress.

[pcsasi]

A friend of mine and I will both be having babies this fall, hers will be born with club feet on both sides and mine with a right club foot. We have seen and talked with the specialists, we are just wondering what is the best way to purchase clothing? Do we buy the next size up or just buy 0-3 mos and cut off the legs? What is the best way to go about that? Please let us know...

[wright1212]

I was born with club feet (28 yrs ago). They casted my feet right away, at a few months old I had a large bone in my foot flipped and pinned into place. After several sets of cast they had corrective shoes on me. They also put me in dance at age 2 to teach me to turn out my feet. The only problems I have now are my feet are 2 different shoe sizes (5 1/2 and 7), and a hump in my small foot that had the surgery. My parents were told to wait until I was 5 for Shriners to help, instead they went with the bold surgeron. Had they wait I would still be in crutches! As for the cause, I think its because my mom smoked during pregnancy, but we will never know the real cause...

[TraighMommy]

Hi! My Son was born last September with bilateral club feet. He was preemie and did not get casted until 4 weeks. He had casts for awhile and then braces. In April he had the surgery to have the tendons lengthened! He had casts until June 24th and now has much smaller braces :o) We knew from numerous ultrasounds (due to numerous other issues) that he would be born with bilateral club feet, so we were not all suprised or shocked to see them, as we had seen them frequently on ultrasound. To us he was born a perfect beautiful baby boy. I think the having seen them ahead of time allowed for us to adjust before he was born. I too was told to expect other "issues", but my son is happy healthy and after casts and the surgery has the most beautiful perfect little feet! :o) My struggle right now is the braces and the exercises. It is fine most of the time, but when he is tired or not in the mood, it is very difficult for me to plow on ahead and do them anyhow. As he cries I want to cry, but I keep up the positive tone and talk as I know he can easily feel what I project as far as my own feelings. I KNOW I have to do it and I tell my self the whole time that it is for his good, and I do it and stick with it. Then when I get to bed I just fall to tears that I have to put him through the disomfort. I know it's the right thing, but it still hurts to cause my sweet baby discomfort. Does anyone else struggle with this? I am very lucky in that I do have good support and he has the most incredible Doctors and his physical therapist is a saint!

[tp]

I was just told that my baby will be born with bilateal club feet. I was devestated, the doctor told me that there could be neurological defects with the baby later on in life. She also told me that there could be chromosomal defects, so i have to get an amniocentesis to find that out. Is anyone elseexperiencing this? I am so afraid.

[mummy2 2]

hi my little boy was born with club feet in 2007 he went through the ponseti method for the age of 4 weeks. then had his tendonds done and went into bar and boots came out of those and had some phiso therapy and he then had to get refered to another hospital because his left foot was still turning in. they then put him back into plaster for 3 weeks came out and then again for another 2 weeks at the age of 2. then we got told he has to wear splints that look like little football boots untill his 4 we have recently been back to see the consultant and has to have more surgery on his left foot and back into plaster casts but still has to wear his splints again at night and also during they day im finding it hard to keep them on him at night as he wakesx up sayin they hurt him does anybody else have this problem with the splints?

[tamaraw]

I need some answers and really hope I can get them here, can someone, anyone who has had a child who needs the braces for their child club foot, please tell me how long did your child take to adjust to them? My daughter is 10 weeks old and 4 days ago she was fitted for braces, well it has been the longest 4 days of my life, she barely sleeps, and hardly eats, all she does it scream. I need to know if this is normal, for her to cry for 4 days, and if these angles prescribed for her brace settings are too much. Her regular foot 35 degrees, her club foot 65 degrees. She also is constantly getting her feet out of the shoes, no matter how tight we make them. The temptation to just take her out of the braces all together has become overwhelming, she is to wear them 23 hours a day and that is how long she cries, she only stops for her hour off, and when she can no longer stay awake to cry anymore, please let me know if this is okay.

[poliver2010]

Here is a blog about a little girl with club feet. You may find some info or contacts there. www.hannon3.blogspot.com

[katiee]

tamaraw... I would contact the doctor and see what they advise for you to do... I wouldn't think your daughter should be crying for that long.. it seems there is probably something wrong with the brace maybe?

I also just gave birth to my baby boy 3 weeks ago on jan 21... He was born with club feet in both feet. Thankfully we were advised of this before he was born as they seen it on the ultra sound... We are getting him treated through the Shriners hospital... They are wonderful and I would recommend them to anyone... especially if money is an issue for you... They cover all the costs for treatment... They use the Ponsetti method as well, so that's a plus. He just got his first sets of casts on yesterday morning and i feel so bad for him... He cried the whole time they were putting them on... They said it wasn't painful, and that he was just mad and uncomfortable.. but that he will get used to them... it's still hard to see him in so much stress and discomfort... the whole day he was fussy and it was an extra effort to sooth him.. I just hope things continue to get better for him.. :(

[kallera]

When my baby boy was born his left foot was a club foot. They did weeks of casting then they did the surgery 3 more weeks of surgery then they put him in the shoes attached to a bar. Each time we went in they uped the year he would get them off. The doctor first told me when he was 3 now he is 2 and he is saying when he is 5. It is really frustrating. i mean he only has to wear them at night but he is to the point he can take them off himself now and i dont know what to do. The doctor says if we dont keep them on though his foot might turn back in on us

[doncyril]

Basic baby care (http://bit.ly/frKrQN).This site having the information about the club feet, and also you may need the information about all baby care tips in this site..

[MDWestDad]

Is anyone still monitoring this thread? I have a daughter that was born with bilateral club feet and am looking for help or advice from other parents who have been through this experience.

[Bookathome]

I just discovered this blog. I have a 15 month old little one who was born with bilateral clubbed feet. We have been through the casting, surgery, full-time braces, and we are now into part-time braces. We work with Shriner's Hospital for Children who are incredible. Anyway, if you have any questions or need anything, let me know...
It's a scary thing if you haven't experienced it before. It was terrifying for me. So if I can help in any way, I will...