Jane Journey towards walking

I still remember the day I was in the doctors office for a follow up appointment with Jane. Jane was 5 months at that time. I was trying to decide which path to take towards correcting her clubfeet. At this point, I've tired all other options, and nothing was helping her feet stay straight. So I came to her clubfoot doctor to discuss the clubfoot process. As we were discussing Janes feet, the doctor told me "She will never walk" but we should still go through the process so "her feet would be straight and look pleasing to the eye." His words exactly. It's was so tough to hear. Jane had a few different doctors examine her feet. She had a nerve conduction test performed on her legs. We've seen different massage therapist, chiropractors, did laser therapy, seen a neurologist. We've tired everything we could think of. The nerve conduction test results showed that Jane had nerve damage in both her legs. There was also muscle imbalance on both of her legs. One leg her toes would curl, the other leg they wouldn't extend.

We decided to go with the clubfoot correction process. (You could read the clubfoot journey blog about that whole process.) Jane never seemed to want to stand on her feet. Even in a walker or if I'd hold her. She never wanted to put pressure on her feet, She wasn't able to jump up and down like most babies do. I've tired bouncers and jumpers. She just didn't know how to "move her legs." Jane has been working with a physical therapist since she was 5 months old. We still go there till this day, every week. Jane loves her therapist. If I tell her were going to see Meredith (her therapist) she gets so excited. The therapist has been amazing in helping Jane. She gave us weekly things to work on with Jane. Things that can help stimulate her nerves and muscles.

Jane started to roll over just right before her first birthday. She didn't learn to crawl until she was 1 year and 8 months old. She wasn't able to stand or walk on her own still. We had to get her AFO orthotics. (Plastic shoes that kept her feet from curling inwards.) For the most part those worked well for Jane. She would get pressure points, blisters and sometimes her foot would slide out on occasion. Aside from physical therapy, Jane would do "therapy playgroups." Her favorite has been the YMCA. They set up the room for the kids with different obstacles and toys and Jane got to meet other kids and play. One of the times, the had parallel bars set up. When I saw them, I thought Jane wouldn't even want to try this. To my surprise she went for it. She grab onto the bars, and started walking. This was the first time seeing her legs move (like walking) and she kept wanting to do it over and over. I recorded her walking on it and shared it with everyone. I was so excited. God was answering our prayers and giving us hope. From that moment I didn't have any single doubt that she wouldn't walk. It was just a matter of time. Spring of 2017 Jane got a walker. The hope was that she would use it to get around. She loved but it was hard for her to steer it. And it was bulky. It was hard to move around the house with it. Our friends let us borrow a small toy walker. Jane loved that. It was small for her, but it was light and she was able to turn with it. By November 2017, Jane took her first few steps on her own. She would do like 2-3 steps (still wearing her orthotics) We were told that she would have to wear orthotics for the rest of her life because there is nothing you can do to fix the nerve damage on her legs. I honestly was fine with it. I was just excited that she was making progress and taking a few steps.

Christmas Eve 2017, Jane officially started walking. She was taking 10-15 steps. I think she was shocked. For a while she'd see her siblings and other kids walk and run and you can see that she wanted to also. She would pull herself up, take one or two steps and fall. She would try so hard. So once she got it, She had the biggest smile on her face. She just kept walking around church and then at our uncles house that same evening. She was so proud of herself and so were we. It was by far the best Christmas gift we could have asked for. We've been praying for her to walk for 2 years. It was such an overwhelming feeling of joy, relief and thankfulness. It is such an amazing experience, seeing God answer your prayers. Now Jane is able to walk WITHOUT her orthotics. She keeps her foot flat.
She can wear pretty dress shoes. We still put on her orthotics when we go on a walk or to the park. (She just does better with them on). It's so exciting to see her walk around and now attempt to run. It's more like spend walking but she is getting there.