Hard Pants are History!!!

 Wow...what a day!  For the past 6 weeks, I really wondered if this day would ever get here.  I'm not sure who was most excited, me or Lily.

  

All smiles waiting for x-ray results. I did get nervous because it took a little longer than usual to hear anything.  We couldn't take one more second of these hard pants...really!!!  I was fully prepared to use the saw myself if it came down to it...probably could have persuaded my very reasonable husband to help!  What a relief to hear the nurse ask if we were ready for them to come OFF!

 Still smiling but making sure the nurse was not going to cut her legs off...poor baby!  Once he showed her the saw, held it to his hand, and then let her touch it to see that it would not cut her, she was ready.   Silly Lily giggled and talked the entire time!!  Notice Mickey above her head waiting for his turn to get his hard pants off.

One down, one to go!

So excited to see the crack in the hard pants...it's really coming off :)

 Checking out the scissors to be sure they wouldn't cut her.

Our bossy girl is always in charge.

 This sweet girl is my hero!

 Love these little bird legs...yes, I cried when I saw them:)

 Last look at the Hard Pants

The pictures stopped here.  Once we got Lily cleaned up and got baby oil on her legs, it was time for another x-ray.  Guess what everyone in the building got to hear?  Yep, the rarely heard China howl.  It is the most pitiful scream/cry that I've ever heard.  Her legs were extremely sore and sensitive and she was having muscle spasms.  I think she was also scared because she couldn't move her legs.  It was a rough afternoon, but....

Silly Lily is back!!!

Our biggest fear has been that Lily's muscles would atrophy so badly while in the body cast that she wouldn't get her strength back in her legs or be able to sit up.  I was so relieved when she started kicking one of her legs as we pulled into our driveway.  After she was settled on the couch (insert pitiful scream/cry here), she started moving both of her legs.  The look on her face when she realized how much straighter her legs were was so sweet.  Trent and I are amazed by the difference!  

By 10:00 tonight, I was worried about her sitting up.  She refused to even try.  We finally got her in warm water to soak and try to relax her legs a little more.  Trent held her as she played, but she screamed if we even tried to make her sit.  After her bath, I slowly sat her up while I put on her Minnie Mouse gown.  She was so proud of her new pajamas, she didn't realize what I was doing.  As I let go of her hands, she leaned to one side and almost fell.  Then, our strong, determined little fighter shifted her weight and SAT by herself.  I scooped her up and she wrapped those little arms around my neck as I sobbed.  Best feeling in the world to finally get my arms around her and not those hard pants. 

As we tucked her in, she told us she was so happy.  We got lots of kisses and I love you's.  As I started typing this post in the dark, I heard her sleepy little voice beside me, "thank you for taking care of me, Mama".   I promised her that I always would...it's what mothers do.