Thijs & his Talipes

Hi all,

We discovered that our baby had unilateral talipes (left foot) at our twenty week scan and while we were reassured that he would only require physio and gentle exercises to correct it, I just felt that it was worse than that and spent the rest of my pregnancy researching talipes and hoping it would only be a mild form. This feeling however turned out to be correct when our gorgeous little boy Thijs was born in November. We were visited by the orthopaedic surgeon from Crumlin Hospital before we left the Coombe and he confirmed that Thijs had structural Talipes and would require treatment in the Ponsetti Clinic in Crumlin to start casting when he was ten days old.

At the time the thought of subjecting our new baby to casts, a tenotomy and special boots was extremely overwhelming and upsetting but the support from the Ponsetti Clinic in Crumlin made it easier to cope. We were contacted by the fantastic nurses in the Clinic prior to leaving the maternity hospital to explain what would happen at the first appointment and they also sent out information leaflets to prepare us. Despite all this preparation, there were plenty of tears and we were both very emotional at his first appointment. While Thijs really did not like getting his casts on (or off!), we found that feeding him while the cast was being applied made the process much easier. Unfortunately, Thijs has an atypical form of talipes and this led to a difficult time with his casts and he proved something of a Houdini by slipping out of them regularly. Also, Thijs was a very big baby when he was born (10lbs 11oz!) and continued to grow at a very fast rate during the first few weeks and this meant that on a few occasions he grew too big for the cast and needed them to be replaced more regularly. Fortunately the nurses re-applied them without any problem when he slipped out (occasionally for him to slip out only a few hours later!). A few times, Thijs experienced swelling and blisters from the casts and while we were reassured that we couldn't have known at the time, we both felt so guilty and upset that he was suffering and we didn't know. One of the worst aspects of this was that anytime Thijs was distressed, we questioned if it was because he was in pain with his foot or just a typical new baby so I think it added another layer of stress to being first time parents!  As new parents too, we were really looking forward to bathing Thijs so were sad to hear that we would only be able to bathe him once a week in the hospital but the staff were very aware of this and went out of their way to make sure that this time was relaxed, uninterrupted and special. We really appreciated this as Thijs is a real water baby and relaxed completely in the water and it gave us something to look forward to every week. The tenotomy wasn't pleasant and the night afterwards was difficult but again the staff were great and Thijs recovered quickly.

When it came to getting his boots and brace, Thijs adapted a lot quicker than us and soon learned creative ways to sleep! The three months with the boots on 23hours a day went by so fast and he started wearing them just at night-time at the end of March which was so lovely. It was nice not to have to think about what clothes to put on him to suit his brace and to see him playing with his feet like any other baby but to be honest, Thijs and his boots have become just part of his bedtime routine and he really doesn't seem to mind wearing them now. I think he just associates them with going to bed and they are just part of his routine and he looks for his bottle as soon as the brace is clicked on! He had no interest in crawling which was starting to worry us but the physio and nurses reassured us that children wearing boots and braces can sometimes take a bit longer to walk but not to worry about. And in typical Thijs fashion, while in hospital recovering from pneumonia he took some steps holding our hands on the day after his first birthday and now never wants to sit down! I can't express how proud we both were of him and he looked so delighted with himself. I think it's true that when a baby who has gone through Talipes and all the treatment starts to take steps, it really is extra special!

I can't believe the past year has gone so fast and every time we go to Crumlin for a checkup with Ponsetti, I see new parents with very new babies and remember how sad and scared we felt the first time we were there. I always remember how helpful it was to see other babies at different stages and hear other parents' stories. I also remember constantly wishing time away, wishing he was out of casts and then out of daytime boots and then I realised that I was just wishing his baby days away and they go way too fast anyway!

When there is anything wrong with your baby it's terrifying and the thought of engaging in a longterm treatment programme seems so daunting at first-it's not what any of us planned when we imagined our babies! But talking to other parents and having this excellent support group really helped us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Since he was born, Thijs has had other significant health issues (unrelated to his Talipes), and it has definitely made us realise that although worrying and daunting things could be so much worse. My husband likes to think that Thijs having Talipes makes us appreciate all his achievements and milestones so much more and I agree. His grandparents, uncles and aunts and our friends are so impressed by the change in his foot and his progress so far and his little cousins are fascinated by his very cool "magic boots". I really do think that Talipes is so much harder on parents than the babies and I doubt Thijs will think about it at all when he's out chasing girls (or playing rugby for Ireland as his Dad hopes!). So whatever stage you are at with Talipes, please be kind to yourself, use support from others, ask questions and enjoy the baby days-all the heartache and worry will be worth it when you see those lovely perfect feet!

Laura x