The Magic 7th Day

Wow. All I can say is 'Wow'.

I've got my Barney back. From screaming for 5 days solid, to 2 days of constant sleeping, Barney is back to his happy, smiling self. Phew.

How crazy is that? Nothing has changed, the boots are still as tight and his skin is red raw but it's like a switch that has all of a sudden stopped him caring about the pain and frustration going on at his feet. Just goes to show how quickly you can make something 'normal' and routine in a baby's life, his resilience has astounded me and has generally added to the list of what makes babies fascinating. I can finally breathe a little sigh of relief.

**For all those mums and dads yet to embark on this journey, I hope this makes up for the scaremongering previous post!**

So what have I learnt during the first week of full time boots and bar:

1 - I miss the casts. I never thought I'd say it but at one point last week I considered asking if he could be cast for the next 12 weeks to save my sanity. Those weekly casts now seem like a dream.

2 - You'll obsessively watch a small hole. In each boot there is a small hole either side of the heel so you can check that the foot is completely flat and not causing any rubbing. Well, I couldn't stop checking and convincing myself that I could see a gap.

3 - You'll be crap at putting on the boots. There really is an art to getting these damn things on. Not that it's particularly hard to do but there really is a knack in order to not be so 'fingers and thumbs'. It has taken me about 6 days to really grasp what hand should do what in order to get a perfect fit. And I still check the bloody holes!!

4 - I can now officially call myself a sock expert (a socxpert......no?). I've never looked at so many socks in all my life. Socks have always just been socks. Plain black are my normal go to. Maybe a bit jazzy for Poppy. But my word, I can now judge a sock by it's grip, ribbing, material, thickness, stitching and length in under 10 seconds. And, in conclusion, you need a sock that:

• doesn't necessarily have grips because the bottom of the boot is rubber,
• has no ribbing as this will leave marks,
• is a soft material,
• a thickness that you can replicate with every boot change so that you get the same tightness on the strap,
• has no harsh stitching on the inside by the toes (if they do, you can always turn them inside out)
• is long enough to go to the knee so you can turn them over the top of the boot to avoid slipping

Now, on all the support sites, people rave about Primark and Asda socks but personally I find them very thin, too ribbed and have harsh stitching at the toes. But people have had great success with these so I have bought a few pairs as a back up, plus they're really cheap. At the other end of the scale, you have the socks made by the medical provisions company C-Pro, but at £15 for three pairs of socks plus £5 postage, it's a pretty steep cost. So I settled for socks from The Little White Company, £6 for 3 pairs. They're made from terry toweling, incredibly soft and long and fit very well. They're possibly a bit too thick but I'd rather that than too thin. The only thing I will say for certain is that you need more than 3 pairs unless you've got a tumble drier and do a load of washing every single day. So, yes, socks are my new obsession as you can probably tell.

5 - One hour becomes the most magical part of the day. Barney is allowed one hour off each day from wearing his boots and we have decided to do this between 6 and 7pm each night. This allows for him to have a bath with Poppy and also get used to having the boots put back on before bed (seeing as this is what he'll have to do for the next 5 years). Seeing his face as you undo the first buckle is the most amazing sight - you can just see the tension leave his body. That hour goes so incredibly fast but just enjoy it. Tickle those toes, kiss those wonky feet, massage those misshapen calves.

And finally, 6 - I'm not as tough as I thought. This week really broke me. I'm a pretty tough cookie, have been through a lot in my 28 years and always thought I could take on anything that was thrown at me. But seeing your little baby helplessly screaming and sobbing for a constant 5 days really kicks you where it hurts. I didn't eat properly and I barely slept. I felt like the worst mum in the whole entire world because I couldn't get my baby to stop crying, I couldn't take the pain and frustration away from him, I couldn't play with Poppy or read her a book or put her to bed, I fed her crap in and sat her in front of the TV so I could feel slightly in control. I was really shit. I'm very good at looking like 'I've got this' but I really haven't. And I really didn't have 'it' last week. BUT, I'm out at the other end looking back and so what if Poppy ate crap and we all looked like crap? So what that my house got close to contracting MRSA? So what if I wore the same leggings all week (and, yes, they are still my maternity ones) and survived off chocolate chunk shortbread? I did it. I got through it.

So there you go. One week down in full time boots and bar, 11 to go!