Levi's Story

Becoming a parent is like nothing I could have possibly imagined. It is already the hardest thing I have ever done and the most wonderful thing I have ever done at the exact same time.

The night we first found out Steph was pregnant was filled with overwhelming joy. I was sitting outside on our balcony while she took her 4th or 5th pregnancy test. I didn't want to get my hopes up...this was really only the first month she had really gone through a complete cycle and so it would be the first opportunity for the miracle to take place. I stared in complete shock as she opened the screen door and made that life-changing announcement, "I'm pregnant!" We grabbed each other and sobbed like babies.

The next weeks passed on slowly. We were desperate for any sign, any indication that our little poppy seed was alive and well. We were so nervous at the first doctor's appointment that we got extremely annoyed with the sonographer for not coming forth with the information we needed right away. But, once we heard that heartbeat, it was all we needed to confirm what the little blue line had told us...we had created a life.

After our 12 week appointment we were finally able to share our news with the world. We were expecting a baby and he or she was going to arrive right in time for summer vacation. Of all the people we couldn't wait to share our news with, the people I was most excited to tell were my Grandma and Grandpa Doggett. They have 14 grandchildren who are all between the ages of 18 and 45. They've been waiting for a great-grandchild for a very long time. Last summer when we visited them in France, Grandpa told me in no uncertain terms that he was counting on me. I assured him that he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

People all asked us the same few questions once we told them our news. "When is the due date? How is she feeling? Are you going to find out the sex?" Considering the fact that we were literally counting down the days until the 20-week sonogram, there was no way we were going to let them keep the boy/girl secret from us. The more impatient we became, the more ridiculous our attempts at getting an early sonogram became. "The sonogram equipment doesn't look that complicated," I thought, "Why can't we just go to a walk-in clinic somewhere and get one? I bet there's a 7-11 somewhere that can do a sonogram for us."

The date for the 20-week sonogram finally arrived and we stared anxiously at the blurry screen. We saw what looked like 3 big bumps right next to each other. As the nurse pointed at the first big bump and said, "Ok we're looking up at him in this shot. Here's a leg..." we KNEW we had a baby boy. How else could you explain the three legs?! :) Steph burst into tears and I was at a loss for words (which doesn't happen often). We had so been looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby because we wanted to start saying "he" or "she" and stop calling the baby "it." Finding out the sex made him human...a person...not just a little blurry blob of hope.

Up until this point, our entire experience as parents had been full of excitement, joy, hope, anticipation, and pride...all positive things. We had no idea that right after getting the news that he was a boy, this was all about to change. Our emotions took a monumental nosedive when the technician left the room and the doctor appeared. "We weren't supposed to be seeing a doctor today," we thought. She calmly entered the room, introduced herself, took over the reigns of the machine, and said, "The technician noticed something in the sonogram today. His feet appear to be clubbed." I can't even describe was I was thinking at this moment. The only thing I can remember is FEAR. Complete, uncontrollable fear. Something was wrong. This couldn't be possible. Our baby is perfect. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with our little guy. The doctor confirmed what the sonographer has seen. When looking at his leg from the side, the bottom of his foot was visible. In the calmest and most professional way possible, the doctor told us all about a condition called Club Foot. His feet were turned to the inside, making his leg look like the shape of a golf club. She explained that it is totally curable, that it's not extremely common, but that when it is treated properly, the child grows up without any developmental problems. He wouldn't have a hard time learning to crawl or walk, and by the time he was 5 or 6, he wouldn't even remember having Club Foot. We heard this information, but we didn't really LISTEN to it. We were still busy thinking about all the little things we might have possibly done wrong that could have caused this. We had feelings of great sadness, disbelief, and most of all, FEAR.


We left the office in a complete daze. We were so proud to announce that we were having a son, but we had no idea how we were going to deal with this other information. We went home and began scouring the internet for information about Club Foot. When we came across Clubfoot.org and watched a video about the Ponseti Method of treatment, we were assured that this condition was completely curable. There might be some restless nights as a result of the treatment, and it wouldn't be easy on him, but our boy was eventually going to be fine. Apparently Club Foot used to be treated with surgery, but children who were treated this way often had painful relapses in the future and all kinds of problems later in life. Thankfully, a doctor at the University of Iowa named Ignacio Ponseti had developed a revolutionary method that didn't require surgery. The Ponseti method involves a series of 4-6 plaster casts that go all the way up the child's legs. These casts are changed weekly to accommodate growth and with each cast, the feet are gradually turned into the correct position. After this comes the difficult part of the treatment, called "Boots and Bars." For 23 hours a day, the child must wear a brace that resembles a snowboard. After a period of time, the brace can be worn only at night. The entire treatment usually lasts until the child is two years old. After that point, no further interventions are necessary.

Learning about all this right off the bat was a little comforting, but I still wasn't ready to accept it. Even though all my research told me that there is no known cause for Club Foot, that it may be hereditary, and that we ourselves did NOTHING at all to cause it, I still felt guilty, depressed, embarrassed, and most of all, SCARED. I know that these are all feelings that every parent has at some point in their child's life, but why did we have to go through it right now? It just wasn't fair.

Steph wanted to tell people about it...she wanted the comfort of others to help her deal with it emotionally. I was the opposite. I didn't want anyone's "bull ____ sympathy." I didn't want someone just telling me, "Everything will be ok" until I was ready to believe that it actually was. We told our parents about it and as expected, they were incredibly supportive. Their reactions, or lack thereof, signified to us that maybe this really wasn't something to be afraid of. They reassured us that "These kinds of things happen" and that "He'll be fine." My mom told me that it sounded exactly like what my cousin had when he was young. She encouraged me to talk to my aunt about it. I thought that would be a good idea, but I still wasn't ready.

The weeks passed on and we became to accept that despite the fact that our boy would be born with this condition, he was still going to be able to do all the things that little boys do. He'd still be able to walk, run, live a normal life, and most importantly to me, play soccer. It was comforting to learn about famous people who had it, especially famous athletes. The figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi had Club Foot. If someone that graceful once had deformed feet, then maybe our guy would be ok too. USA soccer legend Mia Hamm had also Club Foot, she was one of the greatest female soccer player in our country's history. Finally, Troy Aikman had Club Foot! All of a sudden, I liked Aikman for the first time...after hating him all my life for being a Dallas Cowboy.

Next we started looking for a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon who was trained in the Ponseti Method. We had learned from the websites and blogs that there were many doctors who still didn't use this method and that we need to be very careful in selecting one who was. We discovered, to our complete surprise, that there was a doctor named Steven Tuck at Shady Grove Orthopaedics who actually trained under Dr. Ponseti at the University of Iowa! About 2 months before the due date, we set up an appointment with the very busy Dr. Tuck. During the appointment, Dr. Tuck affirmed all we had learned about Club Foot. He took a look at the sonogram photos and reiterated that he couldn't be TOO sure (you can't really be certain about anything based on a sonogram...they are much more advanced than they used to be, but they can still sometimes lie) and that the Club Foot might possibly only be on one of the feet. His demeanor was very comforting to us, not only because we knew of his all-star Club Foot status as a doctor, but also because of the way he explained the simplicity of the treatment. He told us, "If you're REALLY worried about something like Club Foot, I'd hate to see what you're like when he gets his driver's license." Granted, this might be a line he'd used a thousand times before, but it surely resonated with us.

Now that we were confident that we knew what we were up against, we started to talk to more of our family and friends about it. I explained the whole thing to several friends who were very supportive and I am extremely thankful to them. We also talked to my aunt at our baby shower and what she had to say was very helpful as well. It's times like these when you really appreciate all the people you have around you who genuinely care about you. Now that I had accepted it for myself, I was able to appreciate the votes of confidence and messages of support I was lucky enough to receive from others.

The day our son was born was the best day of my life (well, our wedding was pretty cool, and so was my Bar-Mitzvah because at the time I felt like I had won the lottery with all those presents...) but May 23rd, 2010 is definitely up there. Moments after our baby was born and we had a few seconds to dry off the tears (and nasty baby goo) I was with the baby over at the warming table (which looked like something that wouldn't be out of place at a Kentucky Fried Chicken) Steph called over to me and asked, "How are his feet???" I couldn't think of the right thing to say, so all I could come up with was, "They are exactly how they are supposed to be." They looked like all the feet of the Club Foot babies we had seen in pictures on the internet. Thanks to all the emotional preparation, I wasn't shocked or worried when I saw them and I was able to focus all my attention on the miracle that had just occurred...Baby Levi had made it safely into this world.

Looking back, those first several hours were like a whirlwind. So many emotions being felt and special moments being shared. I didn't even have time to worry about Levi's feet. When the pediatrician came by to give him his first check-up, she asked whether or not we had known his feet were going to be clubbed. She examined them carefully...moved them around and bent and twisted them into various positions. She declared that the feet were, "extremely pliable" and that "the Club Foot might not be so severe" but that we'd have to wait to see what Dr. Tuck had to say. We had already made an appointment with him for Thursday, May 27.

We had two doctor's appointments scheduled for the 27th, one with the pediatrician and one with Dr. Tuck. Luckily, we had scheduled the pediatrician first because we ended up having to wait for Dr. Tuck for almost an hour (he's a very busy guy). When he finally entered the room, it took him less than a minute to examine Levi's feet. He moved them around the same way the pediatrician had done. Then, he looked up at us and said words that I will never forget. "This is not Club Foot."

He told us that Levi only had "positional Club Foot" which was not a birth defect, but simply caused by the way he was situated inside the womb. If it were REAL Club Foot, he would not be able to bend the feet into the proper position at all. He showed us how easily he could get the feet to reach the "mid line." The treatment of positional Club Foot is very simple. All we have to do is conduct some very easy exercises every time Levi has a diaper change and the feet should be correct within a few WEEKS! Dr. Tuck explained that he has treated over 2,000 kids with positional club foot. 200 (10%) of them had to be in the casts for 1-2 weeks following the exercises and only 20 (1%) of them had to wear the Boots and Bars for a short period afterward.

After hearing this, I asked Dr. Tuck, "Is it normal for me to feel like hugging you right now?" I didn't know what else to say, I was so happy. I looked over at Stephanie and she was already beginning to cry. Our boy was going to be perfectly fine...in FAR less time and with FAR less aggravation than we had originally thought.

Now we didn't have to worry about having him in casts for my brother's wedding, didn't have to worry about dealing with the stares of strangers at the grocery store, didn't have to worry about getting poop on his casts when we changed his diaper, didn't have to worry about giving him a special kind of bath, and most of all, he wouldn't have to go through any pain or suffering at all.

Even as I sit here writing this, I still can't believe it. We had gone through the entire range of human emotions with regards to his "Club Foot." Even if he had the most severe case of Club Foot known to man, Dr. Tuck could still have treated him and he would have been perfectly fine. But the fact that we don't have to go through any of that (as long as we keep up with the exercises) is such an enormous weight off our shoulders that I can't sufficiently describe.

Right now, I'm typing this message as my beautiful 5 day old son sleeps peacefully next to me. I wish I could tell him how happy I am. I wish he could understand how lucky we are. Becoming a first-time parent is difficult enough and I'm so thankful that we won't have to confront the challenge of raising a child with Club Foot.