"Hip brace removed," the Pinoy Big Brother alumna happily announced on Instagram, as a caption to a photo of her one-year-old son Seth playing with and "eating" his leg.
"After 4 months in a harness and 7 months in a brace, nighttime nya na lang daw isusuot ang hip brace nya," the first-time mom jubilantly wrote earlier in August.
Wendy's life as a mom has been an open book since the day she turned to social media to ask for prayers for her then-two-day-old son who was to undergo surgery. Baby Emmanuel Seth Garcia was born on June 11, 2017 with a large cyst on his back as a result of a condition called spina bifida, where the spine does not develop normally, causing a split or opening.
On Seth's first birthday, Wendy chronicled everything they have gone through in a video, and how their faith has carried them through it.
"When God blessed us with Seth, I was devastated to found out he has spina bifida. [It's] a condition that may not allow him to walk, urinate, or poop properly on his own. His hip bone is not in the right position, and he has mild hydrocephalus — all cost by an opening in his spine while he was still in the womb.
"Most diagnosis we got every check-up were heartbreaking to hear, but every ultrasound, Seth would moved inside of me as if letting us know how excited he is to live.
"I remember how I cried like I've never been to the Lord when I found out. It was like someone died. My dreams for him and me were the ones that actually did — running, walking, climbing mountains with him like in the movies or other seemingly perfect scenarios that I have pictured for our family. But life is never like a fairytale."
To correct Seth's hip dysplacia, he had to wear braces starting earlier this year. And now the good news is that he doesn't have to wear them every day anymore.
"If the hips would hold up during the 2 week observation of not wearing the brace at daytime, pwede na sya ulit mag therapy.
"We are praying na hindi na maaalis ang right hip nya sa tamang posisyon, para tuloy tuloy na syang hindi gagamit ng hip brace.
"Seth was super excited to reunite with his feet. Namiss nya sobra kaya kinakain nya mga paa nya madalas."
Wendy also noted that Seth is now able to turn over on his own. "Nakakadapa na din sya konti konti. Yeheey!"
As in all her other posts about baby Seth, Wendy ended the post with the hashtag "#spinabifidawarrior".
This story originally appeared on Smartparenting.com.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.
