Lilie had more x-rays at her appointment with the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday. She does have a dislocated hip. The doctor placed her in a pavlik harness for six weeks. Every two weeks we will return to the doctors for more x-rays and the harness will be tightened.
We were instructed that for the first two weeks she is not allowed to have the harness off at all. We are going to have to change her clothes and diapers around the harness. It is a little difficult right now,but it should become easier with practice.
She was really frustrated the first day that she was in the harness. She has now adjusted very well. She was really happy for the first full day of being in the harness. I hope that it will get easier from here.
Lilie is now two months old. She is growing like crazy. She now weighs 12.4 pounds. She had her two month check up today and we got some news that we really did not want to hear. She possibly has a dislocated hip like her older sister Natalie.
I have noticed that as she was getting older her hips were getting tighter. I watched the doctor rotate her hips like I have been doing every day. I watched the expression on her face and knew without needing an x-ray to confirm that she most likely had a dislocated hip. The x-ray showed what the doctor had suspected so we have an appointment with Natalie’s doctor on the 15th for a more detailed exam.
I will try to keep an update on how everything is going. I know that we have not posted anything in a while. Things are still a little crazy around here with a 9 year old, a 3 year old and a newborn. We will try to do better in the future about keeping the site updated. Also, if anyone has any of their own stories they would like to post just let us know.
This has been an absolutely crazy week. First off, Sheena (my wife) is about to have our third child. It is going to be another girl. So here recently we have been doing a lot of cleaning around the house to get ready for her to come home. I just imagine that Sheena will have her anytime now.
Danielle seems to be okay with the idea. She was not real excited about Natalie being born. However, Natalie is the unsure one this time I think. She has been enjoying playing with Lily’s stuff. She wants to climb in to the swing, play in her crib, and open her toys. She is continuously getting more active since her spica cast is off, but seems to be very attached to us at the moment. She constantly wants all of the attention. I think she realizes that the time is coming really soon that we will have another baby in the house. We will see how it goes!
I’m not going to lie, things have been a little slow around here lately. After the good news about Natalie’s hip, we have basically been doing the same old thing stuff. Natalie is still aggressive as ever and getting after her older sister, Danielle. They are fighting over the smallest things it seems.
Anyhow, we will be taking a week long vacation to Disney World in Florida next week. We are really excited about that. I’m sure we will have some stories to share about how much walking we did. Right now, we are just hoping that we won’t be rained on. The 10 day forecast is not looking so good at the moment.
Also, if you are a reader of this blog, I want to encourage you to get involved here on SpicaCasts.com. If you have a daughter going through this situation, i’m sure other readers would like to hear about it as well. Natalie was just one of the many people that have to endure open reduction and spica casts each year. Please, shoot me an email or post on our forums and let me know that you would like to start submitting articles. I’m sure all of our readers would love to hear about your child’s story.
I have been trying to read up on this topic for other parents and came across several other parents who stated that they had a child who was older than Natalie (my daughter with DDH). One thing that I noticed was that all stated they had children who had difficulty walking. In fact, several made comments that they were commonly “drifters”.
Drifting can mean that they walk to the side more times than not, or perhaps all the time. They typically use furniture or other stable things to pull themselves to a standing position. After this, they will walk alongside of it, but rarely let go and walk for themselves. Many were doing this for quite sometime, up to close to a year for some prior to discovering why they were not actually walking normally yet.
If your child is a constant drifter or side stepper, you should consider taking them to a pediatrician to take a good look at their hips. Also, do not be afraid to get second opinions. Although delayed walking is not an uncommon thing, it is important to catch hip dysplasia at the earliest stage possible.
