our story

We welcomed our second daughter Annabelle on February 18, 2012, a week before her due date. That same day, the pediatrician felt a click in her right hip ...

... it was never felt again. An x-ray the same day showed nothing, so we weren't too concerned. We had a follow-up ultrasound when she was 6 weeks old, and it showed that *BOTH* of her hips are dislocated. (a condition called Develomental Dysplasia of the Hip or DDH)

Monday, June 15, 2015

Checkup

Annabelle had a checkup today - her first for awhile.  As always, I was nervous going in.  I often forget about the journey we've been through, and I'm always a bit taken aback when people ask me how Annabelle is - I forget. 
I forget all the tears and heartache and sleepless nights through the Pavlik, and the Rhino, and the Spica.
Today's checkup was nothing short of perfect.  My girl's hips are still perfect. 
Her next checkup isn't for another year. 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Healthy Hips

We had our first no-intervention checkup today with Dr Olney.  Annabelle has been out of her brace for a little over a month. 
Her hips are healthy.
Her hips are perfect.
WE HAVE HEALTHY HIPS.
I'm crying tears of joy as I write this. 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

No more Rhino!!!

Lately Annabelle hasn't been sleeping as well as she used to - she's always been a pretty awesome sleeper.  My little adventurer has also been taking her brace off herself!  I've tried to put it on under clothing to make it more difficult for her - but overall, it's just not going as well as it had been.
The last time we saw Dr Olney, he had said we would keep her in the brace at night as long as she was tolerating it - which we felt she no longer was.
I emailed Dr Olney's nurse today, and mentioned she wasn't sleeping as well, and was taking it off, and she said .... we can go without the brace!!!!!!!!! 
We have another appointment next month with Dr Olney, so we'll see how she's doing without the brace on. 
I can't believe this journey we've been on for 19 months is changing courses.  I just pray her hip continues to develop and heal as we've been hoping. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

She's walking!!!

I can't believe the day has arrived, but my little girl is WALKING without help.
It's so amazing to think how far she has come.  I was so scared that this day would never come.  We were assured it would, but to actually she her doing it.  She's amazing.
She's been walking against walls and walking with toys for awhile, but this is a HUGE milestone!!! 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

One year.

I'm pretty big on remembering dates - so I was floored as I happened to be reading my first posts on this blog earlier and noted that a year ago today, Annabelle got her Pavlik Harness.  I had felt some kind of premonition that our journey with Hip Dysplasia would not be brief, and that I would need an outlet - somewhere to share my thoughts and feelings, as well as Annabelle's progress.

What a year.
February 18, 2012 (birth day) : click felt in right hip on exam, xray unremarkable
February 22, 2012 : four day checkup, no click felt, Pediatrician recommends followup ultrasound at 6wks (the "gold standard" for followup)
March 21, 2012 : one month checkup, no click felt.
April 2, 2012 (6wks, 2 days old) : bilateral hip dysplasia diagnosis via ultrasound
April 9, 2012 (7wks, 2 days old) : Pavlik Harness treatment started
4 weeks in Pavlik Harness - no success.
4 weeks in Rhino Cruiser - left hip successfully reduced, right hip still dislocated
June 4, 2012 (15wks, 2 days old) : attempted closed reduction - no success, back to Rhino cruiser
July 17, 2012 : right hip still dislocated, left hip still in place
September 19, 2012 : right hip still dislocated, left hip still in place, surgery scheduled
October 9, 2012 : Open Reduction and Capsulorrhaphy of the right hip, spica cast
November 21, 2012 : Spica cast off after six weeks, both hips in place, able to be out of Rhino cruiser 3-4hrs a day
November 26, 2012 : James and I were concerned about Annabelle's range of motion -  hip still fine.
January 16, 2013 : Both hips still in place, able to be out of Rhino cruiser 6-8hrs a day.
March 20, 2013 : Both hips still in place, able to be out of Rhino during all waking hours.

And I am overjoyed to report today that Annabelle, as of today, is properly crawling - with her knees!  She's still pretty slow - she moves faster when she's army crawling, but this girl won't stop!  She's been successfully sitting up for two weeks, pulling herself up since January, and cruising furniture for at least a month (bad mom, I don't have the dates memorized - I will have to check back on my Facebook statuses.  Stati?)  Last week she took off walking with a walker.  I was floored. 



Now I'm just looking forward to seeing my tiny girl walk, and to hear the words I've been longing to hear for so long:  Healthy Hips.  We're so close.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Standing girl

Annabelle is officially pulling herself up!!!!!!!!!  It makes my heart happy - and I cried.  :)

Monday, January 7, 2013

Life with a hip baby

It's been nearly seven weeks since we said goodbye to the Spica cast.  She's been out of it longer than she was in it.  It seems like a distant memory.  I definitely don't miss it, but it wasn't that bad.  It was short lived, and it's now past us.

Annabelle is doing quite well now, she's become extremely mobile and army crawls herself all over the house.  She's only allowed out of her brace for four hours a day, so she doesn't get much time to practice 'real' crawling, sitting or standing - all of which she cannot do on her own yet. 

I have managed to get her standing and sitting with assistance and she will stay in that position for a small amount of time - while clinging onto a toy for dear life!  She still can't get herself into a sitting or standing position on her own - and I suppose that will just take time.  She definitely has more range of motion than she did - but she's still limited and guards her right hip quite a bit.  I work on stretching it when I can, however it occasionally pops when it's moved - which Dr Olney's nurse said can happen (and is okay).  It freaks me out when it happens, though, and she SCREAMS in pain. 

We see Dr Olney again on the 16th - and assuming all is still going well with her hip - she should have the amount of time allowed out of her brace to increase.