2 weeks down, 4 weeks to go

I don't mind the Spica much.  I almost hate to say that, but I don't.
It's cumbersome, it's heavy.  Last week I had a day where I was mad at it ...
It still makes me sad to look at my little one and to know she's not meeting her milestones because of her DDH.  It sucks.  It breaks my heart sometimes.
But I feel so unbelievably blessed to know that our journey is hopefully brief and our daughter will be FULLY HEALED before she will ever know the difference.
Annabelle amazes me.  She is truly a gift from God, and I know He gave her to us to be her parents for a reason.  I cherish her (just as I do her big sister). 
I see God working through us in our situation to bring light to others that come upon this blog.  He has a plan.

Spica roll

Yesterday Annabelle was turning herself pretty well both on her tummy and on her back.  I had thought that by the end of the 6 weeks she'd be rolling and/or crawling just based on how well she was rotating herself yesterday.
This morning, she rolled!  I saw her get some pretty good leverage at one point and thought she might do it, but didn't think it would be this soon!  I was elated.  This girl doesn't let anything hold her back!

Blessings come from raindrops

I think we're nicely getting used to the spica cast.  Annabelle has been sleeping relatively well, she has been eating well, and is a bit less frustrated now about her lack of mobility.  I think her pain is doing a lot better too. 

Looking back on our journey so far, it's been frustrating, it's been full of worry and tears.  We have learned a LOT.  They always say parents with kids with conditions become experts, and while I'm definitely not an expert, I feel relatively well educated ... enough to answer questions when people ask them ...

Every day since Annabelle was born I have been so grateful that her hip dysplasia was caught early.  As Dr Olney has told us, this is often not detected this early in life.  Most of his surgeries are done on older kids, aged 2-3 who are diagnosed after they start walking.  I thank God that Annabelle *WILL NOT* remember the Pavlik Harness.  She won't remember the Rhino Cruiser, or mommy and daddy twice handing her over to the OR nurse.   She won't remember the Spica Cast, she won't remember the pain.  She will remember the stories we tell her down the road, and how much love her mommy & daddy had for her through this whole journey. 

The few weeks before Annabelle's surgery, she cut six teeth, to bring her total to EIGHT.  Those few weeks were frustrating beyond belief.  A few days before her surgery I decided that her cutting her teeth then was a blessing.  She endured that discomfort prior to surgery and going into her spica cast.  Now I don't have to worry that her fussiness/discomfort is from incision pain or from the spica. 

While we were waiting outside the recovery room for Annabelle to be transported to her room, there was a family with a little boy that looked to be about two years old.  His mommy was explaining to him that he had to walk with the "nice nurse" and she would see him afterwards.  I feel so blessed to not have had to explain to my daughter why I was sending her away.  To not wonder if she would look at me afterwards wondering why I sent her off to be in pain.  The last glimpse I have in my head of her being taken to surgery, is her smiling at the OR nurse while playing with her hat.

I am also extremely thankful that the closed reduction was unsuccessful.  We didn't have to endure 3 months in spica, with a cast change at 6 weeks over the hottest summer on record. 

All in all, I am so, so, so grateful that the condition our daughter has is FIXABLE, CURABLE, and something that we will be able to put behind us.

we are home!

I'm glad to be home with my baby but a bit nervous to learn how to take care of her at home ... at the hospital everything is a bit more adapted to her ... at home, we have to figure out what works!

Annabelle is doing well now, she is still in some pain but we're trying to keep on top of it ... she's nursing well, and she ate babyfood this morning as eagerly as she always does.  She's back to smiling frequently, but is definitely more subdued.  She wants her mama all the time ... 

Good morning, beautiful

Morning smiles

attempted tummy time

Meet the Spica

playing with daddy

going home!
Yes, I did match her dress to her cast, I had bought this
dress before her attempted closed reduction as her
"Going Home outfit"

Photo with daddy!

Riding home!  Her new rented Britax Hippo carseat ...
She looks uncomfortable,
but she actually slept the whole way home

Open Reduction and Capsulorrhaphy

I'm so glad today is finished.
Annabelle had her surgery, an open reduction with capsulorrhaphy, which took about 2 hours.  We were able to see her about 4.5 hours after the nurse took her back to the OR.  She was heavily sedated on pain medicine and was occasionally moaning.  It took Annabelle a long time to wake up, and even longer to smile, which is rather unusual for my normally very smiley girl.  We skyped with daddy & big sister this evening and big sister got Annabelle to smile.  It was nice for her to see her baby sister at the hospital and to have a little view of the cast that we've talked about.

Here's a little photo recap of our day:

last bath for six weeks!!!

totally oblivious to the day ahead

waiting for Dr Olney to arrive

arrival in her room

Daddy watching over her

starting to wake up

first time holding her

starting to play

Love my girl.

First smile of the day, Skype with Daddy & big sister

Sweet dreams, sweet girl.

Reduced.

Annabelle's hip is now in the right place for the first time since she was born.

Waiting ...

Annabelle is in surgery.  We got a call a little over an hour ago from the OR nurse saying that they had just started.  Dr Olney anticipated anywhere from 2-3 hours from start to finish, as they'll be applying the cast and I'm assuming it will have to dry.

The wait is hard, and I'm trying to keep myself busy ...