First visit

We learned of the dislocations on April 2nd. We were scheduled to meet with the pediatric orthopedic Dr on April 9th. A week of waiting and worrying. I was sick with worry for my little girl, but also very grateful that it was caught early - if that pediatrician hadn't felt the click the first day - we may have not learned of these until she didn't walk. She was never breech in utero, so she would never have had a hip ultrasound otherwise.

Dr. Google to the rescue? It made me worry way more than I needed to, but it also gave me a heads up with what the likely method of treatment we would be experiencing - a Pavlik harness. A soft harness with lots of straps, that would work to keep her hips in the position needed to realign properly as she grows.

During this week I had a lot of (normal) feelings:
Will this correct with the harness like 90-95% of the time it does?
Will she need a cast or even scarier, surgery to fix this?
Will she have problems down the road like arthritis?
Will she have a limp or something that kids will make fun of?
Will she be able to run and play like any other little girl?
Did I do something when pregnant that caused this?
She's not in pain ... or doesn't appear to be?

During our first visit with Dr. Olney - he said that this is not painful like it sounds - not painful like it would be for us. Since babies bones are mostly cartilage (at least in the hips) at this point, it's not painful, and it's easier to fix. He said it was good that it was caught early, because it's easier to treat at this point (most of the time).

The plan of attack:
Annabelle wears the Pavlik harness 24/7 for a minimum of 4 weeks. No taking it off. Ever.
We have a couple straps that we can temporarily take off to change her clothes, but that's it.

It was a cold morning, so I dressed her in a sleeper and off we went. I had an extra sleeper in the diaper bag, but that was it. Come to find out, she can't wear a sleeper while in the harness. I didn't have a onesie or anything to dress her in ... so she came home in the harness and her birthday suit.

We go back in two weeks to have the harness checked, and another two weeks after that for another hip ultrasound. That will determine our next plan of attack.

I left the appointment feeling sick ... I had a horrible headache, so that may have been part of it. But I felt sick. I know it's minor in the grand scheme of things that could be wrong - but it's still my baby girl. The waiting room was filled with young children in wheelchairs and that slapped me back into reality a bit.

However, I felt the need to chronicle this journey - for anything but to be therapeutic for me to be able to release my emotions of this time.