CAST

During our ultrasound this morning, the Pavlik got to come off for a few minutes. Annabelle has gotten so long! I took a couple pics to document, thinking she'd be put back in the PH afterwards. I took some washcloths and baby soap to give her a quick sponge bath on her lower half. She was getting quite stinky.

I had a vibe after our ultrasound that a cast would be our next step. It felt like the big guy in the sky gave me a heads up so I would be prepared for the news. I was going to be brave and strong.

Dr. Olney came into the room, "How's this little girl doing?" he asked. "You tell us," is what I managed to croak. "Well ..." he began.

Long story short, the Pavlik harness did not work for Annabelle. He said she has shallow hip sockets. The next step is a procedure called a closed reduction. During this, Annabelle will be under general anesthesia for complete sedation so he can manipulate her hips into the correct position. Afterwards, she is in a Spica cast for ~3 months, with a cast change after six weeks to accommodate her growth (and any ick factor). If that works, great. If not, more surgical intervention is necessary when she reaches 6months of life.

In the meantime ... since the Pavlik isn't working, no more Pavlik. We're changing to a different brace, the Rhino cruiser. It's a harder shell of a brace, not a soft harness like Pavlik.
Pros: it can come off (yay!) and she can have a real bath (double yay!). It comes off for diaper changes, and it comes off in the carseat. She can also wear clothes under it, so all the cute outfits she has are once again a possibility.
Cons: it comes off, so it has to go back on. And she HATES it being tightened.

A fleeting hope ... newer studies have shown that a small percentage of DDH can be corrected with the Rhino cruiser when the Pavlik didn't work. We go back for an ultrasound in 3.5 weeks. If her hips are better, we go from there. If they're not, we continue with the scheduled closed reduction four days later. She'll stay overnight (at least) in the hospital. They'll even hook us up with a fancy carseat since her infant carrier won't work.

In my mind, I'm planning for the closed reduction. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than the other way. He didn't sound hopeful that the cruiser would work.

Today has been rough. She does not like it being put back on. AT ALL. On a positive note, she got a bath, which she LOVED.

As for how I'm doing ... I'll blog tomorrow. I'm tired, and she's asleep, therefore I should attempt to be.