Babywearing with the Rhino Cruiser, part 2

I had posted earlier that the Ergo carrier worked well with the Rhino.  I've worn Annabelle in it a few times with her brace, and she sometimes will tolerate it, and other times won't.  It's really touch and go.  It's not quite wide enough for her leg span, and I think it sometimes cuts into her legs and makes her uncomfortable.

I found my ring sling, and decided to try her in that.  It's not the ideal carrier for long term wearing, but it worked well with her brace, I used a hip carry similar to how I carried Charlotte when she was ~10 months old.  Annabelle did well in it - I think we'll try this one again!

It's a double-layer Solarveil ring sling from Baby So Smart.  The lint is courtesy of me washing it with a load of towels and accidentally drying it.  This sling is awesome, I bought it for Charlotte specifically to wear her in the pool or shower.  You can scrub a baby right through the fabric with soap!  It also has some UV protection.  :)

our new normal and the answers to some FAQ

I haven't posted for awhile, but there's not much to update!

The last five weeks have been great.  Annabelle is doing fantastic, and we don't really seem to mind her brace at all.  SHE doesn't seem to mind her brace at all.  It's our new normal.  Baby in a brace.  We get some stares occasionally, and I'm always happy to answer questions for the curious minds.

happy girl

We've even managed to fit her in an exersaucer with her brace on, and she loves being in it.  (I doublechecked with the Dr to make sure it was okay, and they said sure!)  She's all about putting everything in her mouth, so having lots of toys at arm's reach is a plus for her :)

dangly legs!

*************
FAQ:

I've had a lot of questions asking after little Annabelle, so I figured I'd make a mass answer:

our tiny girl on the fourth of July

She is doing great.  We are weaning out of her brace, she is allowed out four hours a day, and she loves being out of it.  She is still a bit behind on tummy time stuff, as she still doesn't tolerate it well, but we're catching up!  :)

She *did* go in for her surgery, but while under the general anesthesia, they were unable to put her hip in place.  She will have open surgery in October after she is 6 months old (the Dr won't do the open surgery on younger babies) and they will clean out the hip joint, manually reduce her hip, and cast it there for six weeks.  That *should* be her last surgery.

In the meantime, she is in her brace to keep her left hip stabilized, and provided it stays in place, she will only have surgery on her right hip, however, the nature of the spica cast is to cast both hips.

we are home

This morning didn't go as expected, but as the day has gone on, I'm not as upset about it ... in fact, it's a bit more on the positive side than I realized ...

She went in for surgery ... anesthesia, the whole bit ... but ...

Dr Olney was unable to reduce Annabelle's hip ... (i.e. he couldn't get it to align, and her right hip is still out of place).  Her left hip is still where it needs to be and he said it looks good.
So ... instead of casting her today ... we are home.  She will continue the brace in order to provide support to her left hip, but we will wean her out of the brace.  She can now have 4 hours out of the brace a day.

This fall, when she is older, and her bones are more mature, she will have an OPEN reduction (instead of the closed reduction that was scheduled for today).  It is just like it sounds ... they will go into her hip ... clean out any tissue that is obstructing the joint and preventing it from aligning, and reduce the hip that way.  Check out this link for more info.
Afterwards, she'll be in the spica cast for 6 weeks, and then back to the brace she's in now.  No re-casting.  Just one surgery.   Hopefully, that will fix her hip. 

In the meantime, not having her dislocated hip braced will not affect the outcome.  Dr Olney says this ... he's been doing this for 20+ years ... he's the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery ... I trust him.  (okay, mom?)

Ultimate Goal:  Healthy Hips, full function.

They told us to expect her to be veeeeeeeery sleepy for the rest of the day, and she might have a rough 24 hours. 

I had planned to do a photo tour of our day ... (last photo of legs, etc...) but since that is irrelevant now ... I'll do a mini tour ...

Annabelle couldn't have any breastmilk after 1:30am.  She could have clear liquids (i.e. Pedialyte) until 4am, so I woke her at 3:30 and she drank 5oz.  She didn't really wake up, but she did drink.

Here we go!

scared Mommy, hungry baby

I'll be okay mommy, and aren't I cute?  Won't you please feed me?

Sleeeeeepy baby in the recovery room.  It took removing her IV (in her elbow at the bottom of the pic) to wake her up. She nursed after that.  They told us she might be very sleepy for the rest of the day ...

After arriving home ... my happy, happy girl.

She's zonked out now, and snoring ... hopefully the rest of today and tonight go well.

The wait is over.

I am so glad that today is here.
The building anticipation of the last four weeks is quickly coming to a finish. Over the entire weekend, I just wanted today to be here. I want the surgery over. I want to know that my baby is okay. I want to hear the good news that they were able to reduce her hip and she is in the cast.

Her surgery is scheduled for 7:30. We have to be there at 6:00.
Her cutoff for milk was 1:30, and for clear liquids (Pedialyte) was 4:00.
She normally sleeps from 9:30ish to 5am. I didn't wake her at 1:00 for a breastfeed (mostly because I went to bed around midnight), but I did pick her up at 3:30 for a bottle of Pedialyte. It took 30 minutes, but she drank 5oz. It was weird giving her a bottle.

She's snoozing away now - oblivious to the upcoming events for the day. I'm glad for that. I'm happy every day that this was caught early so that we can be on the road to recovery before she ever remembers it.

I've never prayed this much in my life. Right now I have an eerie sense of calm about me. I hope it continues throughout the day.

adios, turtle shell!

I have started affectionately referring to the Rhino cruiser as Annabelle's turtle shell. In fact, the next one she has, I think I will design to look like a turtle shell --- it sure feels like one.

I emailed Dr Olney's nurse last night. We hadn't thought to ask if Annabelle needed to stay in her Rhino prior to surgery. We assumed she did, but after thinking, we wondered if a couple days out of it would make any difference. We're both longing so much for some cuddly snuggles with our tiny princess. She's been in some form of brace for 8 weeks now. She's 15 weeks old. That's more than half her life.

I got a response back early this morning saying we could be brace free! Yippee! She went to school today without her brace (I had to work). Coming home tonight, it was a bit odd to hold her. She seemed so ... floppy. Like a baby. I'm used to a baby that doesn't bend, doesn't mold, doesn't contour into me when snuggling. It was nice beyond words, but a little strange, to be honest.

I did put her into her brace for sleeping tonight. Even though we can be brace free for a couple days ... I still want to baby that healing left hip.

spica, here we come

Our visit this morning had both some expected, and some unexpected news ...

The Rhino cruiser helped Annabelle's left hip. It's now in place, and Dr Olney anticipates it should stay there. It will need to continue to be braced for awhile to provide stability to the hip joint as it grows and hardens.

It did not help her right hip. He said that there is no improvement. So we are going to continue ahead with the scheduled closed reduction on Monday (today is Thursday). During this, she will be put under general anesthesia, dye will be injected into her hip, and this will allow him to reduce the hip, or manually put it in place. He may or may not need to do a tenotomy, to cut a tendon to allow the hip to be reduced. If all goes well, the hip will reduce, and she will be in a spica cast for 3 months. The cast will be changed out after 6 weeks.

If the hip does NOT reduce, we will not do the cast, she will go back into her Rhino cruiser until she's 6 months old, when she would have an OPEN reduction, or actual surgery on the hip joint.

We asked him if surgery was the best option, seeing as the Rhino cruiser helped her left hip - could it help her right one? He said if there had been any improvement, they might try that first, but seeing as her right hip is essentially unchanged - the best option going forward is the closed reduction/spica cast. Both hips will be in the cast, and this will not hurt her healing left hip at all - but it will continue to provide support.

If she's placed in the Spica cast, we'll likely stay overnight on Monday. If the hip doesn't reduce, we'll go home the same day.

I'm praying for the cast.

safe

turn up your sound, click this, and listen while you read (right click to open in a new window)

I had to go to work this morning for a class, and I was listening to K-Love, as I always do when driving.

A song was playing that calmed me, soothed me, and terrified me. I was sobbing by the end, and almost had to pull off the road.

In five days, I will be leaving my baby in the hands of doctors and nurses and praying all goes well. I will walk her to a door, and hand her over. The door will close, and I won't be there with her. Her life will be in their hands.

The lyrics to the song reminded me that both I, and my baby girl will be safe. God will keep her safe.
I imagined singing in my head to her before she goes back:

"You're not alone. You will be safe in His arms, You will be safe in His arms, the hands that hold the world are holding your heart, this is the promise He made, He will be with you always, when everything is falling apart, You will be safe in His arms."

The same goes for me as I am probably pacing the waiting room ...

I think the anxiety of the looming day is worse than the actual day will probably be.

I'm trying to be calm. But I'm scared to death.

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.