Since before Rilynn was born, we knew she would be having an ultrasound on her hips at around 6 weeks because being breech, a first born, and a girl all put her at risk for hip dysplasia. When I was told this, I put it in the back of my mind thinking there was no way my baby would be the 1 in 1,000 to have this condition. At her 2 week check up, the pediatrician checked for clicking in her hips which would be a sign there was a problem, but there was no clicking. I thought we were in the clear for sure. Going to her 6 week ultrasound on Friday afternoon seemed like just a hoop to jump through, but just after leaving the ultrasound the pediatrician called. Hearing the word, "Unfortunately" my heart dropped. She let me know that Rilynn indeed had hip dysplasia and that both of her hips were dislocated. Friday night Travis and I did some research and the more we read and saw the more heavy our hearts felt. I had imagined my baby wearing her cute little outfits, not a Pavlik harness. It was heart breaking. We feel so fortunate that it was caught early enough that she can start treatment and hopefully fix the problem sooner rather than later. Today we went to meet with the orthopedic surgeon; the good news is he was a really nice guy that knows what he is doing. The bad news is that having both hips displaced isn't very common and they were so displaced he couldn't feel them going in and out of the socket. Rilynn was fitted for her harness and will be wearing it 24/7 for a month to start with. We will bring her in for check ups every week to have the harness checked and adjusted and she will have an ultrasound at 2 weeks and 4 weeks to check the progress. If there is progress she will likely continue full time in the harness for 12 weeks and then we will wean her off of it. We are hoping that at 4 weeks she has made enough progress otherwise we go to plan B which is surgery. As Travis keeps reminding me, it is just a bump in the road. We are re-learning to change her diaper and feed her. But on the bright side this new outfit means less laundry! We are learning quickly how emotional being a parent is, but it is so worth it. We love our little pumpkin!
Oh my goodness poor little Rilynn and poor mama! Having to re figure out a new routine has got to be difficult, but you're an awesome mom and I'm sure you will adjust just fine! Like you said, it's just a small bump in the road and you're so lucky they caught it early on. Hopefully her treatment will go according to plan and she will be out of the harness before you know it. Love you guys and praying for you!
ReplyDelete