That means this coming Thursday we will be heading to Nationwide Children's hospital to meet with our orthapedic surgeon. Our ped told us she will be put in a Pavlik harness and to expect it on as long as 4-6 months. This is where the internet becomes a problem. There is, unfortunately, not a ton of information about this condition to be found. And when you do find it, there tend to be some pretty extreme cases out there. I'm hoping the lack of info I am finding about DDH in newborns is because it becomes such a non-issue to the family that they don't document it or have to reach out for bigger answers.
So far I have found a board on babycenter and a website for a hip dysplasia institute. Both have been helpful so far, but I wanted a place to document our journey as it happens. I'm hoping that our journey will maybe help other families down the line, and it will also serve as a journal for our family as we embark on this process.
I'm scared. And I'm sad. I know that on the spectrum of "things that can go wrong with your child," that this isn't "big." DDH is curable and it was caught early with Monkey. We have all reason to believe that we will have 100% success in fixing that messed up hip. But the idea of my little girl in a weird victorian era looking contraption, unable to wear most of the cute baby clothes stockpiled in her nursery - the idea breaks my heart, Her movements changed, our ability to snuggle different. Our patterns broken, our ideas of a "normal" newborn phase shattered.
As a good friend said to us though, what is "normal"? Everyone has issues with their child one way or another - it's all just an issue of scale. This will be our normal. It's not what I expected, and it's terribly scary at this point in time.
Monkey at 1 Month
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