Breech legs...

While in the recovery room, a nurse from the newborn nursery came down and did a physical exam on Kelsie. As I watched her do the exam, I knew what she was checking for and was discouraged when she said "hmmm, I feel a clunk in her hip". I knew this was a bad sign and concerning for hip dysplasia.  Kelsie is such a well tempered baby and didn't even really whimper during the entire exam! As you can see in the picture above, her legs stuck straight out above her head, which apparently is very typical for breech babies. Very soon after we got up to our room, an orthopedic Dr came to evaluate Kelsie's hips and confirmed that both had issues, the right being worse as it was completely dislocating from the joint. :( This doctor did not provide much information at all but said that she would need to wear a brace to help correct the problem. And within just a few hours after birth, someone came up with a Pavlik Harness. Again, we weren't given alot of information, just told she needed to wear it as much as possible to keep her legs out. A man from orthotics fitted her with the brace, not the orthopedic Dr, so we didn't get much instruction.  From the beginning, I was very upset with this brace - the "boots" were made of hard plastic and it was put directly on her baby skin, causing redness and irritation in a matter of minutes.  But....I didn't have a choice and knew I would have to get used to it. This was such a downer time, I hated having to see my newborn baby be restricted by this brace and knew it was going to be very difficult caring for her with this thing.  It seemed difficult enough having a newborn to care for after just having a C-section and now this added even more complexity.