THe hip brace is back

Oh, what a day. We went in today for a follow-up of Kelsie's hip dysplasia. This was our first follow-up since they removed the Pavlik Harness at 7 weeks old. At that time, the ultrasound of her hips was completely normal but the doctor told us that he would follow it every 6 months for a couple of years just to make sure that it continued to grow properly. So we went back today for her first Xray and were absolutely shocked by the findings. Both of us fully expected a quick, routine, everything-looks-fine, kind of visit and were not at all prepared for him to tell us that there was still a problem with one of her hips and that she would have to wear a bracing device again! 

At birth, the right hip was the worse of the two, but this time, the Xray actually showed that the left hip was more of the problem. Because she is still too young for all of her bony structures to show up on Xray, they are unable to see the complete shape of her hip joint; but based on what does show up, it is apparent that there is less calcification seen on the left than on the right, and the socket on that side appears more shallow. So, because they have not developed equally, she has to wear a brace again to hold her hips in an externally rotated position. This position will allow the left hip to grow like it needs to.

Nathan and I were pretty upset about dealing with this again. Granted, it is not as bad as the pavlik harness was, but it is still going to take some considerable adjustment. You may say, well, its only at night so its not that bad. And to some degree, we agree. But by wearing it at night, it is going to affect her sleep, how I get her to sleep, how we do chest PT at night (which we do at night after she asleep), and how I nurse her at night. Putting her to sleep tonight was impossible with the brace on...I tried and she was so uncomfortable. She is used to snuggling up in my arms to fall asleep, but that isn't exactly possible when wearing the brace. So I took it off, and then after she fell asleep, Nathan put it on her, while I held her in position, being careful not to wake her up. She is used to sleeping on her side or stomach, with a sleep sack on, but wearing this thing, she can't wear her sack and she can't roll over. So we will see how the night goes....

Also, as far as how long she has to wear it....that is still another "wait and see".  He said she will have to wear it until "both hips are equally developed or when she is 2 1/2, whichever comes first". If at 2 1/2, it still hasn't improved, surgery would be the next step. But we don't even want to think about that yet. Her next xray will be in 4 months.