Hip Dysplasia: Time to Learn Something New

Since Alexis has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia, I've spent a good deal of time on the net coming up to speed on what it is. Two nights ago I read up on how the harness works and I'm afraid it brought me to tears. I just started to feel a grief, a loss. It may sound strange since this isn't a totally horrible thing, but I felt a loss over the fact that if she wears the harness, I won't be able to put her in her cute new 3 month old clothes. (I've been putting her in everything 3 month old this week so I can see her in it before she gets a harness!) And then I just felt this urge when I went to bed to go into her room, get her out of the crib and just hold her close, wishing I could take away what she might have to go through. It's amazing how strong mommy emotions are. Everything that happens to your child is personal and goes straight to your heart.

Anyway, I was feeling down and then I saw an interview with Diena Thompson. Her daughter, Somer, was kidnapped and killed three months ago. The interviewer asked her what she would say to parents and she answered that she would tell them to cherish the time you have with your children, even if you are tripping over their bikes or cleaning up after them, etc. I thought to myself, "Or even if they are wearing a harness." Seeing her changed my attitude. I still feel a little bit of loss and some apprehension about what we will now go through, but Alexis is alive and every bit of time I have with her is precious, no matter what.

So where are we at? In the next ten days we will be given an appointment at Scottish Rite Hospital and then we will see how to treat Alexis. If she still has the hip dysplasia (I'm praying God heals her completely right now if it's His will!) then she will probably have to wear a harness. It can't be taken off once on, so we will have to learn to sponge bath her without getting it wet, how to change diapers without disturbing her hips and see if we can keep using our infant car seat or if we need to get a special one to fit her. My prayer is that the harness would take care of her hip problems, because if not, the next step would be a cast from her middle to her feet and that's even more challenging to deal with and I would struggle to see her go through that.

P.S. If you're interested at all about hip dysplasia this website is very informative: Hip Baby.