Our Little Hipster and Her Pink Lederhosen

At Harper's three-day-old appointment, the pediatrician noticed Harper's left hip was dislocating when she pushed on it.  We were immediately referred to an orthopedic specialist at Seattle Children's for a closer look.  The orthopedic doctor did a thorough exam of Harper and decided to put her in a brace right away. 

I was prepared (or at least I thought) and hoped that they would put Harper in a brace rather than "waiting a bit to see what happens..." My sister, Brooke, had the same problem in both her hips, but it wasn't caught until she was 3 months old.  By that time one hip was loose and the other hip socket had failed to form.  She was lucky to not have surgery, but she was in a brace for a long time.  Brooke is now a marathon runner, so she tells me that since Harper has her hips, she will be a great runner as well.

The part I was not prepared for was when they fitted her to the brace and the doctor turned to me and said, "It looks great, so remember that it doesn't come off for a week."  If you're looking at the picture below, can you imagine all the questions racing through my mind?  How do I change her nightgown?  Can I change her diaper? Why are her toes so blue?  After fumbling over my words for a minute (I didn't know how to ask without feeling stupid or making the doctor sound crazy), I finally stated, "so she'll be wearing this pink gown for a week then?"  

And yes she did.  

Now let me list some of the tender mercies the Lord sent our way that morning to make this last week in the brace successful.  First, Lauren picked out the nightgown that morning.  I think she was inspired.  It kept Harper warm, kept the brace off her delicate skin, and still allowed access for diaper changing.  I couldn't have planned better if I had known what was going to happen.  Second, I purchased a cute pair of Baby Legs at the hospital gift shop right before the brace fitting.  Socks would have been enough to protect her legs from the brace, but remember those blue toes I mentioned?  The brace was originally put on too tight and I wouldn't have known if I couldn't see those toes.

I eventually put socks over her feet because all that velcro sticks to just about everything....blankets, my sweater, the couch, etc.  I got tired of pulling her feet apart (plus she would just get mad when she couldn't get them apart on her own).  Here is a great pic of her in "frog" position:

Well, yesterday I took Harper back for a check up.  It started with an ultrasound of both hips.  It only took about ten minutes, and Harper only cried for about 2 minutes of it.  I thought she did amazing.  And then she totally zonked out while waiting for the doctor...

The doctor was very pleased and said her left hip was correctly in the socket. They let me undress Harper, give her a sponge bath, put clean clothes on, and try to get the brace on all by myself.   I used my phone to snap a few pictures of Harper brace-free (she will be in the brace for at least another 6 weeks, so there won't be many brace-free pictures for a while).

After spending a week thinking about it, I decided to put a onsie on under the brace this week and then over-sized clothes will fit OVER the brace.  We'll see how it works this week.  I did a suitable job on the brace, but the doctor gave me some pointers and then let me take this picture as my "visual reference." 

 I have permission to take the brace off if necessary this week, but it's a lot of work and I love how snuggly Harper feels with her legs curled up.  The brace will probably only come off if absolutely necessary (keep your fingers crossed for no blow-outs!)

Another tender mercy that came from all this was that the orthopedic doctor also noticed that Harper has torticollis.  I suspected such since Ella had a much more pronounced case of it when she was born.  But we are now scheduled to see a physical therapist for that as well.  I am grateful for the attentive doctors that caught these issues so quickly!