Monday, January 24, 2011

Our little secret

My baby has hip dysplasia, aka Developmental Dysplasia of the hip (DDH). When he was born, they heard a "hip click". I didn't think anything of it. When we went to our regular pediatrician, he also heard it and gave us a referral to a pediatric orthopedic. Turns out, his hips were dislocated, not really sure what caused it, but it might have been because of my low amniotic fluid during pregnancy.

We didn't want to mention it online or to some of our family members so they wouldn't worry, we were pretty positive it would all be over soon and everything would go back to normal, no need to have everyone stressed out about it.

(Dec 25, 10)

They put him in a pavlik harness for 6 long weeks when he was 2 weeks old. He had to have it on 24/7, which meant limited baths and difficult diaper changes. It was extremely stressful at times. He couldn't wear a lot of the cute clothes that were given to him. And it was hard not talking about it on facebook or twitter.

We had weekly ultrasound and orthopedic appointments to check his progress. About 3 weeks ago, the orthopedic said the hips were improving and to not come back until 2 weeks. I was so excited that for our next appointment, everything would be fine and that he would come off his harness. Well, bad news, no improvement.

The next step was getting him in a spica cast. The whole procedure is called a "closed reduction hip surgery", no actual incision is done, the doctor just manually puts the hip back in place under radiographic control, all done under anesthesia. At least he had a week without the harness or cast.

(Jan 12, bath day since his harness got super dirty I had to wash it)

I was not prepared for this. Why was this happening to us, my poor baby didn't deserve this. Life with a baby is pretty challenging as it is and now all of this? I was so upset! We couldn't keep this a secret anymore, I needed everyones support and I needed to be able to vent online.

The good news is that before we even knew he needed the cast, we had already bought my mom a ticket to come help us out (no, we are still not used to this new baby business). My mom got here this past Wednesday and the baby was scheduled for his "surgery" Friday early morning (Jan 21).

(Enjoying his harness free days by trying out his bumbo for the first time. Jan 16)

Since he had to be put to sleep, he couldn't eat anything past midnight. It was heartbreaking to see him cry and not be able to feed my poor baby. he also spent a night at the hospital for observation. My mom and I were with him. It was hard seeing my little guy with an IV, in a cast (it goes from his chest all the way to his ankles) and of course all the other cables and monitors, back to hearing beeps like when he was in the NICU.

He will be in the cast for 8 weeks. I hope it goes by fast and that this is the last step in fixing this problem. I can't wait for him to have a normal life. There might be another type of harness or brace he has to wear after the cast comes off, we are not sure yet.

Right now, he is doing ok. He has been spitting up and crying a bit more than the usual. So far, diaper changes haven't been as difficult as I thought they would be. He wears a newborn diaper that has to be tucked into the cast, then a bigger one on top of it. He has a pediatrician appointment this week, so we'll see how he's doing.


(This morning, 10 weeks old)

9 comments:

Lora said...

Nancy,
I'm sorry you're having to go through all of this. I can't imagine what you're going through but I know it's hard sometimes to ask for help during a difficult situation. Andrew is such a handsome little dude and my thoughts & prayers are with you & your family!

Christina said...

Poor little guy! I am also sorry that you have to go through this. :(

Our son was born with hypospadia(malformation of part of his wee-wee :P) so he had to have surgery and go under anesthesia at 8 months old. I can understand some of what you are going through, but of course not all of it since they are two different issues. :(

I pray your son's recovery in the cast is super smooth!!

Rachel Elizabeth said...

Poor baby. I hope these weeks pass quickly.

Hip-Baby Mama said...

Hi Nancy,
Reading your post is a reminder of everything we went through. I felt cheated out of a healthy baby that got to wear normal clothes and not drag their velcro'd harness-feet through poop on a daily basis. (Seriously, why are the Pavliks white??) Hopefully 8 weeks in the cast will do the trick.
Don't ever feel guilty for being angry and upset. And it's ok to want to smack somebody who tells you, "he'll never remember this." :)
Feel free to email me any time. I had a hard time finding other parents' stories that weren't in a big Yahoo group.

Laura Bolter said...

Almost 23 years ago my daughter was born with congenital hip dysplasia and wore a Pavlik harness for what seemed like forever. She didn't have to wear a cast, but I feel your pain. Congratulations on your new little baby boy and know that people are sending good thoughts your way.

Anonymous said...

prima,q deseos tenemos de estar en la misma ciudad y de cerca poder ayudarte en esta etapa con tu chaparrito...pero a diario estan en nuestras oraciones...Dios t de fuerzas y mucho amor y al Andrew su pronta salud!! Los queremos!Vale.

Anonymous said...

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Mrs. Ca said...

So sorry your little guy has to go through this. My oldest also had hip dysplasia at birth and we went through 16 weeks in the harness. It's do hard, especially because this is not what you imagined for your new, perfect little bundle of joy, I'm sure. Thankfully this is something they're able to catch and treat early, and even more thankfully he won't remember this part. Heck, we even forget what we went through most of the time; it seems like it takes forever at the time, but in the scheme of things, it passes quickly.

Best wishes for you guys. If you ever need a listening ear, you're welcome to email me. I know how lonely this can feel.

Nancy said...

Thank you so much everyone, I wish I had the time to personally email you, especially the ones that have gone through something similar. One day at a time I guess