The Diagnosis
At Paisley's 2 week check up Dr. Ring mentioned that she felt a
click in Paisley's hips. She scheduled Paisley for an ultrasound at 5 weeks old as a precautionary measure. Dr. Ring said that we shouldn't worry and she didn't expect to find anything at the ultrasound and that it was routine to do an ultrasound when they hear
clicking in the hips. I didn't think anything of it and spent less than 10 minutes googling clicking of the hips in newborns.
Three weeks later, I took Paisley to the ultrasound on Tuesday, 10/26. The radiologist came in to go over the results and told me that Paisley had hip dysplasia. I lost it right there and started crying. I tried really hard to listen to what the radiologist was telling me but my mind was running a million miles a minute. He told me that Dr. Ring would be calling to refer us to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon to have Paisley put in a harness. I remembered what the harness looked like from the few minutes I spent googling it and my heart sank.
I cried all day Tuesday. I was a wreck. I was so scared and worried about my little girl. I felt like I had done something wrong to cause this. I was worried about her being
different and being judged. I had fear of the unknown. I was sad that due to the harness, she wouldn't be able to wear all of her cute clothes. Between tears I spent the day on the internet doing further research.
We had a follow up appointment with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Holmes, on Thursday, 10/28. The nurse was great and spent some time talking to us about hip dysplasia and answering any questions we had. It's amazing what you can learn from the internet - we basically already knew everything that the nurse told us.
The Game Plan
The good news is that Paisley's hip dysplasia is very mild. She will be wearing a Pavlik Harness 23/7 for five weeks. Luckily, we get to take it off for one hour a day and still give Paisley normal baths. At five weeks, we will go in for another ultrasound. If Paisley's hips are back in line, we will start to wean her from the harness and she will wear it at night for four weeks. We will do another ultrasound at that time and if her hips are still in line, we will be done with the harness. We will have follow up appointments at 6 months and 1 year to be sure her hips have stayed in line. Dr. Holmes is confident that four weeks of the harness should be sufficient.
After meeting with Dr. Holmes and hearing the game plan, I feel so much better. Dr. Holmes put the Pavlik Harness on Paisley and she didn't even react to it. However, when I got home with her a few hours later, she had a crying fit for 15 minutes. I tried everything to soothe but nothing worked. Paisley never really cries so it was tough. I took the harness of and she was fine. We put it back on a couple hours later and she's been fine since.
The doctor is still surprised that Paisley has hip dysplasia. There are common factors that put babies at risk for hip dysplasia, being:
- breech in utero
- family history of hip dysplasia
- first born
- female
Obviously, the only one that Paisley fits is that she's female. We don't know what caused the hip dysplasia, just that we need to get through the next few months and be strong. I still have fear in the back of my mind that things will not go as planned. The good news is that if hip dysplasia is caught and treated within the first 6 months of life, there is a 90% cure rate from the Pavlik Harness. However, if the harness does not work, it would involve surgeries and body casts. I pray that the harness works and that we have great news at the follow up ultrasound in five weeks.
Here is a cute picture of Paisley in the Pavlik Harness. She's basically covered in Velcro from head to toe. But, we have to remember that Paisley is not in any pain whatsoever from the dysplasia or the harness. It's much harder on Ivan and I (well, me) to see her in the harness than it is for Paisley. The tough part is that she can't wear pants at all. I will be purchasing her a bunch of dresses and leg warmers so the baby actually has some clothes to wear and keep her warm.
Emery dressed up in Makayla's boots, hat and gloves trying to be a big girl gangsta
Sweet Paisley enjoying some harness-free time .. it started like this
and quickly went to ..
Makayla and Paisley
We headed up to Heber Valley the night before Thanksgiving to do the Polar Express Train Ride. We had never been before but thought it would be a fun outing. It was quite cold (it was the day after the huge BLIZZARD here in Utah where most businesses closed early for the safety of their employees). While we were in Heber it got as cold as -6. We bundled up and ended up being fine with the cold. We stopped to eat at a BBQ place right by the train station and had a great dinner.
I had to bribe Emery with a huge gumball to get a picture of her. 
The whole gang waiting to board the train .. 
This guy was standing next to the train as the customers were getting on. As soon as Emery saw him she said, "Papa, is that the Muffin Man?" Too funny! Ivan has a CD in his car of kids songs and her favorite song is the Muffin Man.
Emery and Makayla visiting with Santa. He stopped and talked to the kids for a few minutes and then gave them each at top.
Thanksgiving day started with much anticipated playing in the snow. This was the first time this year Emery had played in the snow. Makayla was patiently waiting since the day she got here to get to play in the snow as well. First off ... snow angels
Then eating some snow ..
And making snowballs to throw to Carter
Later that day, we hosted Thanksgiving here at our house. We had a small guest list but it ended up being great food and great company. 
After dinner we made a Gingerbread House
Emery wanted a piece of candy and thought she had to get it with no hands ...
The day after Thanksgiving the girls and I went to the movies to see Tangled. We saw it in 3D and Makayla brought the glasses home. We all really enjoyed the movie and Paisley slept through most of it. 
