The Infamous Hips...

Well, today was the day: a visit with Dr.Bruce, Ella's orthopedic doctor/surgeon. Since she got her cast off last October, we've been making the trip to his office every three months. The same routine happened today just like the previous visits; an x-ray, a visit with the doctor, and a fitting for her brace that she wears at night. Dr. Bruce (I love him by the way if you ever need an orthopedic doctor) says that Ella is doing just fine and that her hips look good. "The right hip looks great, the left hip looks good." were his exact words. Without giving my opinion, I'll let you interpret that how you wish. Basically he just said they both are fine and she's progressing as planned, but her right hip is the stronger of the two hips. Below are the x-rays. I tried to do some fancy circling of the hip sockets, but I couldn't get that to upload on my blog. So, click on the picture and check out the right and left hip bones (they look like little circles, sort of). If you notice, you can tell that the right hip is much larger and much more round than the left. He pointed this out at our last visit, but this time he said the left hip has made a lot of progress since the last appointment and x-ray.

I also asked about her walking and he just smiled and gave me this reassuring comment: "Ella is going to walk either tomorrow or next week and you'll be wondering why you ever worried about it." So, I decided not to worry about it. He did, however, stress the importance of her continued nighttime wearing of that wretched brace. He wants to see her back in four months so we can keep an eye on that left hip.

Speaking of that brace, he prescribed her another one today. She was in the Pavlik Harness prior to the cast and then again after the cast. Today Ella received a hip abduction brace. This brace, unlike the Pavlik, is much more rigid, and almost cast-like. Can I just say without sounding bratty or ungrateful...I HATE it already! I know she'll be used to it in no time but for now she doesn't like it. It's not quite as cumbersome to put on, but I had the hang of the other one anyway. But, Dr. Bruce says this is what's best and I want to follow the rules and move this process along ASAP! I've included some pictures of Ella in her new brace, but you can see the differences in the two braces with a pretty good explanation by following this link: http://childrensspecialists.com/body.cfm?id=512

Thank you, Jesus it's only for nighttime wear. I am ever grateful for the promising news of Ella's progress and most importantly her future. And I want to remember that each night as I lay that sweet baby to bed. I'm so blessed to have her in my life, brace or no brace...that's not what matters anyway!