So today we went to the Orthopedist for Tucker's hip displasia. They put her in a harness, which we were pretty much expecting. Her displasia is mild (basically the second level out of the four as the dr. told it to us). He said there's a 97% chance of full recovery and no problems whatsoever with this harness, so that is good.
Having said that, she has to wear this thing 24/7 for 6 weeks at least. We can't take it off for a minute this first week. Then we'll go back for a check-up where hopefully we'll discover that the harness has tightened-up the joint and they'll do an ultrasound to check that it really has corrected itself. If that's the case, then we'll still have to leave it on her for probably 5 more weeks to make sure it all stays in place, and we'll be able to remove it every other day long enough for a bath only. If it hasn't fixed itself by our next appt, then we'll have to go back in another week to check again. They'll give us three weeks' of checks and if it still hasn't tightened-up, then they'll have to take another approach to fixing it.
Again, this method is the least invasive and really not THAT bad overall, however we were just starting to figure out really good ways of getting her to sleep, calming her when she gets worked up, and getting into a routine of breastfeeding really well. Now all of that is put to scratch because we can't put her on her side at all. We can't swaddle (one of her greatest comforts). We can't swing her on her side (step number two in calming our screaming baby). And I can't put her on her side to breastfeed - which is involved in EVERY SINGLE POSITION for breastfeeding that they teach you. The dr. mentioned putting her chest to chest with myself and letting her feed that way, but, of course, I'm not tall enough to fit her that way.
So we basically feel like we're going to be starting from scratch in the parenting department. It's a little overwhelming today, but of course, we're just glad that they caught it early enough for it to be an "easy fix". And her health will be great at the end of all of this, which is what is important. We're just worried about comforting her, calming her, and feeding her between now and then.
L&S,
Les
1 comment:
I could hear your chin going up as I read your post for today. Keep it up girl, and when you get discouraged and overwhelmed, remember you have people praying for you and your family. Remember to share your parenting responsibilities with God. He's great at 'out of the box' solutions! And my shoulder is always available. ALWAYS. Day or night, even middle of night. I love you. Give Drew a hug for me - same goes for him, by the way. And give that little bit of heaven a kiss for me.
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