Good news and bad news with the babies

[vonkaar]

My 4 month old just had her 'wellness' check up and it looked like everything was going well. She's at the 92% in both height and weight and all signs were great. But then she did some tests on her hips and the Doc noticed something she didn't like. Apparently she has a 'hip click' which was pretty substantial. This usually means that she has hip displasia which is corrected with this crazy Forrest Gump brace called a Pavlic Harness. picture : http://www.pavlikharness.com/images/pav ... ness-2.jpg So that's a little scary... We have to go meet with an orthopedic surgeon next week to have an ultrasound. Do any of you have any experience with infant hip displasia? I'm really not sure what to expect here. I just got off the phone with my wife and I happened to be on NT so I figured I'd ask you guys.

The good news was that apparently my older kid is a genius. She was sitting in the doctors office reading some book while the baby got checked out. My wife and the doc were sort of ignoring her so that they could do the baby check up but I guess the Doctor was blown away at her grasp of reading. My daughter was just flipping through the book saying stuff like, "EH, apple... Dee, donkey... AICH, happy... Teeeee, tattoo!" And the dr stopped to listen.

She went through the entire alphabet with her and correctly answered all of the questions... what does "Ball" start with? What else starts with B? Bee, baby, boy, etc. Apparently they spent a good 10 minutes doing this and the doctor was just completely floored. My baby just turned 2 years old only two weeks ago so this was pretty good. We haven't really done anything specific with her to get her to do so well, she just loves her alphabet blocks, books and puzzles. It was all self-taught, I guess. Anyway, the doc said that her 3-year old is considered "very advanced" at her private school class and she doesn't know the alphabet nearly as well as our 2-year old. She said that everyone will try and hold our kid back from starting school because that's what everyone does these days, but we should not let them... even putting her in private school (was the plan anyway) at 4.5 if necessary. I swore I wasn't going to be one of those parents that gushes about how ADVANCED their kids are (if every kid is 'advanced' where the fuck are the normal kids??) but I just thought that this was pretty cool. We really just thought that she was 'reading well' and very curious. I mean, she jumps like a retard and took forever to walk =p. Physically slow?

Anyway, that was the trip from the Dr today. Good news about the oldest daughter but scary news about my baby. Can any body give me some good news or some comfort about the bad news? "It isn't that bad..." from someone who knows would suffice.

[Zanchief]

That's pretty crazy about your 2 year old Vonk. My oldest will turn 3 in January and he's pretty good with his speaking (considering he's learning two languages), but reading? Not even close to that. I thought he was pretty smart because I taught him to count to 6.

No experience with the hip thing. Sorry.

[Narrock]

sorry to hear about the hip thing. I wish you the best with that. Cool beans on your other daughter's reading skills though.

[Maeya]

Hey Vonkaar,

Don't know much about the dysplasia, just the quick overview in nursing school and refreshing my memory on the web. The big thing to remember though is it sounds treatable If the brace doesn't work, there are other options you can try, from different types of casts to surgery. One of the pages in particular made a point I thought was good.

Often, the hardest thing to deal with emotionally is the fact that since hip dysplasia is treatable, people assume you should handle it easily and well. The truth is often far from this. Hip dysplasia may seem trivial to an outsider but it rarely is.

There's often a sense of mourning involved; mourning for the soft, perfect baby that was probably expected. Resentment towards other mothers for having those perfect babies. Hatred towards clothing manufacturers whose clothes suddenly won't fit. Disappointment. Jealousy. Despair. Frustration.

No matter if your baby is in treatment for 6 weeks or two years - your feelings are real and they matter a lot. Try to ignore people who invalidate those feelings.

It can also be really hard watching on as your baby undergoes certain treatments. Screaming, crying and lashing out are all common during examinations. The baby may seem uncomfortable in his or her harness or spica. You may feel helpless.

Hang in there. There are places and people who will help, and some will be more useful to you than others. Often the best sounding boards are those who are also going through it.

So, it will be hard for you guys, but it will get better! Working on an orthopedic floor for nursing I tend to think of hip and knee issues as no biggy because I see them get fixed all the time. I understand it's a little scarier on a baby, though. At least it wasn't a heart defect or something!

[Jay]

Surround the older genius one with books about hip dysplasia until she figures out how to cure the younger one.

All joking aside, I asked a friend of mine who is a nurse in pediatrics and she says if its caught early on its totally treatable and not a big deal.

[vonkaar]

Thanks all. My wife is definitely taking it harder than me... I'm totally positive on this but she seems to be scared shitless of all the possibilities. We don't know anything and won't for another week, so no use worrying.

[Drem]

whatever happens, just remember it's temporary. and it's for a better future etc. scariest part will only be the bills....

[Kaemon]

Has it been diagnosed as hip displasia already or is the doctor just giving a worst case scenario? My daughter had clicks too and after some tests she was found to be normal.

[brinstar]

Has it been diagnosed as hip displasia already or is the doctor just giving a worst case scenario? My daughter had clicks too and after some tests she was found to be normal.

i know this is horribly inappropriate, but you know how sometimes you see a letter combination and it looks like a different thing altogether? like when someone writes a 1 and a 3 so close together it looks more like "B" than "13" or maybe two n's look like an m?

when i first read Kaemon's post i thought it said "My daughter had dicks too and after some tests she was found to be normal."

i'm sorry lol

[Drem]

lol

[vonkaar]

At the initial diagnosis, she was clicking every single time and the doctor said that it was pretty significant. So naturally, we were freaking out and doing all sorts of unnecessary google research. When we came back for the follow-up, she was unable to hear a single click in all of the tests. So... that's great. We still need to come back in another week for another visit but if that one comes clean than it was probably a false alarm. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

[Lyion]

Good deal, Vonk. I hope everything's ok!

[Narrock]

At the initial diagnosis, she was clicking every single time and the doctor said that it was pretty significant. So naturally, we were freaking out and doing all sorts of unnecessary google research. When we came back for the follow-up, she was unable to hear a single click in all of the tests. So... that's great. We still need to come back in another week for another visit but if that one comes clean than it was probably a false alarm. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Best of luck with that Vonk. I will pray for her.

[vonkaar]

IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD, THERE IS NO GOD.

just kidding, thanks all.