Orthopedic Update

Well, it turns out Lia needs a brace, just to be on the safe side.  "Hip Dysplasia" is the general term for this sort of situation, and of course it tends to be more common in 1) girls, 2) first-born babies, and 3) breech-born babies.  (It seems the deck was stacked against us...)

Lia's hip joints are just a bit shallow at this point, so the brace will hold the ball-and-socket in a position that will encourage growth to make her hips more stable.  If left untreated, she may be just fine, or she may have other issues down the road like a limp, pain, osteoarthritis, differences in leg length, or other structural issues.  Needless to say, we are more than okay with using a brace to help prevent such issues.  At this point, she's only slightly shy of "good" - her hips don't actually dislocate, but they do move more than they should in a bad direction.  (Apparently the issue is so slight that there are no outwardly discernible symptoms or pain, but the ultrasound pictures are where the doctor is seeing the potential issue.)  We are hoping to only need the brace for 3 to 5 weeks as her bones and ligaments continue to grow.

Lia's next checkup with the specialist is in three weeks.  I'm really hoping that the brace gets to go at that point so she can still get some good use out of her 0 to 3 month sleep and plays (which aren't exactly going to fit her at the moment.)  The brace has to stay on at all times except bath time.  She doesn't seem to mind it too much except for when she's working on her diaper and now can't squirm as much as she used to.  Poor thing...  life sure can be rough.  :-)

Here's Lia in just the brace:

And here we are enjoying life despite the brace.  Yummy formula!

Playtime or naptime?  She can't decide...