hip dysplasia

(Remember what I was saying before about "no news is good news"?) 

Well, the neonatologist called us yesterday to tell us that they did an hip ultrasound on Sophie and discovered that she has a mild case of displaysia in her left hip. Basically, the "ball" end of her femur isn't fully formed and can slip out of the hip "socket". To correct this, Sophie will have to wear a brace for a while, probably 4-6 weeks, but we'll have to hear from the orthopedist to confirm the timeframe.

The upside is that they caught it early and with treatment it should be totally curable.  This is the reason they do the ultrasounds.  Apparently, this is more common among girls that are born breech with around a 10% rate of occurrence.  The way the legs were situated in the womb affects the formation of the bone.  The brace fixes it by holding the legs in a position that stimulates the development of that area as she is growing.

I'm sure that this will be harder on us than it actually will be on Sophie.  She will probably get used to it very quickly and not even notice it.  The doctors and nurses tell us that it's amazing what babies can get used to and how little time it takes for them to adapt.  I'm also glad they found this now because I'd rather have her wear the brace while she's here vs when we get to take her home (although she might still be in it by then).  The other good thing (about all of this really, not just the hip thing) is that she won't remember any of it.

Once again I have to say what a fantastic hospital Cook's Children's is.  I truly believe Sophie is receiving the best medical care available.  I was telling Lauren today that this is the hospital that handles the special, difficult, and rare pediatric cases for all of North Texas and some of Oklahoma.  It's a common question for the staff to ask us where we are from, since there are so many patients here from out of town.  We have met parents of children from Waco, Tyler, Temple, Abilene, etc. and seen many babies that need a lot of help.  It gives us a little bit of perspective on our issues.