"Hip" Chick: 10 Months

On the tenth day of spica, my true love gave to me:

Ten months' remembering...

While today is not the exact date of the 10 month mark for her journey, it has been 10 months since the onset of her first treatment for DDH. Ten months and, after two rounds of surgery, we are about to learn whether she is any nearer to a solution than she was then. I wish I could say the anxiety has lessened with each passing milestone in her plan- but it just doesn't wane with time. Regardless of what the memories contain, today is an ode to the steps which have carried her along her journey to date.

For February, she had the onset of traction. The photo at top was the last one taken of her before we taped her legs; it was snapped in the admissions atrium just minutes prior to her appointment. The photo above was of her immediately after her taping, during the first minutes of her lost mobility.

For March, she received her Minnie Mouse themed "Hip Chick" wagon linens, which enabled countless outings during traction and her first two casts. She also had her first surgery.

For April, she received her IvyRose spica chair and returned to childcare.

In May, she had her first cast change. Goodbye pink... hello purple! We also took her on a short road trip for a fish fry.

In June, she army crawled through a high school during her big sister's dance recital and had her first overnight stay away from home in a spica, as we spent Father's Day weekend at Bubbie's.

In July, she had her second cast change, which placed her into a petrie cast. After a week in the new cast, her hip partially dislocated, the cast was removed emergently, and replaced by a Rhino Brace. After two weeks with night terrors in the Rhino, her hip was fully dislocated and the second surgery scheduled.