A Saturday Night Update

And to tell you how my brain is functioning I originally wrote Saturnight; after all, the day has passed!

I did honestly want to write you and update now that 5 and a half whole days are up to let you know how we are doing, but I am very tired, and my pillow is calling me, so instead I am going to share with you an email update I shared with other friends today, changing the names of course!

We go see the specialist again on Monday, and we have a list of questions for him!

So far things are going better than expected, and we are slowly figuring things out, finding things that work, finding clothes that fit (including socks which were an unanticipated challenge), and generally learning how to do everything all over again. We have found a new way to swaddle Baby – very important seeing as pants of any kind, including sleepers are completely out. We are finding new ways to hold her, to rock her, to comfort her and to nurse her. Things we had taken for granted were suddenly very perplexing and difficult, but we are slowly figuring them out.

Miss Pear has been a trooper through all of this. She is very concerned about Baby, and wants to do what she can to help jer, which usually includes showing her toys, gently rubbing the back of her head, and talking to her. She talks about Baby’s sandals and seems quite happy that they both wear sandals as she is at the point where she loves similarities (When Baby is dressed you can only see the straps coming out of her onesie, and down under her foot and the two straps that go around her leg at the ankle and just below the knee, so if it straps around the foot and ankle it must be sandals). (And yes, Miss Pear is wearing sandals in December - afterall, we are in Southern CA).

Baby is settling back down in her night time sleeping again (the first night she was up every 2 hours), but napping is still very hard for her. She has figured out how to kick her good leg more, so that is one thing returning to normal for her, and she seems to be adjusted to the whole thing from a movement standpoint.

It has been a long and exhausting week with lots to learn, but God has been so good to us in so many ways to encourage us, strengthen us, and provide wisdom and ideas at just the right time.

I am not sure what will happen at Monday’s appointment, except that the doctor will examine Baby, make any necessary adjustments to the harness, and hopefully have answers to all our questions. It will probably be about a month before we know if the harness is working. In cases like Baby’s there is an 80-90% chance the harness will work, and we are praying fervently that it would for Baby.

And to another friend I added:

It is weird that things that we just took for granted are now so hard. Baby and I will not be in church tomorrow because to be really honest, I have a hard time nursing her at home, in my comfy chair, with our pillow, so I cannot imagine somewhere else, with no pillow, and having to cover up! And even holding her is sometimes hard as she wants to get into her old happy spot and simply cannot with the harness.

And of all things, what is persisting to be an issue is burping. I don’t know if it is the new nursing positions or just her knees being pulled up, but Baby is having a hard time burping and needs to more than before (unless she was just able to do it better by herself before and we never noticed), and right where we would tap her back to help her is where the harness criss crosses on her back.

But you know what? Honestly?? It is not that bad. It was horrible at first to see my baby all wrapped up in these straps and Velcro, to change her diaper by threading the tabs between her body and 2 straps on each side of her. To realize that the hang nails and sores on my one thumb are not from dry skin, they are from rubbing on the Velcro changing diapers. To pack a way 3-6 month clothes that will be given away that Baby did not even wear or only wore once or twice. To realize that Baby will be in a harness longer than she has been alive. Through all the things that were hard, that hurt, that made me cry and even feel sorry for myself, I can honestly say it could have been worse.

How could it have been worse?

• If we did not have the Lord, and His help, love, comfort, wisdom, strength and encouragement it would have been worse.
• If my husband and I were not blessed with a loving spouse who was determined to do our best, and supporting each other and giving lots of hugs, it would have been worse.
  
• If we did not have family and friends praying for us, it would would have been worse.
• If Baby were our first daughter we would have had no clothes on hand in the sizes we need and would have been running all over trying desperately to find clothing that fit and maybe worked instead of just washing what we had, it would have been worse.

But you know what would have been really, really bad?

What would have been horrible is if we were not doing this.

If we were not doing this that would mean that they did not catch it. This does not go away. The degree of Baby's hip dysplasia means that she would have never just outgrown it. If this were not caught, and it was not noticed until she was 9 or 10 years old, it likely would have meant surgery.

So while we are not having a whole lot of fun, we are deeply grateful because by doing all this now Baby will never remember it, and it will help give her a long healthy life.