Developmental Displasia of the Hip and the Hip Baby

When Ol' Dirty Baby was minutes old, a peditrician told me that he felt a click in his left hip. After 22 hours of labor, I could not process this information. The next day a second pediatric hospitalist confirmed that there was in fact a 'click' and told us Ol' Dirty had developmental hip displasia.  What this meant for ODB was his hip socket bared a closer resemblance to a spatula than the more anatomically correct ladle and the tiny head of his femur could slip in and out of the socket with the slightest of movement.

When caught early, as in ODB's case, hip displasia can often be treated without surgery. At 5 days old, the good doctors at Shriner's put Ol' Dirty in a Pavlik Harness to be worn 24/7. The harness held his legs in a position that optimizes the growth of his hip socket around head of his femur. We visited Shriner's weekly or biweekly to ultrasound Ol' Dirty's hips. It was amazing to watch the shape of his hip change.

My husband KH and I mastered changing diapers, hand-bathing and dressing ODB around the harness for the first 11 weeks of his life.  Though, as you could imagine, not being able to wear pants during New England February and March was not ideal. Sleep sacks and long socks were his daily uniform. There was only one very low moment that involved a diaper blowout at 3 am and trying to clean poo off of ODB and the harness.  There were tears involved for all parties.

ODB's hip abduction brace

At 11 weeks, we switched to a hip abduction brace. The brace could come off for diaper changes and baths. ODB got his first real bath at 2.5 months!  After a month of 24/7 in the hip abduction brace, he got a few hours of brace-free time each day. Yahoo!! Of course, taking a brace on and off to change a diaper was challenging and now that it was finally warm and humid here, ODB was restricted to wearing pants to protect his legs from the plastic and metal brace. One item that I made fun of prior to Ol' Dirty's arrival turned out to be a savior.  Baby leg warmers were perfect for quick diaper changes, while still protecting his legs from the plastic brace. With an off-the-shoulder onesie, ODB would be perfect for the infant version of Flashdance or Fame.

With the hip abduction brace, ODB fit in very few things designed for babies his age. The infant car carrier was traded for the convertible car seat with the widest seat we could find. With aggressive side impact standards, this was no easy feat!  Our baby swing was a tight squeeze and only worked after KH attacked the snack tray with some tools. Thank heavens for the Baby Bjorn which allowed me to carry ODB to places  (church, stores, and even work) where I needed both hands but the jogging stroller he fit in was too wide to travel.  There was only one seat at daycare that Ol' Dirty could fit in. We were testing the limits of these items as Ol' Dirty and his abduction brace got bigger. Until today....

At 4.5 months, ODB now only has to wear his brace for nap time and bed time. Hooray! More importantly, his hip looks great! Most of the diaper changes for the day will only involve a few onesie snaps, instead of wresting velcro and  plastic leg cuffs. I can hold him without the front metal bar of the brace poking my ribs.  Ol' Dirty can have plenty of tummy time to master rolling over.  This is a happy, happy day in our household.