Freedom has never tasted so sour..

It's been 14 months since I last posted. Not much has happened. Pip has been in the rhino brace for naps and bed since the last time I updated. She started walking in May around her brother's 4th birthday which we celebrated in Disney. In October this year we went on a cruise for Halloween. Both kids were Captain America and American Dream. I quit my job at the daycare and started cleaning at night for the same amount of money and less hours and I get to stay home with my kids in the daytime.

We always knew she'd need another surgery.. just not so soon.. Today I took Pip to her follow up since she turned two in November. She did great. She walked into the room by herself and let the nurse measure her and weigh her and take her temperature without even batting an eye. Then she walked to the room by herself and let me put a gown on her. Then it was time for the xray, she walked to the xray room by herself and it took a little coaxing to get her on the table but she did wonderful. The xray tech held her legs in position. And I knew something was up when they came back for more.

Back to waiting for the Dr. When he finally came in he had us walk down the back hall and then he examined her legs. He kept saying "hm.." .. well, apparently her left leg - the one that was dislocated - is longer than the other one which is odd with ddh. But also that the socket is still way too shallow.. So, that means one thing..

Drum roll please...

Another surgery. He said this one, he will make an incision on the outside of her thigh and cut her femur to get it into the socket better to hopefully form it. This time the cast should only be on 4-6 weeks but I'm not holding my breath. I'm just ready for this to be done. I'm ready for no more surgeries, no more casts. No more worrying when she's sedated and on the operating table. No more seeing my baby in pain after. But I guess we gotta go through all this to have those healthy hips.

Her MRI will be scheduled asap and then surgery will be soon after. I think it's going to be harder this go because she's losing her mobility. And she can comprehend more. Hopefully it'll go quickly, kinda like last time.

Oh and her rhino brace is kicked to the curb. For 14 months now and it isn't helping at all. Dr said it was up to us and I would like to let my baby sleep comfortably while she can.

Freedom

Last Wednesday the husband, Pip and I made the 45 minute journey to Pensacola for a 4 week cast appointment.  We went to the cast room to wait for our xray. After the xray we waited for the Dr to come in to say 'looks great, see you in x weeks!'

We didn't expect what had happened next... he came in and said "Everything looks great! How about we take the cast off today?" My world went into slow motion. I said get outta here and he started to get up so I started screaming "no!" We all laughed.

He said he wanted to see what the xray showed when manipulating her legs. I asked what would happen after the xray. He said a brace, nothing our another cast. I froze. I told him if they wanted to put another cast on to not take this one off!

I, of course, started crying. Happy tears, mixed with some fear and some sadness if she had to go back into a cast. I held her arms up so the cast tech could cut off the cast. Lainee hates being held down. She screamed majority of the removal.

Then.. I didn't know how to diaper our pick up my child. Haha. I was scared. Scared of pushing her hip back out of place. I had gotten so used to picking her up by supporting the cast, that lifting het up under her armpits didn't seen feasible. I got her up and supported her left leg so it didn't flop around. Which was prefect.

After almost 4 months (the next day would have been it) of not seeing my baby girl's legs, I was beside myself! She had no sores just dry skin. I was relieved! We cuddled waiting for the second xray. It was so nice to hold her close again.

After the second xray and much of Lainee's screaming because she didn't want to be put down.. We left with a prescription for the brace and another appointment in 3 weeks.

Over to the brace we went, just to find it closed. I was crushed. A guy came up that worked there and said the one that fits the fitting wouldn't be back until 230-3. And I had to be back to town and at work at 330. So after calling my boss, and getting lunch. We went back to the brace place. We got a size small rhino brace. It was hard to put on the first couple of changes but now, almost a week later I'm good to go! Changing her is still a learning process since I'm so used to lifting legs to change diapers. Changing a poopy diaper is the most frustrating part. I can't exactly roll her easily now and I can't lift from the small of her back/butt area lol. Right now the brace can come off for diapering and baths. No allotted time, just long enough to change her or bathe her.

She tries to roll over when the brace is off. It's just her left leg isn't moving much yet. Now it's a while different set of worries.