"The News"

This week has been a very trying week for us. When Kendall was born, the doctors had noticed that she had a click in her hip. With an ultra sound completed, she has been diagnosed with Congenital Dislocation of the Hip known as CDH or also known as DDH. This condition is a developmental (ongoing) process, variable in manifestation and not always detectable at birth. DDH involves a dysplasia, or abnormal formation of the hip joint occurring between fetal life and maturity as a result of instability. It has been estimated that only 1 in 100 newborn infants have clinically unstable hips (subluxatable - the ball of the hip is able to be moved around loosely in the hip joint joint - or dislocatable - the ball of the hip is able to be actually slid in and out of joint with a "clunk" that can be felt), whereas only one in 800 to 1,000 of newborn infants eventually experience a true dislocation whereby the ball of the hip lies outside the socket.There is a 9:1 female predominance; apparently the baby's own female hormones must aggravate the abnormal looseness of the hip ligaments. Of children with DDH, approximately 60% are firstborn.

30-50% develop in the breech position; 2% to 3% of all babies are breech presentations, but about 20% of DDH patients are born breech.
The breech position tends to force the ball of the hip out of the socket, predisposing to dislocation after birth. Highest risk is the frank breech position with the hips flexed and the knees extended - basically feet up by the shoulders. This is the way Kendall was in the uterus.

If an abnormal hip remains untreated, the child will develop the long-term complications, including:

osteoarthritis
pain
abnormal gait
unequal leg length
decreased agility

To say the least, in order for us to correct this, Kendall is in a pavlik Harness that she will wear 24/7 for a month straight. The specialist is very optimistic that this will work. I am just so thankful that we have found this issue so early on and are on top of it to correct it. The harness does not hurt Kendall nor does she notice it to much. It just makes feedings, bum changes and cuddle time a little more difficult, but we are learning to adjust. For the next month we are going to work hard on healing properly. I just thank God every day that he has given us a very happy and content baby or this could be one of the worst experiences.