Londyn's Story
Londyn's Story
Before the Cast: Part 1
A Perfect Baby and a Hip Click
My daughter, Londyn Eva, was born on a calm July morning via scheduled c-section. She is my second child but my first girl and I was over-the-moon excited to see her. Thankfully my c-section went wonderfully with no complications and before I knew it I was skin-to-skin with the most perfect, beautiful baby girl. I swear she has smelled like yummy milky flowers since the day I met her.
I had two of my lovely friends visiting me when our pediatrician was doing her newborn assessment with Londyn. I remember through the haze of my pain meds that the doctor said she felt a hip click but that they are common in girls due to the maternal hormone called relaxin and should most likely disappear at her future checkups. We have since switched pediatricians, due to many factors, but one of them evidenced here- I remember her saying in a condescending manner, “Now I don’t want you to freak out because her newborn assessment wasn’t perfect. Just remind us to check her hips at her next office visits.” Okay, so my thought was, I guess nothing is really wrong with my baby. Subject forgotten and on to enjoying this little peanut.
I wouldn’t know for a few months that our journey with hip dysplasia had begun.
It's No Big Deal, But It's a Really Big Deal
At Londyn’s newborn and two month checkups, I suppose her hip clicks were overlooked. Again, we have since switched pediatricians. For her four month visit I took her to see a different doctor in the same practice, since I was not happy with the other one.
He immediately identified what he called a significant hip click, and wrote down a number for an orthopedic specialist in Milwaukee that I should promptly call. I was confused since her previous checkups had been fine. He then explained to me that Londyn has a hip click but since she’s only 4 months it’s no big deal, she’ll have to wear a special harness for 6 weeks but then she’ll be fine. And in the next breath he tells me, but it’s a really big deal because if they don’t get it treated correctly she could need a hip replacement at age 2. He told me to call ortho and get a hip ultrasound for her. I remember calling Kyle in the car on the way home and telling him about it, confused as to how I should feel about this because is it a big deal, or isn’t it?
A Hip Ultrasound and a Horrible Nurse
When you don’t have family close by, doctor’s appointments are stressful- especially ones that you are supposed to show up alone or with only one of your two kids. They told me on the phone for Londyn’s hip ultrasound that I couldn’t bring my toddler. Thankfully Kyle was able to take a long lunch break to watch him while I took Londyn.
Her hip ultrasound was uneventful, she was perfectly calm and the ultrasound tech did not say anything to me clueing me in to the condition of her hips. The fun part was when I called our (former) pediatrician’s office to inquire about her results. The kind orthopedic nurse from the children’s hospital in Milwaukee had told me to check and make sure the ultrasound showed we needed to come to our ortho appointment because it was over an hour away, and she didn’t want us to waste a trip for no reason. When I told our pediatrician’s nurse that, she laughed and said, “Yeah, you definitely want to make that trip!” and that was it. No other information. Really? As a nurse myself, it angers me so much when nurses are just plain horrible at people skills. Nurses are so often the link to a wonderful experience, the ones who calm fears and explain everything. Well, not in this case, and that was the final straw for me to switch pediatricians anyway.
