...2 Week Mark...

Wow, the days just seem to be flying by!  We are already thinking about OR dates for Lauren's cast change!  I can't believe we hit the two week mark already!  It truly is amazing to see how quickly Lauren was able to adapt to being in that very restrictive body cast!

Over the past week we have kept Lauren so busy and that really seems to be the key to success!  A tired baby sleeps awesome! :)

Even with the downpour of rain on Monday, Lauren, Auntie, Grandma and cousin Logan ventured off to the Science Center for a fun day outing.  Apparently Lauren had such a blast checking out all of the cool stuff there!  I heard that it was a little crazy at times for Auntie and Grandma, but it sounds like a good time was had by all.  Lauren came home excited to see Daddy, but even more excited to see her crib and enjoy a 2 1/2hr nap! :)

My stomach had been in knots just thinking about Tuesday Sept. 27th.  This was the day that Brayden was to be checked for CDH or DDH, as it can be hereditary, and Lauren required her two week post op follow up appointment with the surgeon.  It was back to back appointments for us at Children's, first Brayden's ultrasound, then Lauren's x-ray, followed by a consult with our Dr to review both scans.

Brayden and I sat in the waiting room of Radiology waiting for our name to be called while Lauren played in the main playroom area of the hospital with Daddy and Grandma.  The white walls of Radiology, as well as the rest of the hospital, are all to familiar to our family having been through everything with Nevan.  About 20mins later we were called into a dark room where I was asked to unclothe and hold Brayden's legs while the scan was done.  The ultrasound tech then left and we waiting for the radiologist to come and do a stress test and further scans on his little hips.  My little man was far more calm that I during the whole appointment, he just enjoyed looking around the room and sucking away on his soother, I on the other hand was trying to be calm and patient; however that wasn't working too well for me.  I must have driven the ladies crazy because after each side was done I was asking "is it normal looking?  Is everything ok?"  They were so kind and understanding and after the appointment was complete we got a the best comment from the radiologist "those are some great looking hips!".  Ok, I could breathe, Brayden was good!

We then rushed over to the old building where the Ortho Clinic is to have Lauren's hips x-rayed.  I have to say that because she is casted it makes it pretty easy from a positioning standpoint; however not from an emotional standpoint.  Lauren and I walked into the x-ray room and it wasn't even two seconds before she was pointing to the door and crying out.  I laid her little shaking body down on the x-ray table and a minute later we were done!  Lauren settled and gladly said "bye bye" to the ladies in the x-ray room!

As we waited for our Dr to review the kids scans with us I walked the halls with Lauren, trying to keep her calm and her little mind stimulated.  I was stopped halfway down the hall by another Mom who asked me about Lauren's cast.  She introduced herself as a Mom of a 7 year old daughter with bilateral DDH/CDH, meaning that both hips were once out and had been since birth!  I was in shock, it wasn't caught on this little girl until she was 2 days away from turning 7.  Garry and I were in awe of what the family had been through.  After a diagnosis at Children's hospital, the family flew to Sick Kids for a second opinion and ended up with a far better success rate in Ontario, so they moved the family there for approximately 7 months to have each hip reduced separately in an "Open Reduction".  Typically after age 5-6 Dr's won't operate on Children that have gone undiagnosed.  Further to that, if one of this little girls hips had taken and the other one hadn't, they would have had to do another operation to dislocate the working hip as there is only 1 chance at getting it working correctly!  Wow, this little girl was now running and jumping and back to enjoying 7 year old life -so awesome!  It was so nice to speak with another Mom and hear about her journey and a tough journey at that!  While us parents were talking I looked over to check on Lauren who was sitting on my Mom's lap and that same little girl had started reading a book to Lauren - it was just far too cute!

Our Dr was finally ready for us, we first reviewed Brayden's ultrasound scans together.  He was happy with the results and after a little check on Brayden's hips himself, he said he is all clear!  We don't need to do any follow up on him until he is 2!

The last hurdle was to see if everything was ok with Lauren's x-ray and if her hip was still in the socket and in the correct position.  I was so nervous reviewing the image with our Dr, if the hip was out it would be an emergency trip to the ER, repositioning of the hip, then re casting.  Within about 1 min he said that he was very happy with her hip position and everything was looking great!  YES!!  Good news for both kids.  Apparently if the hip was to dislocate it would have done it in these first few weeks.  He then went on to say that he is trying to get OR time for the end of Oct as everything looks so good he doesn't want to wait till early Nov (his assistant already had time avail in Nov) to remove this cast.  As well, the next cast will be far less restrictive and that things will be a little more normal with the next cast, she will be able to move from her knees down, she'll be able to wiggle a bit more and possibly stand!

Even though Garry and I both left the hospital feeling exhausted emotionally and physically, we left with all good news.  Little Brayden isn't going to need to be placed in a harness and little Lauren is mending great!  Our prayers were answered!