Scottish Rite #2

Our 2nd appointment wasn't eventful, in fact, we were in and out in less than an hour!  Unfortunately, his hip hasn't moved and isn't in socket.  So, we're still trying the harness for 23 hours/day.  He's tolerating the harness well but I definitely enjoy giving him his hour break everyday!

We arrived home to a surprise in the mail..a hand made diaper by my good friend KK!  Great diaper, and of course, I had to take a pic!

Thank you Celine!

Imagine that you have a 4 month old who normally screams if he's more than two feet inches away from you, but one day he sleeps in his bouncy chair and you are able to get dishes and laundry (even fresh sheets!) done all in a couple hours...  This is what happened this afternoon and I owe it all to Celine Dion.

Throughout my pregnancy I constantly listened to a playlist populated mostly with Celine Dion, there was a little Colbie Caillat and Jack Johnson thrown in, with a sprinkle of Jason Mraz and Lady Antebellum.  But..definitely, mostly Celine Dion. 

I stopped listening to that playlist while I was in the hospital, then while Clark was in the NICU I never listened to it either.  And, I haven't listened to it since I've been home.  BUT....this afternoon, I put it on.  Mr. Mommy-if-you're-not-holding-me-I'm-going-to-scream must have enjoyed it during his time in utero, because he is out like a light in his bouncy seat.

Evidence:

The past week has been pretty crazy around here.  Starting with last Monday and a lightning storm that killed our refrigerator.  We bought a new one, but it wouldn't be delivered until the following Monday.  Between the whole refrigerator issue, on Saturday my grandfather had a Transient Ischemic Attack aka "mini stroke" at my house.  I called 911 and the ambulance came and took him to the hospital.  We packed up and within an hour, my entire family was in the er with him.  It's Tuesday, he's still in the hospital.  Today he had surgery to try to unblock part of his corotid artery.  As of now, he's resting and the surgery seems to have been a success.

As for Clark, he's just growing and resting up for our next trip to Scottish Rite

Scottish Rite

Yesterday was Clark's 1st appointment at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.  We were originally working with an orthopedist at Scott and White, but they no longer have a pediatric specialist on staff so we decided to transfer care to Scottish Rite.  Scottish Rite is world renown for the treatment of pediatric orthopedic problems so I was pretty excited to meet Clark's new doctor, Dr John Birch.

First of all, I have to say that the staff in and around the hospital were amazing.  Having spent so much time in a hospital this year, and feeling like we had received excellent care there, I was shocked at what a pleasant experience we had yesterday.  Everyone we met was kind.  That rarely happens when you go to the doctor.  When we met with Clark's primary nurse, Emily, and Dr Birch, it felt like they had been waiting all day just to see Clark.  When does it EVER feel that way at the doctor?  Needless to say, I was impressed.

Ok, so...let me get to the part about when Clark was evaluated.  At first we met with an orthopedic nurse practitioner who gave him a thorough exam, primarily focusing on his left hip.  Then we went down the hall to have an ultrasound on his hip.  They use ultrasound instead of xray because his bones haven't hardened yet.  After that we went back into the area where we'd seen the ONP and met with Clark's nurse, Emily, and also Dr Birch.  There were 5 people in the room during the doctor's exam, the ONP, Emily, Dr Birch, a visiting doctor from Spain and some random guy who (I'm assuming) was a staff doctor.

After all of that, Dr Birch said he'd like to try the Pavlik harness again.  I was all for it, for two reasons.  Firstly, because I don't think he got enough of a chance in it the 1st time, not to mention I was not educated about the harness and how it works by the previous doctor.  And secondly, the other two options involve casting and surgery, respectively.  I think we'll give the harness another go, thank-you-very-much.

What that involves is 23 hours a day in a pavlik harness.  It essentially looks like lederhosen with some stirrups for his feet.  I'm assuming you've got a strange mental picture right now...that's ok, you'll get a picture later here's a picture (my camera just arrived!!!).   Also, we'll see Dr Birch every week for at least a month to see if any progress is being made.

The doctor told us there's every chance it might not work, but it's worth it to give it a try.  There is more risk of damage to the blood supply with the other methods, so we're praying that this works.  If it doesn't the next thing they will try is manually putting the hip in place and then putting him in a cast.

He didn't sleep very well last night, being in the harness is a big adjustment.  Hopefully he'll get a little more comfortable in it.  We go back to Dallas next Thursday to see the doctor again.

Insert **happy dance** here

Guess who's getting one of THESE....

Yes that's right.  I am.  Jeramy surprised me this morning with the Amazon confirmation email for my shiny new Canon EOS Rebel T2i.  I am one lucky girl.  Clark better get ready because he's about to become the official test subject.