We were blessed recently with the arrival of our second beautiful daughter Chloe. Our girls are 3 years and 3 months apart and I guess this age gap played a big factor as to when we were going to have another child. Having Eve in her brace so long, there was no way that I could imagine having another child, let alone being pregnant as I was still having to carry Eve everywhere in her heavy brace up to nearly 2 years of age, and in the back of our minds we needed to ensure Eve was 100% before we would even consider having another baby. We wanted to finally enjoy seeing Eve run around and do all the things her friends had been doing so we totally made the most of it, going away on a holiday and again it might seem simple things, but swimming and not having the restrictions of a brace they were all new experiences for us.
Both times at our 13 week scans we were fortunate to find out the sex of both the girls and obviously had this confirmed at our 20 week scans. We were informed that once again we were having a beautiful baby girl and we were both ecstatic as having a sister myself who I see as my best friend I was so thrilled Eve would also have this opportunity to grow up with a sister and share many great experiences together.
There was this elation and there was also concern and fear that I felt, and wondered straight away will she also suffer from DDH. We had a follow up xray to check Eve’s hips with her surgeon and she now goes annually and I remember telling him I was pregnant and we were expecting another girl and he said straight away well once she’s 6 weeks I need to see her, we need to ensure she has an ultrasound and we thoroughly check her hips. Despite all of this and so called warning signs I guess being there was a high probability Chloe would have this, I was prepared yet not so prepared. It’s so easy for others to say “it’s not easy, but you’ve been through this before, you know what to expect”. Well that is true in some instances but what you’re not prepared for is to only have 3 days of beautiful cuddles with your newborn, holding them close and tight to you, not having restrictions of the brace or having to put them into certain positions nor finding out you can’t bath her whilst she is braced.
Left; 3 days old in the Pavlik Harness. Right; 7 weeks old in the Pavlik Harness
After another quick delivery our beautiful Chloe arrived into the world, the moment we had been waiting for, seeing her for the first time and holding her, our family was complete and I couldn’t have been happier. An hour or so after her birth the paediatrician came in to examine her as he was aware of our past history and that Eve had been missed and discovered much later so didn’t want us to encounter the same experience again. I remember watching him examine her and then grimace and was thinking in the back of my mind “surely not, you’re not going to tell me what I think you are” and as I guessed yes he was. He had the awful job of telling us once again our perfect little girl wasn’t so perfect and indeed she has hip dysplasia. Instantly I cried and couldn’t believe this, then my tears turned to asking 100 questions and trying to pinpoint why this had happened yet again and what caused it, but no amount of questions were going to help, it is what it is and we again had to deal with this the best way we possibly could.
Chloe after being fitted in her DBB (Denis Browne Brace)
Our paediatrician could see I was devastated and we were given 3 days post birth of unlimited cuddles before her pavlik harness was to be fitted and worn 24/7. After taking in this information as silly as it sounds, I was partially relieved we had a diagnosis and that we weren’t in the same predicament with Eve, having her misdiagnosed and then picked up late. With this journey for Chloe I kept reminding myself second time around will be easier, I know what to expect and now that it’s been picked up so early she will be fine and 3 months will fly past and hopefully then she will be brace free. True to our experiences with our girl’s hips, it seems simple but yet again it took a sharp turn and we were given news that we didn’t expect.
Eve comforting her sister after our appointment with the surgeon
A week prior to Chloe’s follow up appointment we needed to get an ultrasound and much to my surprise I was shocked to hear the lady conducting the scan say “this isn’t looking great her hip looks dislocated”. Despite this being our second time going through this, nothing prepares you to hear that. Again I managed to leave the appointment without crying my eyes out. Here was our gorgeous Chloe, sound asleep oblivious to all of this. Straight away on the way home in the car I called our surgeon that had treated Eve, and within 24 hrs we were set to see him. We arrived that day for our appointment and he greeted us with “Oh you guys, you just can’t stay away can you”! I needed that small laugh, as I knew what to expect, I took the films in to show him and he confirmed that yes Chloe’s hip wasn’t great, could be dislocated at any moment and to get her out of the pavlik and into the Dennis brown bar brace immediately. He then arranged her next 3 appointments and we are seeing him regularly. Like I said I knew what to expect but still felt unprepared. We left the appointment and it had been an emotional few days, feelings of frustration, was she in the wrong brace, have we just wasted 9 weeks and now have to start again, its going to be a long journey like Eve’s. So with all of that, we left his rooms and before I put the girls back into the car my tears started to flow. Eve being the beautiful soul she is came up and cuddled me and said ‘Don’t worry mummy, everything will be alright” and with hearing that I cried more! Here I was feeling so lucky to have two beautiful happy girls but on this journey once more. Like with everything that life throws your way, we will be strong and get through this and come out the other side and like her big sister enjoy every minute of watching her at her dancing concerts and running around.
Everyday Mum 