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Cassidy's Story
CHAPTER TWO
Suspicions/diagnosis
After getting our beautiful new baby home and doing the usual parent thing of 'counting fingers and toes' we decided that our baby was perfect, even if she did have a strange little apple-shaped bottom and almost 'womanly' hips. Cassidy was lovingly breast-fed and swaddled, just as we'd been taught. I have since come across information that certain practices such as infant swaddling increase the chances of developing hip dysplasia and that cultures that carry their babies astride the mother’s backs (with the baby’s legs in the extended position, keeping the baby’s hips spread apart) have a low incidence of hip dysplasia. This latter position places the head of the femur (the ball) against the acetabulum (the socket), and encourages deepening of the socket.
Wish we'd have known that then! But we didn't and since it was winter, we swaddled our little princess against the cold and tucked her in tightly.
We got pretty good at the parenting thing and it wasn't long before we noticed a clunking sound coming from her hip area as we moved her legs to change her nappy. We mentioned this and her 'lifted toe' to the doctor at the 6 week check up. The hip check was performed again and Cassy cried throughout it, but was pronounced 'normal'. We were laughingly told we were 'paranoid first-time parents'.
Soon after, on a regular visit from the child care sister, my mother expressed her concern about Cassidy's hips. She too was dubbed a 'paranoid' grandmother -even though she was a veteran of 8 children and over a dozen grandchildren. No examination was performed.
This pattern was repeated every time we voiced our concerns over the next few months and at one stage we were told to put double nappies on Cassidy. She was a little late to walk and of course we told the doctor about this. He said he'd have another look when she did walk. Finally, when she began to walk it was with quite an obvious waddle -what we now know to be the 'Trendelenburg gait', an overt sign of DDH. We showed the doctor Cassidy's waddling and were told it was probably because of the thick nappies!
By this time we were convinced there was something wrong and drove her to another town and another doctor. As soon as she waddled into the doctor's office, the aghast doctor called his collegue in to have a look. He was shocked it had gone 'undetected' for so long and immediately ordered x-rays.
I remember crying on the phone to my mother that my baby girl had a hip deformity and would be having surgery really soon. We couldn't believe it. We cried and cried as we watched Cassy waddling around, wondering how the doctor could have been so stupid!
Cassidy was about 1 1/2 years old. Too late for a brace. The damage was done and the only way to try and fix it was with surgery.
