Happy Hips!

Happy Hips: A Breech Baby Update | oliverandtara.com

For those of you who missed this post, Liam was born full-transverse breech. The gist of it? He was born with his feet touching his ears. This has caused us all sorts of car seat drama, along with other precautions we’ve had to take to ensure we are careful with his hips in a very key development time. We met with an orthopedic specialist this week to check on their development.

Here is how the appointment went…

I called the office to schedule an appointment. Upon hearing about Liam’s birth, they fit us in for the same day. We arrived about 30 minutes early to fill out paperwork. Thank goodness too, because it took me about that long with Liam and his new found mobility (read: thrusting himself headlong in any direction that fits his fancy). By the time I turned in the papers I had to include an apology … as Liam had eaten part of them. Yeah. Moving on.

X-rays were done first, to make sure the doctor had the FULL picture. These were done by a VERY large Samoan man and, much to the gentleman’s surprise, Liam LOVED him. Apparently the poor man scares a lot of children with his sheer size. The wort part of this was having to leave him on the table, unattended, while they did the actual x-ray. I just prayed “please don’t roll, please don’t roll”. The three seconds it took to take the image felt like a year! I raced behind the wall, he snapped it, then I raced back to the bedside. Mama was panicking, Liam was entertained by the light on the machine. Figures, right?

 

Next we were placed in a small exam room with a table, chair and stool. Nothing safe for baby, so we sat on a blanket on the floor and played with toys.

Note to new mamas: never leave home without at least a swaddling blanket in your diaper bag! They come in handy EVERYWHERE! 

IMG_20130730_165822

When the doctor came in he was able to REALLY explain what was going on, while showing us the x-ray. Apparently we were looking for a few key features in developing hips.

Image Source: Oregon Health & Science University
Image Source: Oregon Health & Science University
  • Femoral Ossific Nucleus:  This is the little bone that appears on top of the leg. In the image above, it looks like a little rounded pyramid on top of the femur bone. This is supposed to develop between 3 and 6 months of age. It is significantly delayed in babies with dysplasia. 
  • Acetabular Angle: This is the triangular section you see between the hips and femoral ossific nucleus. You have a concern for hip dysplasia when it is ~ 30°

Here are Liam’s hips …

IMG_20130730_215325

 

At ~ 23° and with both femoral ossific nuclei developed…

Liam’s hips are NORMAL! *insert happy dance*

And that, my friends, is your A&P class for today. *wink*

❤ Tara


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