Hip Check-ups

Most of you know that Cati and Chiara were born with dislocated hips (a.k.a. hip dysplasia). They each wore hip braces as infants for 4-6 months. Today they had check-ups with their orthopedist. Cati's x-ray looked great, and she won't have to been seen for 2 years. Chiara's x-ray was ok. The hip is in the socket, but the angle of the hip is not right yet. The doctor expects it to fix itself in time, so she doesn't need treatment for it, but she will have to be seen again in 6 months.

Done with the brace!

Chiara had a check-up with her orthopedist on Tuesday. Her x-ray looked good, so she no longer has to wear her brace! Yeah!!

Here is what the brace looked like, for those who missed it. She wore it for 12 weeks.










Now, when she's not working on crawling (video coming soon!), she's exploring the world with her mouth, and improving her immune system at the same time, I'm sure :)

Can't Slow Me Down!

We're busy getting ready for our short trip this weekend. We're going to Washington, D.C. to visit some friends. It's amazing what it takes to get us going somewhere, even for only a few days! I've started my list of things to pack. It's supposed to be a nice weekend there, so it should be good for getting out to some of the sights. I'm really excited about going! I haven't been there since college. Dany and the kids have never been. It'll be really great to see our friends, too :)

Today I have a video of Chiara who has learned to roll over even in her brace! She won't let a little thing like a hip-immobilizing brace get in her way!!

Day of Doctors appointments

First of all, Maria's appointment went well. We just found out what we already knew...that she's healthy and tall :)

Now for Chiara...The doctor said that the x-ray showed A LOT of improvement. However, he wants her to wear the brace for at least another 6 weeks, but only 16-18 hours per day. He said that if she continues to progress at this rate, that she might get the brace off in 6 weeks! We're pretty happy that she's doing so well and that she's allowed to have a little more time with it off during the day.

No time for pictures today...she has a cold and is REALLY fussy!

Last day with the brace ???

Today's been a busy day. We're trying to get a lot done because we won't have much time tomorrow. Maria will have her yearly doctor's check-up. Then Chiara will have her 1st orthopedic check-up since she got her brace. She will have an x-ray to see if her hip has improved, and hopefully we'll hear that she doesn't have to wear the brace anymore. I'll try to post when we get home tomorrow, if I have time. Pray for little Chiara! She's ready to be free of this brace, so that she can really start moving!

Above is a picture of Chiara when she got her brace 6 weeks ago.