Did I mention?

Not only was the trip fun and somewhat informative as far as DDH is concerned but I also purchased 3 of my favorite scented deoderant AND an eye shadow color I cannot find in Humboldt. I've been using the same deoderant since Jr. High, and no that wasn't the first time I had to use deoderant, I think I used that teen spirit kind up until then. Arridd X is the kind I use and it has to be the gel type. After a horrible incident of borrowing my mom's white kind of deoderant and a rash that lasted a week I have not changed brands since. For some reason Target, CVS, K-mart, and all grocery stores do not carry my type anymore. So thank you walmart for my deoderant that I bought in stock, and my covergirl eyeshadow in Mauveberry.

I cannot wait to get to Oakland next month for Blair's x-ray and the comfort of talking to our doctor. He's easy to talk to and the fact that he's been following Blair's DDH since she was 11 days old it's kind of "old hat" with him. Hoping and praying for progress and the words "she won't need surgery".

Oh and also my eye twitch is gone, what a relief!

Shriner's Trip

Okay, where to start? Part of me feels like the trip was unnecessary, yet we had a wonderful time. We're so used to our Oakland trips that this trip seemed harder and longer. The dr. didn't take any x-rays because he didn't want to expose her when she'd be getting one next month. Which is very true, she's had way too many x-rays in her life. But that also meant we didn't see what was going on now. He looked at her previous x-rays and came in singing the praises of Dr. H. Whom is a good friend of his. He went on and on about how great of a dr he is, how he's funny and I quote "if my children needed surgery he'd be the one doing it". So his opinion and the whole trip came down to him giving me a lot of confidence about our ortho. He agreed with Dr. H in that it'd be best to wait and see...the three words I HATE! He also told us that on a scale of agressive (ie surgery) the dr is UCSF was the most agressive, then Dr. H, then himself. He answered all of my questions, except the biggest ones: what is her acetabular index, will she need surgery, etc. We looked at the previous x-rays, he showed me a few things and told me that Dr. H would probably see Blair once a year or once every few years until the age of 14. There's a lot of trips in our future. Was it a waste of time? No I guess not, if we didn't go I'd always wonder if we were doing the right thing. He seemed sure that if she needed surgery they'd wait until she was 3 or 4 to do so. Which isn't what I thought Dr. H said, I thought he didn't want to do surgery when she'd be in preschool or grade school. So we'll wait and see what he has to say, and what the NEW x-rays show November 9!!!

On the positive side the trip was fun for many reasons. I got to spend two consecutive days with my husband, go somewhere new and warm, we ate at Outback (of course), went to Old navy where I got a new pair of jeans and a swimsuit for Blair. Blair went into the pool for the first time and LOVED it, I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures, such a bummer, she had so much fun and started to float and kick her legs while holding me. She laughed and splashed and had a blast, the best part of the trip. Thanks to Grandma she got so many new and bigger clothes at walmart, a new babydoll, mini golf clubs, a puzzle and new shoes (the second best part of the trip). We finally found some shoes to fit her, plus they're pink and sparkly and oh so cute! She had fun playing in the hotel room and didn't overheat or have any melt downs besides when the dr felt her hips. Overall I'm glad we went, I'm exhausted, and I'm ready for our next Ortho appt. I'm feeling better about things, trying not to get my hopes up too high, but hopefully everything will be fine and the fact that her hips have never been dislocated and she's had a lot of time to run and jump and dance, HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY her socket has started to curve:)

Belly Rubber

My daugther has some interesting "quirks" one of which is she rubs my belly. My flabby stretched-marked belly is comforting to her. When she's sleepy or not feeling good up goes the hand, no matter where we are. It's hard to cook dinner when she's in front of me, embarassing when people are around (not the action of her doing it, the embarassment that someone will see my belly). I actually love it, she's a very cuddly touchy girl and I hope she never stops:)

On a ddh note, we're headed to Shriner's on Tuesday, an early 5am wake up call and we'll be on the road! I'm stressed for numerous reasons: the first being this is a new trip, a new route, and it's going to be HOT! We're taking the truck of course and her carseat itsn't inclined enough for me not to worry that she's going to slump over while sleeping. Thanks to the tomtom I'm not so worried about getting lost, nor am I worried about parking since our hotel is right across the street. We'll be making a mad dash in the heat with our "city" stroller as I call it for our 2:30appt. I have my questions typed, I've got my serious Mama face on and my walmart list ready! I'm very nervous to hear what's happened in the past 7 months. Hoping there is progress with her acetabular index, hoping she's not borderline surgery, and hoping there will be a definte opinion.

The eye twitch that never goes away

We've got a week until our first big trip to Shriner's Hospital for our second opinion. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and stressed, hence the eye twitch that has been going on and off for the past month. I'm not sure what the doctors there are going to say besides "yes she has hip dysplasia so we'll wait and see what happens". Yes she has it, and it has always been borderline, but without there being any dislocations surgery will wait, until? Until the point at which all of the watching becomes decision making time. I am grateful that her DDH hasn't been extreme but then again it's a catch 22 when it's still present with no progress but not "bad enough" for the big operation to happen.

My recent way of coping with all the anxiousness is becoming educated, reading over and over Dr. Hoffinger's notes, looking at her x-rays, scanning the internet and my next adventure of heading to the library for research. It's been nice to talk to my family about it, analyze it with my dad and hear other people's thoughts.

Two trips, truck registration, dentist bill, hospital bills, Christmas, and the everyday costs all seem to be weighing heavily on my mind. Hoping for a good trip and hoping for better news, and then the agonizing waiting for a month to go to Oakland.