Hip Baby Blues No More!

We had quite a week last week! Olivia celebrated being cast-free for one year on August 26, 2010. For any new readers, Olivia was diagnosed with bilateral developmental dysplasia of the hip when she was 5 days old. It was so severe, doctors had to correct it with open-reduction surgery, culminating in a spica cast(s). It's hard to remember what that life was like, so here she was on her 4 month birthday in spica cast #2 (always happy!).



Well, I couldn't let the day go by unnoticed (or un-celebrated!), so we headed off to the Please Touch Museum to see OLIVIA! in person.

My Olivia was thrilled, despite the [second] picture that appears otherwise. I, on the other-hand, need some modeling tips.

And to put it all in perspective, one year to the date, we had her re-eval with the county we now live in to determine elegibility for continued physical therapy [which she had qualified for last fall in our previous county of residence]. Olivia was a bright shining star and excelled in all areas, including motor skills. There was 0% delay (which was no surprise to us, having watched her move around all summer). I'm including a July video where she tried to imitate gymnastics (televised) to emphasize how far she's come.

So that's it. We feel tremendous gratitude to Miss Janet, her PT, Dr. B. (her pediatric orthopedic surgeon), and all the nurses and staff at Nemour's (DuPont location), as well as the countless family and friends that prayed for her and supported us. I don't want to count my chickens but it looks like this chapter in the book of Olivia, mine, not Ian Falconer's, is complete. Period.