Hip Dysplasia

We went to Emilee's 9 month check up and the pediatrician was feeling her legs and hips and noticed a hip click when he moved it around. This means her hip was clicking in and out of the socket, he called for an X-ray and the picture above is what it showed.  Her left hip (right side in the picture) shows that the socket is at a steep angle and essentially not cupping around the ball joint of the hip. After the pediatrician got a look at the X-ray, he immediately called me and scheduled an appointment for us at Primary Children's Hospital the following week on Dec. 23rd. We had to change around all our Christmas plans to accommodate the appointment, but at least we were able to go to the McMillan Christmas party, which we otherwise would have not been in Salt lake and would have missed. The pediatric orthopedic specialist at Primary's told us that Emilee has hip dysplasia. Hip Dysplasia means that the bones of the hip joint are not aligned correctly. Since Emilee is an "older" baby it is too late for just a brace at this point and will require open reduction surgery on her hip socket to reposition the ball back into the socket. After the surgery she will have to be in a spica cast that will hold the bones in the correct position for 3 months. Yes, I said 3 months! The cast will be like the picture below; with the one leg is a cast from belly to ankle and the other leg is used to stabilize the cast and stops above the knee. Her surgery is scheduled for Feb. 21st. Hip dysplasia is actually pretty common (especially in first born's and girls) and causes no pain for the baby, so it is hard to detect besides the hip click or asymmetry of the legs, but if left untreated can cause crippling arthritis at an early age. 

Kid with Spica cast.

At first I was devastated to know there was something wrong with my baby and tears were shed and writing this and thinking about my poor girl still makes me a little teary. But I'm glad for modern medicine that can fix things like this and having it fixed before she walks and gets older where it is even more serious and harder to fix. Babies are so resilient (so they say, I guess I will find out first hand) and can heal and recover much faster then adults so that is also a positive. 50% of babies will need no other treatment and will have a normal hip. The other 50% may need another hip surgery later in life (with small percents having complications, as with any thing). When you think about all the parts a human needs to be alive and function, there are alot of things! Daniel has reminded me that Emilee could be much, much worse off. She has no heart problems or tumors like other children we know. So even thought it will be heart breaking to have her in a cast on her first birthday, and the challenge of diaper changes, sponge baths, special car seats, and probably super frustrating for her not to be able to crawl around where ever she wants to, I think in the end we will manage and be alright. I hope she is still as happy as she is now, but you do what you gotta do.

check out hip dysplasia.org for more info. This is where I read alot of stuff about it.
http://www.hipdysplasia.org/default.aspx

Christmas

I love this picture of Mary holding baby Jesus by Simon Dewey and listening to Christams music.
Merry Christmas everybody!
                                                

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbV_HTpyx0  Breath of Heaven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbV_HTpyx0   A Baby Changes Everything

Mary Did you know?

Santa

 

 

Santa vs. the Grinch

Emilee got to see Santa at the mall when we were in Salt Lake and we took her to see the Grinch at the grocery store. It's so appropriate that she was all smiles with Santa, happy as can be, and a little grinchy with the Grinch. I just adore these pictures and glad she she didn't cry with either one. We even tried to dress her as green and furry as we could, I like it!

 

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18581417&title=roosevelt-mortician-goes-grinch-green-for-the-holidays

It's big news when the Uintah Basin gets on KSL. We are famous!

A girl and her dog, a beautiful thing

This blog shouldn't be the "Farnsworth Family", it should be the "Emilee Only" blog, but she is a pretty important part of the family and basically my focus 24/7 so it's only natural to write about her alot. Right? Here is some more pictures of her and the dog.

Loves to get into the stangest places to follow Daisy.

Loves her dog

Maybe she thinks she IS a dog too! I gotta keep an eye on this sneaky girl!

Happy Thanksgiving

Lately I have enjoyed some time in Salt lake with the family and friends. Baby showers, wedding, playing catch phrase! Love it! And I better mention this great holiday of Thanksgiving. We had a great time with the McMillan's and all the new babies that joined the family this year; 7 in all (picture forthcoming). Last year was fun because we had Thanksgiving in our house and Daniel did the turkey in the deep fryer, which hasn't moved from our back yard in a year. ha ha. We take turns and alternate families for Thanksgiving and this year's dinner turned out great as well. Two dinner's actually. As soon as the extended McMillan party ended we headed back to the house to party with Dawna's kids.
I must say I'm thankful for the handyman husband I have, my happy little girl, and the best Dad and brother's a girl could ask for!
I also really really enjoyed going to see "A Christmas Carol." It's a good way to start the Christmas season and remember what relationships are important and not be a scrooge! Beware the pit in the middle of the stage though, Dawna fell 18 feet down the trap door and broke her shoulder but is probably lucky to even be alive, let alone be running the whole play only a few nights later! It was awesome.

Ba Humbug!