Marley’s hip dysplasia story

I never knew about developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Now I look at your Facebook page and website all the time to keep learning about it. I share it with everyone, so they know what it is all about to be aware of it. I want to say thank you as your page and website have been so helpful over the last few months. They have helped me through the journey my little girl and I are on.

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Amelia loved her first beach experience brace and all.

I have a beautiful little girl, Amelia, whose now 5 months old. When she was 12-weeks old, she had a click in her left hip and uneven creases in her legs so, we were sent to the hip clinic at the hospital to be checked. We found out she had hip dysplasia in her right hip and that her left hip wasn’t a problem.

I am a 21 year old first-time mum and had never heard of such a thing; I felt like my world was crashing down. Within three days, Amelia was fitted with her brace 24/7 so suddenly there were no baths, no showers, and new clothes were needed to fit over her brace. Learning nappies all over again was another challenge.

When I was pregnant, Amelia was posterior and sat off to the right. This caused her whole right side to be tight and that had caused her dysplasia. 5-weeks into having her brace, we started physiotherapy to help her muscles loosen so she could moved her head to both sides and to also help her hips. Around this time we found her skin had started to brake down, peel and blister under the brace. Luckily for us, we had good news at our 5-week check up. Amelia’s hips had improved dramatically, so we were allowed a 1-hour a day out of her brace. This meant she could bathe and have a bit of a play.

We continued this for another 6 weeks, along with physiotherapy and checks on her brace in between. They are so impressed with my little girl; she is now able to move her head both ways without a problem, can roll, lift her bum up into the air with and without her brace on and has the best head control at tummy time.

Recently, we had another ultrasound to look at her hips and how they were going. It was good news again, and Amelia is now allowed 2 hours a day out of her brace. We were given the okay to go in the pool and start swimming lessons. They think if her progress continues as well as it has, that by the summer, we will only be in her brace at night times and for naps.

I am so proud of my little girl and how well she is coping. I am proud of myself for being a young mum, having this thrown at me, and taking it on like no tomorrow, as well as dealing with Amelia’s other health problems at the same time.

Written October 2015


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