When Alycia was around 6 months old, my 6 months of sheer joy of having Alycia, my beautiful first daughter came to an end when we were informed by our paed during one of the well-baby checks at the paed’s clinic that Alycia has ‘clicky hips’.  During a routine examination of Alycia’s legs and body, the paed told me that he heard some ‘clicking’ sounds on Alycia’s hips.  He then referred us to the orthopaedic surgeon for further evaluation.  I shall forever remember that day.  I really wanted to cry in the hospital.  This super imaginative lady here has super morbid thoughts and as usual, my mind fast-forwarded to the utmost worst case scenario.

Upon my return from the hospital, I immediately surfed the internet to find out more about hip dysplasia.

Here are some excerpts on Hip Dysplasia from Hip-Baby.org:

What Is Hip Dysplasia

Doctors should test every baby for hip dysplasia within moments of the baby’s birth, and also at many of the initial well baby doctor visits. These tests consist of the doctor moving both legs at the hips into various positions. The doctors are checking for symptoms such as “clicky hips”, or unexpected movement such as a loose or dislocated hip joint. If the doctor suspects hip dysplasia, she may perform an ultrasound (on a newborn) or have an x-ray taken. In our experience, the baby should be referred to a pediatric orthopedic doctor for a final diagnosis and treatment.

You, the parent, may suspect that something is not quite right with your child. Some common symptoms that you can detect include: the child may “crab walk” when cruising the furniture, her feet may be turned out so much that they begin to point backwards, or as shown in the picture, the folds of skin in her groin or on her legs are not the same (they are asymmetric).

The baby in this picture here is wearing a Pavlik Harness.

After reading the articles and information from Hip-Baby.org and other websites, I was devastated.  I imagined that Alycia would need to be in a Pavlik Harness, Braces, special shoes or worst, go under the knife.

to be continued…..