K.C.
Hi H.,
First off, I wanted to say I'm truly sorry you're going through this, as I know it's very heartbreaking to suddenly have your daughter be more restricted. But she will adapt and continue to thrive and grow, and equally important her hip dysplasia will eventually resolve. If you haven't already, you should check out the Yahoo Groups called Hipbaby - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/. You will find a very supportive and informative community there. Parents there have babies and children in all ranges of hip dysplasia.
I understand your frustration re: it not being caught earlier. This may have been an oversight when she was 4 weeks, or it may be something that developed...I think that's why they now call it Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH). Also sometimes the ultrasound doesn't always catch it. I suppose if your current orthopedist reviewed the original ultrasound perhaps he could say for sure. But I know it all doesn't really matter now as you're where you're at right now.
My baby girl was a big baby and was breech before I had an external version at 36 weeks. She was diagnosed shortly after birth. When they do hip checks in the hospital, her right hip could be dislocated and both clicked. She was put into a Pavlik Harness at 6 days old. It was devastating for us. I could no longer hold or touch my new baby in the same way. And she was restricted in movement, let alone having to deal with getting the harness on/off and changing diapers with it on - additional stress to first time parents. We had many stressful moments. She wore that 24/7 for 1 week, 23/7 for 5 weeks, then 12 hours a day for 6 weeks. We thought that would be the end but the orthopedist wanted to continue to stabilize her hip...so she had a Rhino Cruiser for 8 weeks. That was totally a blow to us as we didn't know that might happen. While the brace was more bulky, it was easier to put on/take off and deal with diapers. Anyhow, she was about 4 1/2 months when the treatment ended. She is now 17 months and doing great - walking and starting to run around.
While it's good the doctor did discover this now at 7 months so you can treat with a brace, while her bones aren't as developed...I won't say you're lucky. I'm only mentioning that as I resented it when people would say..."oh you're lucky it's treatable and not too serious." I mean there was part of me feeling grateful she didn't have a more serious case or some other more difficult condition, but I felt like people didn't acknowledge this changed how we did things. And that they didn't have to deal with it with their baby. I think it's okay to feel sad, angry, etc. But also feel hopeful and delight in your baby. I know it's hard to ignore the brace and you'll be mad at it many times (at least I was at the harness and brace).
My experience is not exactly the same as yours, since we did start early. I think no matter what/when, it is very difficult for us moms to deal with something of this nature. You will have emotional ups and downs. While your daughter is using the brace at an older age than my girl, she is still young enough that she will not remember this time. She will amaze you with her resiliency and adaptability. She will find ways to do what other kids are doing. And the time will probably go by faster than you realize. At least I really hope that is the case for you. For me, that time seems so distant and somewhat otherworldly. I felt like that even just a couple months after we were done - that time flew by.
My heart goes out to you.
Take good care,
K.
P.S. Please note that while the Hipbaby site is really wonderful, sometimes I found it a little scary or sad since there are worse case scenarios discussed on there too. I tried not to read everything all the time or let too much doubt or "what if" scenarios go through my head. I tried to focus that our treatment would work. The really great thing is you can network with other moms with similar situations and find ways to help your girl adapt. A lot of the moms have very useful and creative ways to deal with clothing, gear, etc.