before i start, let me say that she’s perfectly healthy and nothing’s wrong. i know that sort of spoils the ending of the story, but i’ve found that starting the story with “they thought/think something might be wrong with charlotte’s hip” means the audience is going to stop listening until you reach the punchline anyway.

so…on with the story!

at her 4 month checkup, the pediatrician noticed that one of her hips seemed “soft.” i’m not sure exactly how/what she was detecting, but a soft hip could imply that there was something wrong with her hip’s development. it didn’t seem likely that anything was wrong, given how well she could stand, kick, etc, and how non-uncomfortable she was. nonetheless, it was decided that she should get an ultrasound to check out the bone structure. at 4 months, ultrasound was still possible. if we’d waited until 6 months, she would have needed an xray to check it out, which is more invasive/risky, etc.

we spent the weekend sort of ignoring what might happen next, and worrying that everything we’d done had caused it. did we put her in the jumper too soon? am i somehow too rough with her when i change her? was all that kicking because she was uncomfortable, and not because she was super-strong? on the way to the appointment, the “what next” thoughts started creeping in. will she need a brace? a cast? surgery? will she be stick with a bum hip her entire life?

while we were getting the ultrasound, she was a perfect angel, and we started into the “she wasn’t always like this, you know” stories. when i got to the part about needing to swaddle her tightly for so long, my voice caught in my throat. was that it? i mean, there was no way we could have avoided the swaddling. we’d tried everything, struggled to get her to sleep for more than a minute at a time, except for when her legs were tightly swaddled. without, she kicked herself awake immediately.

we worried and worried until the technician said everything looked fine. we worried some more until the doctor’s office called the next day and said that everything was normal and they’d see us at 6 months.

and so charlotte had her first visit to children’s hospital and her first ultrasound and we all emerged perfectly unscathed.