This week has definitely been a roller coaster. It really all started when we went to Charlotte’s 15 month well-visit. Questions came up about her not being able to walk yet, and intervention was to be sought out with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). While waiting for ECI to give us an assessment, I still had questions about Charlotte’s inability to walk. I kept going back and forth thinking it’s nothing to thinking that it could be something. Last Friday, one of my best friends called me to let me know that she had been thinking about Charlotte and the way she sits on her knees. We came to the conclusion that this could be causing problems with her hips. I immediately made an appointment to see if that was in fact an issue, and that was that.
 |
| Charlotte at Texas Children’s |
During Charlotte’s appointment on Monday, the pediatrician didn’t seem too concerned, but because her gait was abnormal, he ordered an X-ray. I had mentioned to him that I thought her right leg jutted out to the side when she walked with a push-walker and how she always sits and walks on her knees. No big deal. The X-ray would let us know if anything was wrong, and we’d go from there. We had the X-ray done that afternoon, and since he didn’t seem too concerned, I didn’t bother to worry.
The next morning, he called me first thing to give me the results. His call and the news it brought knocked the wind out of me. He let me know that I was right: it was her right hip. He explained what Charlotte had was called Developmental Dysplasia of the right Hip (DDH). I had to ask him to spell it out, because I was a mess. I asked him if it was fixable and what the typical protocol was for this condition. He told me it was fixable and that she would have to be put in a cast (from chest to hip) to stabilize the hip placement and to allow the joint to grow properly. Then he made it very clear that I needed to call the specialist that very day and to get to them immediately. Talk about urgency. I was a mess. Isn’t it a parents worst nightmare to find out anything is wrong with their sweet little person? But I put on my business face and made the phone call to Texas Children’s Hospital to schedule the appointment with the orthopaedic specialist. They didn’t have any openings until Thursday, so I would have to wait it out another two days before knowing what our plan of action would be for our baby.
The next morning, he called me first thing to give me the results. His call and the news it brought knocked the wind out of me. He let me know that I was right: it was her right hip. He explained what Charlotte had was called Developmental Dysplasia of the right Hip (DDH). I had to ask him to spell it out, because I was a mess. I asked him if it was fixable and what the typical protocol was for this condition. He told me it was fixable and that she would have to be put in a cast (from chest to hip) to stabilize the hip placement and to allow the joint to grow properly. Then he made it very clear that I needed to call the specialist that very day and to get to them immediately. Talk about urgency. I was a mess. Isn’t it a parents worst nightmare to find out anything is wrong with their sweet little person? But I put on my business face and made the phone call to Texas Children’s Hospital to schedule the appointment with the orthopaedic specialist. They didn’t have any openings until Thursday, so I would have to wait it out another two days before knowing what our plan of action would be for our baby.
Let me just go ahead and cut to the chase: a miracle happened, y’all! According to the specialist, her condition is so slight it requires no intervention. I can’t even. He wants to see her back in six months to make sure her hip is still growing correctly with no complications, but no further action is necessary. She’ll walk when she’s good and ready. GLORY BE TO GOD.
Here are five things I learned/re-learned this week:
One.
Prayer is powerful.
Prayer is powerful.
After I let out a good cry and let MJ know about the results on Tuesday morning, I immediately took to prayer. I was crushed that my little girl was going to have to go through a trial. Just devastated. But I am a strong believer in prayer. It gets me through everything. I also know prayer in numbers is even greater. I posted on Facebook and Instagram about what was going on with Charlotte and asked for my friends and family to pray for her. The hubs thought I was a bit premature in posting anything about her condition since we hadn’t yet seen the specialist (he’s been convinced that she would be fine all along), but I believe it is never too early to pray and that prayers never hurt anyone.
You guys, I am humbled and amazed by the outpouring of prayers that Charlotte and my little family received. My extended family had a special prayer time where we all set our clocks to pray together wherever we were at. We said an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. My family. They’re precious. But it wasn’t just my family praying for my little love muffin, it was all my friends on Facebook and Instagram, too. Some of whom I haven’t spoken with in years and some whom I’ve never even met in person (thanks, blogging world) were praying for my little girl to be healed. If you were one of those people, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Here are some verses I prayed this week:
“Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you” (Psalm 25:4-5).
“The LORD says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you’” (Psalm 32:8 NLT).
Two.
Friends are amazing.
Friends are amazing.
Every person is placed in our life for a reason. Every single one. God uses each of them in some way to help us along through our journey. Each person is a thread in our tapestry. All of my friends praying for me and my family, especially my little Charlotte Grace, are the best examples of actually seeing God’s grace in action. Not only did my friends pray, they reached out to me personally, asking if there was anything they could do to help out. Some offered words of encouragement because I had admitted that I was in fact scared. Some offered to come sit with me. I love my friends and am so thankful that they’ve helped me through what I thought was going to be a really hard time. I love them for just being who they are, and I would be there for any one of them in a heartbeat.
Three.
Live in the moment.
Another thing that I’ve really held on to this week is to live in the moment. I was thoroughly preparing myself for Charlotte to be put in a cast, or after reading up about DDH, for her to be put in some sort of brace. All of the things I was reading was preparing me to come to grips with the fact that our life was about to change for a little while. I will admit, I was preparing for all the what ifs and worrying about things that hadn’t even taken place yet. But at the same time, I tried to focus on our everyday fun and tried to embrace each moment. I appreciated every little thing a little bit greater because of what I thought we were about to endure. While waiting for our appointment to happen, this week I took Charlotte to have lunch with her daddy at work, I let her play outside in her splash pad, I took her to Chick-fil-A and Target, I watched her sleep all sprawled out in her crib, and I truly was present in each moment. I let the goodness soak in each day, and I tried to live by this verse: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). Even the hubs kept repeating this to me. His constant steadfastness during this week helped me see that I just needed to take things one day at a time. I sure did need that lesson again.
Four.
Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.
Fear is real, but faith is divine. Even though I was scared of the process that I thought we would have to go through to heal Charlotte, I was thinking so small. Even though my faith felt small, it was still there. I knew we would get through whatever came our way, but yet my fear was very real. I prayed for God to take it away, the fear, the scary diagnosis. I was prepared to fight any battle, and I was ready to hear the worst on Thursday. But faith as small as a mustard seed moved the mountain that stood before us. It reminds me of this saying: Don’t tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is.
Five.
Miracles happen.
Miracles happen.
Thursday morning I had thought to myself, “What if the reading on the X-ray was wrong? How awesome would that be?” As much as I convinced myself that her pediatrician was right, and that Charlotte was going to need to be put in a cast or a brace, I hoped that maybe the doctors had it wrong. I hoped that I was wrong in believing the worst outcome. When the specialist on Thursday came in to talk to us, he was somewhat confused as to why we were there. Her exam was fine, and her X-ray only showed a slight irregularity, but definitely not one big enough to require an intervention, especially not a cast. He said we’d only need to monitor her growth, and he’ll check her again in six months. I think my mouth dropped when he told us that. I felt like I was in a dream. I just kept thinking, “Are you sure? No way.” Mind blown. Here’s what I believe to be true: God stepped in and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” Another miracle down in the books...
Psalm 90:17, “Let the favor of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (ESV)
 |
| Charlotte and I before the specialist saw us. |
I truly believe it’s because of the prayers and God’s merciful hand that we received the good news about Charlotte not needing a cast or any intervention at all. I was prepared for the worst, but prayer overcame the outcome this time, and God gave us a little miracle. Maybe someone needed to see this miracle this week. Something I always try to remind myself is to never question God’s purpose or timing. Every now and then, you need to be shaken up and given a jolt of God’s goodness. I needed the reminder that He is my only strength. While I’m still cautious about Char’s hip, I am staying faithful to the promise that God is taking care of her.
And if you’re going through a scary time, just remember these five things that I was reminded of this week: prayer is powerful, friends are amazing, live in the moment, faith as small as a mustard seed will move mountains, and miracles happen. Be encouraged, my friends. May God watch over us always.
And if you’re going through a scary time, just remember these five things that I was reminded of this week: prayer is powerful, friends are amazing, live in the moment, faith as small as a mustard seed will move mountains, and miracles happen. Be encouraged, my friends. May God watch over us always.
This post is linked up with four amazing bloggers, who host the fabulous Five on Friday series: Darci at The Good Life Blog; Liz at A. Liz Adventures; Christina at Carolina Charm; and Natasha at Hello! Happiness.
Such true thoughts! Worry is such a joy-stealer and taking things into our hands instead of allowing them into God's. (Coming from the Queen-Worrier) – I'm a work in progress. Love this post – great news Charlotte!
You and me both, girlfriend! Thanks for the love. :)
oh gosh, how scary and then how amazing soon after! Best news you could have gotten after scary news. I started tearing up reading this, you definitely never want to hear something is wrong even slightly with your baby.
It really was the craziest thing. And it really was the best news in the end. God is so good. :)
Glad to hear your little girl is ok! Prayer is such a powerful thing. We came across your blog on the Mommy Moments link up. Looking forward to reading more.
Thank you so much, girlfriends! It really is. I'm still constantly praying for her to start walking, as she has yet to do so, but I know God is faithful and He will have her dancing and running before I know it. :) Thanks for stopping by!