We’re home! Whew! We thank our gracious Father for watching over Eleanor and bring about this healing so quickly. There’s a little problem remaining, but not too serious because it was picked up early. When she was in Leonie’s tummy, Eleanor was in the “frank breech” position. This means her head was up, her bottom was down, and her ankles were up around her ears! It’s common for babies who present this way to have “dislocatable hips” – related to but more serious than “clicky hips”. One of Eleanor’s hips is dislocatable, requiring some important but non-invasive treatment over the coming months. We went through exactly the same issue with Adelaide four and a half years ago, so we know what we’re in for – Eleanor will need to be in a little brace to keep her legs apart for a few months (she’ll be perfectly comfortable but she’ll end up over-stretching some wondersuits). She’ll also need to have a round of ultrasounds in the coming months to check on the progress of her hip formation. The doctor who will be treating her is the same doctor who saw Adelaide when we lived in Sydney in 2002. The doctor is based in Randwick, but he sees patients in Wollongong, for which we’re very grateful! Nevertheless, one of the benefits of staying in Randwick today is that we’ve been able to take advantage of the “hospital super-campus”. Just before lunch some orthopaedic surgeons from Sydney Children’s Hospital popped over to examine her, then we wheeled her little cot around to the orthotics department in Prince of Wales Hospital to get the brace, and back to the Royal Women’s Hospital for an ultrasound downstairs, then the paediatrician came to check on Eleanor and get her discharged finally!
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