Adele Update

Adele is going to have another major surgery. Her right leg is coming out of its socket again and it's not getting better. Her surgery is scheduled for April 20 at University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital, and will take 4 hours. They will be cutting her femur and changing the angle so it better stays in the hip socket. Then, they will reshape her hip socket to get better coverage and also help the femur stay in place. We are, of course, devastated that the first surgery didn't work as we hoped. Adele will be in the hospital for at least two nights (last time it turned into three nights, though). She will be in a hip spica body cast for at least six weeks after, then possibly in a hip brace for another six weeks after that. While we are so sad to put her through this, we now have lots of experience in what Adele needs, what we need to help her. For example, diiapering requires a Poise Pad, on top of a size 2 diaper, stuffed under the edges of the cast, then all wrapped up with a size six diaper over the cast. We are planning to rent TWO hip spica car seats, so BOTH parents can pick up or drop off from daycare. Last time Adele learned to crawl in the cast by about week four or five -- this time I'm betting she'll be going by week two or three!
In other (good) news, Adele is now grabbing a cookie or a cracker and bringing it to her mouth more consistently, and she had a very good occupational therapy session on Monday. She used a oral vibrator (no laughing please) and she used it like a spoon to feed herself after the food was placed on it. She will have lots of opportunity to practice her fine motor over the next few months.