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Good news yesterday: We went to the hospital for another X-ray and went to the orthopediatric afterwards. He had looked at the X-ray and discussed it with a few of his colleagues and they all agreed that the closed reduction was a success after all! It goes without saying that we're very happy. Unsuccessful closed reduction would have probably meant a neccessity to perform open reduction (ie: an operation).

The good news means that Min Yi will be in her cast for the next six weeks and will then get a new (bigger) cast for another six weeks. We're not quite sure what will happen after that, because it depends on how her hip develops. Most likely we won't be done though.

Personally, I was a little shocked to notice that I found it hard to adjust to having Min Yi back at home, in a cast. For the past three weeks, all she did was lie down. Now it's almost as if I have forgotten how to properly deal with a baby that you can actually hold! Li doesn't have this feeling, fortunately. I felt strange, not at ease and suddenly unsure of how to deal with Min Yi. How does she feel, why does she cry? Is she bored, overexcited, tired? Not at ease or relaxed? Questions that I would have been able to answer with a high degree of certainty only three days ago now seem to be mysteries to me. I felt sad about it, but feel better now.

At the same time, Min Yi seemed to go through a similar stage. She seemed withdrawn and not at ease at home. She recognized a few of the landmarks (bookshelves, the clock, a painting) but they didn't really cheer her up. Instead, all she really wanted to do was hold on to us and stick to us, 24x7. Understandable, considering what she's been through. Even though the traction was a tough time, those three weeks were arguably the most stable of her life:

  • you lie on your back
  • legs in an uncomfortable position
  • drink lying down
  • people enter the door, which is always on your back, to the right and if you strech you can see them come in
  • lights off in the corridor at 19.00
  • cliniclown on Mondays
Suddenly all this is gone, and she's back in a place that's vaguely familiar but she can't quite tell how or why. She's still not back to her normal self, but I do think she is slowly feeling more at ease. At least my quaks still make her laugh. :-)

Then, there are a few practical challanges. I'll write about them, and our ways to tackle them, on another day.