That dislocated Feeling

So anyway, when you've just been born the doctors like to run all sorts of tests. They'll come along and prod you and waggle various limbs to see if it annoys you. Ellie's main objection to this was that it woke her up, but it's just as well they checked because it turns out she's got dislocated hips. They popped them both in (which made Ellie very purple for a few seconds) but it's a potential problem so she gets an ultra scan so they can check the joints.

We get referred to Booth Hall Children's hospital (really good place) and after another scan the nice folk there suggest that we stick Ellie in a Pavlik Harness. This is basically a velcro exo-skeleton that keeps Ellie looking like a frog. It doesn't bother her at all, and although she'll have to wear it for the next few weeks it does have the added bonus from our point of view of stopping her from dipping her heels into her own poo every time we try to change her. The idea is that this will keep her legs firmly in the hip joints while she continues to grow. Because we caught this so early there's an excellent chance that it will cure the problem permanently. It's a common enough condition, and we're not too worried about it. It's just the first, I suspect, of a series of things that will go wrong. Hey ho.