It is offical...

It finally happened...Mabel got the big OK that her walking is now normal! That's right NORMAL. Yesterday we had our weekly physical therapy session. Once I got Mabel's shoes off and put her on the mat and she started walking the doctor said, "Yes! She did it!!!" I couldn't be more proud. It was a session of mixed emotion as I realized that this has become quite a part of our routine, I mean Mabel loved going and really loved her doctor. Of course at the same time I couldn't be happier to have my Mabel walking like a normal toddler. Mabel showed off all her tricks, played, the doctor had her do some things to check her hips and flexibility and then she told us we were discharged...and cried. You know we've met a lot of people during this process of treatment and healing for Mabel's hip, some were wonderful, some were not so great, but by far her physical therapist I knew really did care about Mabel and wanted to make sure she would be OK. I'll be honest, I cried myself in the car on the drive home, poor Mabel probably had no clue what was going on, but she seemed fine with everything. She certainly knew that we were so proud of her progress and how far she has come. I think back to the first physical therapy session almost six months ago and I remember how Mabel could barely move her left leg, never mind hardly sit and now she's full blown walking normal with full movement of her hips, knees and feet. The doctor said the biggest worry she had for Mabel was knowing that as Mabel walks that is what will deepen her hip sockets as she grows, so she really wanted to make sure that everything was lined up and moving the way it should before she discharged her - and now everything is great! She said Mabel looks like a baby that has been walking for over three months! Lets just say that she certainly has been practicing!

So yes, Yeah Mabel!

I didn't know what to say to the doctor except thank you. I think I'll write her a letter really telling her how much we appreciate what she did for Mabel and make sure she knows how thankful we are that we had someone who really cared about Mabel's progress and Mabel in general.

Well...I've had people ask me when I was going to stop updating about Mabel's hip, when I was going to finally figure our hip journey is over. I don't know for sure. I started this particular blog as a combination of therapy for me and help for others and a journal that I could print for Mabel so in the future she can see what this time of her life was really like. You never know maybe she could have a baby with hip dysplasia and this could help her relate - or at the very least it would help her understand how strong she (and we) really are. Everyone has a story and I wanted to give Mabel a hard copy of a big part of hers. She won't remember this time so I needed to tell it to her. I tried my best to really document the hip news in our lives. I'll keep it current as changes or appointments come, but perhaps this may be the start of something new!