Somewhat of an anatomy question...is this a concern?

[lilycat88]

Hopefully you'll stick with me while I try to articulate my question.

During one of Susanna's normal scheduled checkups with her ped, her doctor was checking her hips and made a comment about checking to see if her "rolls" were equal. She was looking at the rolls that all babies have on the upper inner thighs. I didn't really think much about it at the time because her doctor said they were fine. This was probably at her 6 month appointment because it was before we started worrying about her lack of mobility and that was at about 7-8 months. Fast forward to last night. I had Susanna standing in front of the mirror in her bathroom last night just before her bath. She was naked and I got a really good look at her from the front by looking in the mirror. Now, there is a very obvious difference between her left and right leg as far as that little "roll" goes. Her left leg just doesn't really have it at all. Her right leg, definitely does. Even my DH noticed it and he just doesn't notice things like that. I actually noticed it about a month ago and was meaning to mention it at her 12 month appointment but forgot. Her ped looked her over at that appointment but I don't specifically remember her looking at her hips/thighs. Susanna sees a physical therapist every week and has made tremendous progress and her PT hasn't said anything? Any thoughts?


Jamelin
Mom to Susanna born 6/29/2004

[JMS]

Hi Jamelin,
Unfortunately I don't have a medical answer for you but I do want to share an observation DH and I were just discussing about our own DD. DD was a chunky baby but still mananged to reach milestones (physical) on time. Once she got more mobile she really started to slim down and is not in the 70 percentile for weight (75% for height). She started walking the day after her first birthday and has not stopped since. She now runs, jumps, dances and climbs on everything. She has great cordination and balance (IMO), but also, like your DD, has one roll-less leg and a very noticable roll on her other thigh. My Ped seems very thorough during well-visits and has never mentioned a concern about it.

If you are really concerned, why not call your dr's office and see if they'll discuss it over the phone. Good luck.

[californiagirl]

My understanding is that what they're looking for is an even angle on the folds, not for the rolls being the same size, if you see what I mean. They check DD every time because we have a family history of hip dysplasia (it's not just dogs!) But it's the sort of question a nurse at your ped's office could answer -- or ask the PT next time. I bet it turns out that different sizes just means she uses one leg more.

[starrynight]

E walked late and this is one of the things her ped checked also. I think it has to do with trying to tell by site if the hips are out of alignment or one leg is a bit shorter than the other. Usually if there is a delay they are trying to find out if it's just a leg issue that can be fixed or if it's something else going on. E has a slight roll difference but her legs and hips are fine, she had an xray and eventually she did walk so in some kids it's just normal and in others it means something so they check.

Can you call the peds office and ask a nurse or something?

[lilycat88]

I will call and ask the nurse. It's funny, I want to run things by the moms here before I call the peds office and deal with the nurses. Susanna's gross motor delays were caused by her uterine positioning (breech and due to my heart shaped uterus, she didn't move at all toward the later months of my pregnancy). She also had a pretty difficult C-section delivery where she was "stuck" and they had a devil of a time getting her out. So, they did check her hips constantly at first. Her ped would check her hips every time we had her in the office...jaundice, ear infections, rsv...we had a lot of office visits. Nothing ever was alarming so I'm figuring this is nothing.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jamelin
Mom to Susanna born 6/29/2004