Bowed Leg Problems (Update)

Hey luvs!

Thank you all for your kind words yesterday as I dealt with my emotions behind there potentially being a problem with my lovebug’s little legs.  I truly appreciate your continued support and encouragement.

Yesterday’s appointment literally lasted less than ten minutes and it turns out that Baby O isn’t bowed leg after all.  All this time what I thought were cute little bowed legs are really what the medical profession considers to be “internal tibial torsion”.

What’s this?

Per John’s Hopkins...“Internal tibial torsion is a condition in which the tibia (the larger of the two bones going from the knee to the ankle, forming the shin) is rotated inwardly (internally) or outwardly (externally) along its long axis. The rotation of the tibia also causes the foot and ankle to be rotated. Such rotation is seen throughout the course of normal development, but too much rotation is considered a developmental abnormality.”

How does this affect Baby O?

In Baby O’s case her tibia is on the abnormal spectrum. The doctor informed us that her tibia is rotated inward quite a bit. A normal person’s tibia would line up to their 2^nd toe while Baby O’s is lined up to her 5^th toe on her right leg and past the 5^th toe on her left leg. Keeping her message to us very positive she informed us that some of the inward rotation will self-correct over time, however she didn’t suspect it would be enough to eliminate future issues down the road :(.  

What’s next? With the diagnoses above she informed us that we had two options.

1. We could do nothing and see how she continues to develop over time.
2. We can try having her sleep in special shoes (braces) for the next 4 months.

The specialist presented her options with no pressure and totally left the decision to Dom and me. However, I left secretly more stressed than when I went in, I think it was because she was very technical and spoke in medical terminology the entire visit, so I was unsure what all this really meant. This is why I was truly thankful that Baby O had her 15 month appointment with her normal pediatrician later that day. During her checkup I discussed her condition in detail with her pediatrician; she broke it all the way down for me. I left feeling relieved and decided that for the severity of Baby O’s internal tibial torsion option 2 was the best way forward. 

Guess I’ll be updating y'all on her progress over the next few months :).