All hip...

I don't think I ever mentioned before on Blipfoto that Nienke was born with hip dysplasia. Painless, but not harmless... In her case, the joint was fully dislocated and she had surgery at age 2 in 2006. The surgery was a success and even though X-rays will show that the joint has not developed completely as it should, the orthopedist (and surgeon) is very pleased with the result and there is no need for further screening until Nienke is 12 years old.

Another family in our village were in exactly the same situation but their daughter Amber is younger than Nienke. She is treated by the same orthopedist and she had surgery too. Like Nienke she doesn't need to see the orthopedist again until she is 12 years old. Both Amber and Nienke are doing great and they can do anything that other children can do too.

To celebrate all this, we thought it would be a great idea to go to an amusement park with both families. We went to Sprookjeshof in Zuidlaren (sorry; link is in Dutch and German only). It turned into an all day event and both children and adults had a great time.

Seeing Nienke run around and climb on every thing that can be climbed makes me realize that even though it broke my heart to take a healthy looking two-year old girl (that's how old Nienke was at the time of her surgery) into an OR, it was absolutely the right thing to do...

After all the playing, Ellis and Nienke are enjoying a moment of relaxation. It's so great to see that Nienke is a fantastic big sister for Ellis and Ellis trusts her completely. I hope that's how it will stay!