Jude is trying to walk, she's doing great! But now the focus shifts from the arms to the legs.

Now that Jude is trying to walk, we have to address the issue of her legs.  The right one is shorter than the left.  By only about an inch.  It's not much.  But for a wobbly toddler the imbalance could pose a problem.

We go back to Shriners Hospital in St. Louis in about a week and a half and this time we will be seeing a leg specialist.  He will hopefully guide us on what needs to be done to make sure Jude develops her walking skills correctly.  One thing Joe and I have noticed is she strongly uses the right side of her torso more than her left. She uses it to propel herself forward as she scoots around on her butt.   We think she does this to counter-balance her shorter left arm.  But it has made the muscles on the right side of her back much more developed than her left.  So we need to ask them about that too.

There are some amazing procedures that are done to help kids with bone discrepancies.  Bone-lengthening is somewhat painful and invasive and I hope she doesn't ever have to do it. They actually put screws into the bones and then you turn a crank to pull the bones longer over a period of months. The crazy thing is, I just saw on an Oprah episode the other day that people in China do bone-lengthening on their legs on purpose, so they can gain like an inch or two in height.  I'm stunned by that.  Here I am hoping my daughter never has to go through it and some people choose to do it.

The other option sounded crazy to me, but I guess it's less invasive.  They actually cut the growth plate in the leg that is longer, so the shorter leg can catch up.  The doctor we've talked with said this is a better and less painful option than bone-lengthening.  

Either way I'm sure we will be looking at some special shoes or inserts...which is fine, I wore orthotics in my shoes my whole life and I don't want anything to slow her down.  She's just ready to burst out  and start running around, I can see it!  

They will also x-ray Jude's right arm again to make sure the bones are not growing back together.  The goal is to keep them apart and keep her bending and straightening her arm on her own.   I dread these visits, but look forward to them at the same time because I hope to hear good news.   We're keeping our fingers and our hands crossed.