Before & After Pictures

I got the pictures from CranialTech of Isabela's before & after. WOW WOW WOW!

 

It is just incredible and amazing! Take a look...

 

 

You can see how wide the top of her head was before

Look how flat and now how perfect! :-D

 

The changes are so amazing. So obvious when you see it like this how much she needed this and benefited from her Doc Band.

Graduation Day!

Woo-Hoo she did it!!! Our princess graduated (the first of many graduations to come!) from her band today! It was a little bittersweet. We will miss our visits to the clinic, Teresa, and her sweet face framed by her helmet. It was a great experience that we'd do over again in a second. I encourage any parent that is thinking about getting their child a band to do so and not hesitate. It's quick, painless and a wonderful gift you can give your child for the rest of their life.

 

 

cupcakes for Teresa and the staff

 Daddy and his baby before we went in. Love her tutu!

 

 

Me and my baby girl

 

 

One last family photo before she's done!

 

 

This is the DSI machine they use to take pictures of their heads.

 

She did it!!

 

 :

) So happy!

 

 

She wouldn't smile, lol. She looks so wonderful!

 

 

A before & after photo. The left side is before. Look at the difference!!!

 

 

Another before & after. The change is incredible!!!

 

 

Teresa!! Isabela had enough of the photos, haha! We loved her!

 

Her diploma!

 

 

 

Can you see the red mark on her forehead? She bumped her head about an hour after she graduated! This is new for us, she's been "baby proofed!" :)

 

Once I get the email from CranialTech with all of her pictures from today I'll post some more. We are elated with the results and so excited for the new chapter to begin. <3

It's here!!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Isabela graduates from her Doc Band!

 

It's been such an amazing experience, but we are ready to see her beautiful head uncovered! I was very tempted to keep the band off today, lol, but I fought the urge and she has worn it all day!

 

Today is week 13. Last pictures before we're done....so exciting! 

I made some AMAZINGLY delicious cupcakes for Teresa and the staff at CranialTech, I can't thank them enough for what they have done! :)

Happy Halloween!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Week 12...ONLY 7 MORE DAYS!!!

We are in the home stretch, only 7 days to go! :-D

 

 

 

I mean come on....look how round and perfect her little head is!! It's so exciting to see the amazing difference, and in only 12 weeks!

 

Our graduation is on 11/7 :) I'm going to be sad to say goodbye to Teresa, she's been so great! But I am excited to start this next chapter in her life with a beautiful noggin! Now we're going to have to start dealing with bumps and bruises when she fall :-/ YIKES!

 

This picture is from April, she was three months old. Look how flat! How did we not notice and realize it was an issue?! We thought she was a little flat, but thought it was just her shape. I sure am glad our pediatrician told us at her 4 month appointment that we should have her looked at. This has been such a great experience and made such a big difference!

 

Alright...I'll post some graduation and before/after pics next week. Wow...can't believe we're almost done ;)

Week 11...13 more days!!!!!

Bela's exit/graduation appointment is scheduled 11/6 at 9:30! WOO-HOO! While time has flown by and the results are beyond what we could have imagined and its been painless and easy, we're ready for her to be done! It's getting harder each day to put her helmet back on after her bath because she looks so cute without it. I think it's just because I know we're so close to the end I'm excited and anxious for the next chapter!

 

Teresa was again so thrilled with the progress from two weeks ago. Isabela's head is very cooperative (lol) and does what she asks! The back has grown out more and her circumference of her head grew a few more cm which is what they want to see!

 

 

 

I cannot wait to have her pictures taken again and compared at the clinic at her exit appointment. It's going to be so amazing to look it over with Teresa and hear what she has to say :-D

 

Isabela has a very special outfit picked out for graduation...daddy thinks I'm silly, but it's a big day!!!!

Week 10 already? Where did week 9 go?!?!?

This past week flew by in the blink of an eye. I cannot believe it's week 10 already!

 

 

 

 She is going so wiggly it's hard to take the pictures now. Sorry they're blurry again!

You can see, especially on the left side, that she still needs to fill in on the bottom. But WOW, since our last appointment, 10/12, we have seen changes.

 

 

Here is her left profile again from week 9... 

I know her hair isn't as wet in this weeks picture, but I think you can still see a slight difference. I can!! :-D That makes me one happy mama!

 

I'm going to call Cranial Tech and set our exit appointment. So exciting!!!!!!!!

Week 9

This is a few days late...we have a cranky teething baby on our hands! Poor thing, these teeth just won't pop out! She'll be 9 months on Saturday the 13th and she is still awaiting her first tooth! But to the topic at hand....

 

We had our appointment yesterday and we didn't set our appointment yet, but Isabela graduates from her band the week of 10/5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping because she's doing so great we could be done at our next visit, but that's fine. These last four weeks are going to just fly by!

 

Teresa asked how we thought she's doing and I told her I might be crazy but over the last 3-4 days I noticed that the bottom seemed to have rounded out a lot. She did her exam and guess what...I'm not crazy! She definitely agreed that it had come out more, wasn't as flat.

 

 

My little munchkin wouldn't stay still so that's why these are a bit blurry

 

You can really see in this picture where she still needs to round out. It's looking better but these last 4 weeks should really help. Teresa said that by shaving our more foam in that area, the skull will continue to grow there. She wants to see a little more narrowness through her forehead and sides and have it move to the back.

 

 

My husband said she had a bit of "Baby Stewie" head from Family Guy before! She was so much wider on the sides. Now she is much more proportional but Teresa thinks we can get some further results!

 

Overall, great visit...so proud of her!!

Looking great at 8 (weeks)!

We celebrated 8 weeks in our band on Tuesday

 

 

I put a headband on her today while her helmet was off. OMG she looked AMAZING!! I cannot wait for her helmet to be off. I still know that I will miss it, in some way, but man I am so excited! We are so close :)

 

We still think she looks just like her daddy, but with the changes made, she is beginning to look more like me (YAY!).

Doc Band Babies Unite!

Almost every time we go out I have a parent approach me telling me that their son/daughter had a Doc Band! They always say how they just feel like they need to come up and tell me and tell me how wonderful it was and how great their child's head looks now. It's really nice...it confirms that the families going through this journey are apart of a community. I know for a fact that once Isabela is done I will approach other parents with children wearing one. I know how it makes me feel positive about it, and I would love to share that feeling with others.

I rarely saw any children with bands before Isabela got hers. I have not seen one with a band now that she has it. I was commenting on this the other day to my family....and today I met another family whose little girl had a band on! I was out to lunch with my dad and a woman tapped me on the shoulder and told me her daughter has a band and its been five weeks. We spoke for a few minutes, exchanging remarks on how amazing it is. I walked over and saw their beautiful baby girl and I think she and Isabela had a moment ;)

The funny part is that she and I are both members of the Doc Band Facebook page...and she has seen a post I made about my blog and has looked at it, and I have seen and "liked" a picture of her baby she posted!!! Small world huh?! It was really nice to see another baby out with a Doc Band. I will probably never see them again, or maybe we'll run into each other at Cranial Tech one day. Perhaps we'll comment on one another's pictures again on Facebook. Maybe that sweet baby girls mom is reading this right now ;)

Speaking of sweet baby girl...look at the smile!

Could it be...only five more weeks?!

Yesterday, 9/25, was Isabela's 7 weeks in her DocBand. Today was our appointment and as usual, Teresa was thrilled with her progress :) She said the average time for her age is 12 weeks, so we're looking at 5 more!

 

I cannot wait until her helmet is off, just to see her beautiful head (and put headbands on again of course)! However, I am definitely going to miss it. It's weird...I had so much stress and anxiety over it before we started and now it's such a part of her, I know it's going to be an adjustment once we're done.

 

Here are some pictures for the week...

 

 

 

Teresa asked us how we feel she is doing. I got a little teary eyed (but I think I hid it well) when we told her how amazed we are!! There's some more rounding (is that even a word?!) that needs to happen in the back, but man look at the round head!! She again told us that her head isn't as high and pointy on the top and definitely not as wide through the front.

 

Playing with daddy at our checkup today!

 

 

6 Weeks Already??

The title says it all...can't believe it's been 6 weeks already! One of my fears before we got Isabela's band was that time was going to go so slowly. I thought it would seem like she was in the band forever and we'd never see her cute little head again. Man, I was wrong! I don't know where the last 6 weeks have gone!

 

What I do know is that her stickers have stayed on since I had to change them week 2. This makes mama happy!! :) The sticker we're using is sold out at Michael's and it's not a pain to apply the sticker, rhinestones and ModgePodge, but it keeps her out of her helmet for a few hours and I don't want to waste that time. So I'm hoping I won't have to reapply for the rest of her treatment.

 

Now for the goods...here are her 6 week pics! Now don't be fooled by her hair. I know it makes her head look a little rounded, but she truly is making this great progress!!

 

 

 

 Here is another "before" shot. This was taken 8/1, 6 days before we started her treatment. Definitely shows the difference, and it's not just her hair appearing so...wow, if I may say so myself!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Weeks and Counting

Time is flying by!! We can't believe Isabela has had her Doc Band for 5 weeks already!! We had our appointment today with Teresa (love her!) and she once again said she is very happy with her progress.

I asked her why she appears to look flat towards the top of her head, rounded in the middle and then flat on the bottom (in the back). She said that the flatness towards the top is normal and we all have a flat spot. Of course, we all felt our heads to confirm haha! The flatness on the bottom of her head is what they are focusing on now. She has rounded through the middle and she was happy about that and told us that's usually the more difficult spot to mold, and Isabela conquered that first! What a showoff we have!!

 
I remembered to take a picture of her head mold (headsicle) that they use to compare her head before she started to now...

I feel like the picture doesn't do the shape justice. In person, you can really tell how flat the back of her head was. Also you can see from a birds eye view, how it is wide across the top and flat in back. However, you can see how she isn't round on the bottom, we're fixing that!

 

They use the stocking to push her hair down to get a good look at her head. She looks like a bandit up to no good!!

 

There is progress to be made, but we are so thrilled with how she is doing. I keep saying week after week, but it's amazing how this works and she has taken to it so well! Teresa said that we're probably looking at 2 1/2-3 months, so we're halfway done! We couldn't be happier :-D

 

4 weeks!

I've been meaning to post this since Tuesday...bad mommy!! It has been 4 weeks, already! It's amazing how time flies!!  Here are some side by side pics of her before and at 4 weeks.

 

The sides aren't as wide from the front now. Her forehead is becoming more defined as a forehead, and not such as slope into the top of her head. That might not make sense, but thats what they said and when you see her treatment pics from the clinic, you can see.

                                                View from the left, looking so round :) She's also filled in on the bottom a little bit.

 

This might be hard to see also, but she isn't as wide. Pressure is being applied constantly to move her bones in and round out versus staying wide on the sides. Look how long her hair is :)

View from the right. She looks great!