Another great visit!

I know I sound like a broken record saying over and over again how great Isabela's doing...but I can't help it! We had our appointment today and Therese, our orthotist, said she's making great progress. Her head has gotten rounder and the bottom has filled out more too (it's not just a straight, flat drop). The circumference of her head increased by about a cm, which is good because that means it's gotten fuller/rounder. She's very pleased with how she's looking! :)

I forgot to take a picture of her head mold or headsicle as I heard another mom call it! It's the mold they make of her head, that they used to design her helmet. That's how they measure her progress. It's hilarious, I have to remember to take a picture at our next visit!

In other news: now that she's crawling and sitting up like a pro, she decided to tackle a new skill...pulling herself up and standing, oy!!! It's adorable. She's done it on her Bumbo, a few toys and the couch once! We're in for it...I feel like it won't be long before she's pulling herself up on everything!

3 Weeks and Looking Fab!!

So today is 3 weeks in the Doc Band and let me tell you...the results are amazing! We go tomorrow for her checkup and I cannot wait to hear what they have to say!!!

 

Not quite as wide from the back

 

 

Her forehead isn't as narrow anymore

 

 

 

Look how beautiful and round the profile views are!!

 

My only concern right now is above her right ear. With Brachycephaly (flatness of the head), the babies head is wider starting above the ears to the top of the head. Her band is correcting that but she has a noticeable bump above her right ear. I know this is just part of the adjustment and movement, but I have to ask about that tomorrow.

 

Whatever the treatment period is, it is. If she has to wear it for 6 months we're fine with that. But...since she's looking so good already, I'm still hopeful it will be shorter. She looks so stinkin' cute in her band and doesn't mind it at all, but when it's off for bath time and I see her perfect head uncovered, I miss it. I can't wait to put her headbands on again :)

2 Weeks Down!!

It's been 2 weeks and we are so amazed at how Isabela's head is changing!

The difference is so obvious, we can't wait until our appointment next week to see what the orthotist says!

She's still doing great with the band. In fact, when it's off for her hour break each day, she seems to miss it! When we put it back on, she gets the biggest smile on her face :)

First checkup...success!

We had Bela's first checkup with Cranial Tech yesterday. The orthotist said she could see some progress in her forehead and the back had rounded a little! I was so happy to hear this! I thought I saw some changes, but it's nice to hear it from her as well!

They shaved some of the foam in the back of her band to give her head more room to grow. Every time they see her head getting rounder they will shave more foam to continue shaping her head. Once they shave out all of the foam...we're done! :)

We go back in two weeks for another visit. Hopefully they'll continue seeing great progress. We're so proud of our little girl :)

Here are some pictures of her head after 1 week in the Doc Band...

The sides of her head are not quite as wide as before. This has allowed her forehead to get a little wider, it was narrow before.

See how it's round?! Well we can...it's amazing after only one week!

Looks flatter from this side. We still have a lot of work to go until her melon's fully ripe ;)



We have a crawler!

Our little munchkin started crawling!! She isn't going very far but she's got the motion down! She tries and if she falls, she gets up again and starts over! I can't believe it :)



Her Doc Band definitely isn't holding her back!

We're already noticing some progress, and it's only been 6 days! If we stopped using the band now her head would go back to it's flatter shape.  But, I'm very happy to see that progress has begun. I was hoping this would be a 6 week journey, but seeing how she's adjusted and how freaking adorable she looks, I'd be fine if it winds up being 3-4 months.

We've gone out a number of times and haven't had any stupid comments or whispers.  One little boy asked "why is that baby wearing a helmet?" So my mom and I explained why and he was very happy with our answer.  A few people have given a quick glance, but then said how cute she is and they love the flower on the front. There was one woman who walked by and stared at Bel.  She was trying to be sly about it, but didn't think about the fact that I was standing right there, and could see her (and was watching her) stare as she walked by.  She was the only person whose look was a little discomforting.  But if she's ignorant, and didn't want to ask why she was wearing it, that's her problem. I don't have time for people like her when I have this amazing little girl to take care of!

Two of her stickers have started to peel on the back! BUMMER!! I am going to replace them with a few more rhinestones, I think it will look just as cute.  I'm sure we'll have to take everything off in a few weeks, thinking of new ideas. I really like what she has now though, we might just have to do it all over again :)

All Blinged Out!

I had a good time decorating Isabela's band! I was a little nervous at first that I was going to screw it up, but I let my creative side take over, and I think it looks pretty good...

Rhinestones around the band. Gives some sparkle and pizzazz, without adding too much.

Pretty as a princess is correct! A little rose for her middle name, Rose.

Notice the color of the flower changes in the next pictures...velcro baby! I put a piece of velcro on the band and on her flowers so they can be switched out depending on what she's wearing!! :)

A coat of ModgePodge to seal everything and it was done. I'm sure these will only last a few weeks, so I'm already thinking of what to do next!

Our Priness Has Her Crown!

We got Isabela's DocBand today! I was a nervous and anxious wreck leading up to the appointment. Isabela...had no idea :)

I definitely cried a little bit when they brought her helmet in and put it on. Isabela...didn't even flinch :)

She was such a good girl! She only whined a little bit when they wiggled the helmet around to check the fit.  She was smiling and talking (plus a little fussiness because it was nap time) the entire appointment.  Raul and I were so proud of her.  We asked a few questions, got some instructions on how to care for the DocBand, set our first checkup appointment and we were done! We took our princess and her new crown home!!

We got home and she ate (without a problem), played with her toys (no problem there), and took a nap (looks as comfortable as ever). She even fell backwards while playing and didn't cry or look upset...she has a helmet to protect her now!!!

It's been a good day so far. We're having a great first day experience with her DocBand. When she wakes up soon we need to do our first check of her skin. The helmet needs to come off and her head needs to be checked for red spots. They are to be expected, as long as they go away relatively fast. We are so proud of our baby girl, she's as happy as ever!!

A few pictures before we went

Look at that face!! Totally unaffected :)

I'll post some pictures after I bling her helmet!!!

Tomorrow's the day!

We have an appointment tomorrow with CranialTech for Bela's fitting.  I'm excited to get the process started, but getting really anxious at the same time...

I'm nervous about how she'll take to the DocBand. Will she have a hard time adjusting? How long until it feels normal wearing it? I've read other mom's blogs and some have said their baby took 2-3 days to adjust, and it was hardest at night. Isabela is a great sleeper, so I hope this doesn't mess up her schedule and she can sleep just fine.

I know it won't hurt her, but I hope she isn't uncomfortable.

On the flip side, after seeing so many pictures and other children at the clinic in their DocBands, I know she is going to look so cute! I am excited to decorate over the next few days. We are going to bling it out!! We're doing rhinestones, a princess sticker, and a velcro square on the front to attach her hair bows and flowers! A girls got to accessorize!! :)

I'll put up pics once she has her helmet. Wish us luck!!

A few pictures before treatment starts

We go on Tuesday 8/7 to get Bela's DocBand!! Here are a couple of pictures of her head now...

The sides of her head are a little wide. Her ears are also asymmetrical. Her right ear is a little forward compared to her left.

Here's a shot from the back. You can see how the top part is a little wide and then it gets flat as it goes down.

Her head is rounded on top, then goes flat.  It's a lot easier to tell when it's wet, otherwise her hair hides it pretty well.

"The DOC Band works by applying mild holding pressures and capturing the growth of an infant's head. This method directs growth to the flat regions and discourages it in the prominent areas" (CranialTech.com).  Isabela has a moderate, not severe, case of plagiocephaly. We are hopeful that her pretty little head will reshape quickly!! :)

So it begins...

Our lives were forever changed when our little princess Isabela was born January 13, 2012.

She was perfect from day one...her head was just a little flatter than some! We just assumed that was the shape of her head because her daddy has a flat head! :)

At Isabela's 4 month checkup, her pediatrician expressed concern that her head was a little flat. When we went back for her 6 month checkup, she again told us it felt/looked flat and she thought we should go for an evaluation at Cranial Technologies to see if she needs a Doc Band. This was incredibly hard to hear. We knew it was a little flat, but like I said we just thought it was the shape of her head. Raul took the suggestion of an evaluation better than I did, I was really upset. I didn't want people to think she was neglected and left on her back all day, I didn't want people to see her with the helmet and think she had some neurological issue or other disorder, I didn't want her to be uncomfortable, or delay her development. Most of all, I didn't want our precious baby girl to wear a helmet, bottom line. As a parent you never want anything to be wrong with your child.



We decided that we should go to the evaluation (it was totally free!) just to see what they had to say. The staff was so nice and welcoming. They have an amazing machine that takes 3d pictures of your child's head and converts them into a  3d image on the computer. When they showed us the pictures we saw for the first time how flat Isabela's head really is. She has brachycephaly with plagiocephaly, which is a fancy way of saying her head is flat.  She doesn't have a "normal" round head.  "How did this happen?" I asked the technician, being sure to tell her she is rarely on her back and does tummy time a lot throughout the day. She told us it could have shaped this way in utero...who knew?! Isabela is an amazing baby and has slept through the night since 8 weeks, (I know we're extremely lucky!) but this may have contributed to her head being flat. After our appointment we decided that we wanted to go ahead with the Doc Band. We knew that a flat head would not affect her developmentally or physically, but, if we could reshape her noggin now and make her more comfortable with her head for the rest of her life, it would be selfish not to.  My grandma (Bubby) told me to think of the Doc Band as braces for her head. If she has crooked teeth, we'd fix them with braces...right?!



I wanted to create this blog as a way to chronicle our journey of fixin' her melon!! I'll post pictures as we go along to show the progress she's making. While we wish she didn't have to wear this, we know we are extremely lucky that this is the only issue she's had, and we know that things could be much worse. This process should only last between 6 weeks and 3 months and then our perfect baby girl will be even more perfect....if that's even possible <3