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
Noggin, Mellon...glad to see my daughters college education is paying off. Actually Missy, your blog is AMAZING. Not only will it help you feel good about expressing your thoughts, but, all the other parents of babies with this condition will find comfort in your words.
ReplyDeleteNot only is Isabela, my beautiful, smart and healthy granddaughter going to benefit from the DOC band, but you my beautiful, smart and healthy daughter are also helping others find comfort in your words and experience.
RTFO.....way to go.
Same as above for my handsome, smart and healthy son in law....Raul, pops to our Bela!
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