We had Reagan's well check about two weeks ago and here are his stats: He weighs 15 lbs 14 oz (50-75%), his height is 25 1/2" (75%), and his head is 16 3/4" (50-75%).
At our two month visit my doctor noticed that his head was pretty flat, and she told me that I needed to do more tummy time. She said that if it didn't round out, she'd talk to me about a helmet at 4 months. After doing quite a bit of tummy time and seeing that his head was not getting any better, I spent much of my spare time thinking, polling and researching helmets. I just jumped right in with that topic at this visit. She basically told me the decision was up to me. I asked her what she would do if she had a child with a flat head like Reagan's and she didn't really answer (she's a young doctor with no kids). She just told me her only concern would be how well safety helmets (bicycle, football, etc.) would fit his head if it didn't round out. She also said she didn't believe it would round out anymore than it already was without a helmet.
I've heard of a few people who regretted their decision to do a helmet, and I have one friend who has reminded me that it is completely aesthetic. Well, I decided to get a second opinion from my old pediatrician who seems to know a bit about this subject, and her advise was to go for the helmet. She said that there is mounting evidence that it is not just aesthetic. She told me that she believed his risk for spinal cord injuries would be increased due to his brachycephaly (flattened head). That was really enough for me. Matt was already on board, mainly because Reagan doesn't have a say in this decision right now. Matt didn't like the idea of Reagan finding out in the future that we could've fixed the problem, but chose not to. He also has some torticollis and slight facial asymmetry. All of these things are moderate, but they all go hand-in-hand and they can all be corrected. So that's what we are going to do! A friend asked me the other day what the risk was in doing a helmet. I hadn't really thought about that. There is no risk other than the cost (they're expensive) and the possibility of it not working. Like I said, his case is moderate so he'll only have to wear it for 8-12 weeks (23 1/2 hours a day). They tell me (Cranial Technologies) that the babies adjust pretty well and that this is the optimum time to do it. He'll have the helmet, DOC Band, as they call it, in 2 weeks, so there will be more pictures to come. I tried to scan the images of his head from Cranial Technologies, but my scanner wouldn't work, so here is one Matt and I took a few weeks ago.
Some people have asked what causes it. I've done a fair amount of online research and it seems that it is most common in boys (at the consultation we saw about 10 kids with bands...of those ten, ONE was a girl), NICU babies, premature babies, and multiples. Who really knows? He was technically term, but he did spend 8 days in NICU. I've read that is because they are on their backs soo much in NICU.
At his well-check we also talked about the fact that he was still nursing like a newborn (every 3 hours, even at night). She told me that he was fine to cry it out. She told me I could put him down at 8:00 and not go back in until 8:00. So that's what I did, that very night. It actually worked out. He's been sleeping at least 10 hours straight every night since. I'm still trying to figure out what to do in the morning. He tends to wake up between 5:00-6:30. I really don't want to start my day before 6:00am, but it's hard to hear him cry at that time since I'm also ready to nurse at that time. We also started rice cereal. I waited until 6 months to do this with Avery, but she was also sleeping 12 hours straight at this point.
Well, that's the update on my sweet boy. If you're still reading, thanks for checking in! I hate reading wordy blogs like this one, but I do hope to make this into a book, so this is as much for me as it is for you!
2 comments:
I read every word and loved it.... I write alot of words sometimes so I guess you hate my blogs... so sad... Just Kidding... I love the last pic and so glad to hear about the helmet and how is working out... can't wait to see pics of him in when it is ready... love you girl... and praying for you.
Sounds like you and Matt are making the right decision about the helmet. Isn't it so hard to be the ones that have to make all these decisions?
About the early morning wake up call... what I did sometimes with Elliott was take her downstairs to nurse and doze on the couch for a while before everyone else was up. Whether or not he will just hang out with you like that depends on his personality, of course. But you probably aren't going to get any more sleep listening to him fuss and feeling uncomfortable, and you are really going to be unhappy if he wakes Avery up that early!
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