Sayonara Helmet

With all the excitement and planning that surrounded Scarlett's first birthday party, I neglected to post about her graduation day from the Doc Band. It has been a very long and slow process for us. She was one of the rare cases who had to have 2 helmets so she was in one or the other for 7 months. My niece had to have 2 also so something must be up on my side of the family!

Here are comparison pictures of her progress taken by Cranial Technologies. The picture on the far left is her before ever having a helmet (and with all her sweet baby fat too!). The picture in the middle is her after helmet #1, and the picture on the right is her after helmet #2.

Photo Study, Cranial Technologies

As you can see, in the beginning, it appears that she had a pretty severe case of plagiocephaly. Her poor little head was very flat! (And what I find scary is that they called her a mild case!)

Some cases of plagiocephaly are definitely caused in utero, but Scarlett's case was labeled as positional, meaning her head became flat from lying on her back after she was born. However, being aware of plagiocephaly because of my niece, I really worked at keeping her off the back of her head during naps and during the day, so I really think something had to be going on in utero with the position of her head.

Regardless, her head is still not a textbook example of perfection, but we are content with the progress she did make. They did not recommend a third helmet, thank goodness. They said as her head continues to grow, the angles will change and her head will appear even rounder. And if this kid will ever grow some more hair, she will be good to go! I am thankful it is all over and that there is no risk of her having jaw or vision problems in the future. Good-bye Helmet!

Hooray!

We found out today that Scarlett only has to wear her Doc Band for 2 more weeks. Her exit day is 2 days before her birthday!

Helmet Round 2

Scarlett's second helmet was ready for her today. Here we go again. She wore the first one religiously (I know there were pics where she wasn't wearing it, but those were just brief breaks) and she will wear this one just the same, 23 hours a day. I PRAY that it will correct her head for good. This helmet is a little different as every helmet is custom made based on each baby's need, and luckily there's still room for a bow! One of the only upsides to having her in a helmet right now is that it serves as a great head protector. As she pulls up and falls over, I don't worry as much about her bumping her head and getting hurt!

Even though she's been without a helmet for almost 3 weeks, she's adjusting to it again just fine!

Doc Band #2

What I've been dreading since Scarlett got her first Doc Band became reality last Monday. She needs a second helmet. This means another 12 weeks and another $3,600.

Babies' heads grow very rapidly. Every other week when we go for check-ups, they shave out some of the foam from the inside of the helmet to make more room. Eventually there's no foam left to shave, and the helmet becomes too small. Usually, the plagiocephaly (flat head) has corrected itself before the baby outgrows the helmet. However, some babies grow out of the helmet before their head has been completely corrected, as in Scarlett's case. She has made a lot of progress which they are able to show us with their incredible technology, but she still has a little more to go.

At first, Chris and I did not want to put her through this for another 3 months and the cost didn't help either. However, the more and more we looked at her head, we realized it is still a little flat on the back and side. We knew that if we didn't go with the second helmet and she had problems later in life, we would never forgive ourselves. So, helmet #2 here we come. It takes 2 weeks to make, so she'll have a little break at least. And hopefully by her first birthday she'll be helmet free with a nice little round head to show off!

Helmet Make-over!

Apparently the thing to do in the "Doc Band community" is to have them elaborately decorated. Every time we go for our weekly check-up we see so many cute helmets. Here's some pretty amazing examples from their website:


I was going to have hers painted but worried about the time she would have to be out of it in order for it to dry. I'm also weird about things matching so I almost just left it white since I can still put a bow in her hair. But I finally changed my mind again and decided to just decorate it myself with stickers. Mandy did this with London's helmet, and it was super cute. I think it looks much better, and it's not too loud so I think it will still look ok no matter what she's wearing.

Happy Helmet Day!

Scarlett now has her helmet. When they first put it on her, she didn't seem to mind. She does reach up and grab at it every once in a while, but she seems able to forget it's there most of the time. She won't have to sleep over night in it until Friday, and I think that will be the biggest battle we'll have. But until then, I think it's going to be ok. Poor baby, she's such a little trooper. She's been through a lot so far!

Here we are at Cranial Technologies this morning after they first put it on.

Later today at the park with Auntie, London, and Lily



We're going to monitor her progress ourselves as well by taking weekly pictures. Here's her little flat head today:

One exhausted baby; it was long day!

STRESS!

Stressed out is my middle name this week. I've been sick, Scarlett has a runny nose, we're moving Saturday (I'll explain in another post), and with seeing Chris less as he comes home just as I leave for work most evenings, it's just a tad bit crazy around our house. And today we had to get up early so that we could be at our appointment this morning for Scarlett's helmet/doc band fitting.

After fighting lovely Dallas traffic, we arrived 7 minutes late. The helmet fitting process is very quick. They placed this little stocking mask over her face that looks like pantyhose (you know like when you see a scary movie with a burglar wearing them over his face as a disguise?!). She did cry during this, but I think it was mainly because she has started this thing about seeing strangers. If a face is unfamiliar to her, she juts out that bottom lip and tears soon follow. Anyway, they took pictures of her with special equipment that produces 3-D images of her head so that they can make a helmet just for her. The helmet takes 2 weeks to make so she will have it soon. Oh, and the insurance has denied coverage, and we can appeal, but quite frankly, I don't know if I have the time or the energy to fight them anymore. Plus our policy states that they do not provide coverage for banding unless it's post operative...but that's all another story.

Anyway, we then came home to our tornado of a house, and I had to work on packing. Later this afternoon Scarlett was getting very bored with watching me pack so we went outside in the shade on a blanket. She loves it outside. It makes her very calm and relaxed. She was laughing and babbling and very interested in grabbing handfuls of grass. It's the wonderful moments like this with her that makes it all worth it. Ten years from now, I won't remember the stress or the messy house or the exhaustion as much as I'll remember just being with her and watching her grow. Ok, so I'll probably never forget how tired I am, but you get my point! : ) Here's Scarlett enjoying the shade!

Doc Band

As I mentioned in a previous post, our pediatrician, Dr. Lanman, referred Scarlett to Cranial Technologies in Dallas at her 4 month check-up so that they could evaluate the back of her head which has become flattened. We went on Wednesday and luckily my dad, aka Pa, went with us since Chris had to work. Based on their assessment of Scarlett which includes measurements and pictures, they have determined she will need the corrective helmet to remold her little flat head. My poor baby!

Cranial Technologies has named their corrective helmets "Doc Bands." Scarlett's condition is called "plagiocephaly" which results from external forces applied to the soft infant skull and "brachycephaly" in which the head flattens uniformly, causing a wider and shorter shape.

Although these conditions are caused by her sleeping on her back, they are unsure why only some children who sleep on their backs develop flat spots on their heads. She also favors looking to the right which has also added to the flattening. The condition cannot harm her brain or its development. However, if left untreated, she could have problems with face and ear asymmetry as well as vision and jaw/teeth problems.

Even though doctors consider this a medical condition and procedure, many insurance companies refuse to cover the cost of the corrective helmet, usually claiming that it's a cosmetic device. And because when it rains it pours, our insurance company has denied coverage, of course. We are going to appeal their decision, and believe me, they will be SICK of me by the end of this. Until our appeal process is over, and they make a definitive decision, we cannot get her in the helmet. We are unsure of how long we are willing to fight their decision because we want to get her in the helmet and get it over with!

Once she's in the helmet, the molding process should take around 6-12 weeks. My niece, London, also had to have a Doc Band so I guess that's why I'm able to handle this so well. My main concern is that Scarlett will be uncomfortable as she will have to wear the helmet 23 hours a day! But we'll deal with that when the time comes. She has beat jaundice and meningitis so I'm sure she's tough enough for this too! We would so appreciate your prayers as we endure yet another medical battle.

Here's my sweet London when she had her Doc Band!

4 Month Check-Up

We took Scarlett to her 4 month check-up appointment this week to find out that she weighs 17 pounds 13 ounces!!! For those of you who don't know anything about babies, let me tell you this is big!! She is above the 95th percentile for weight. She's my little chug-a-lug! She is 25.5 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for length.

She's right on track for her development at this stage. For example, she can hold her head upright and still when in a supported sitting position, she can grasp small toys, she reaches for objects, she notices moving objects, she can bear weight on her legs, and she babbles!

And of course, the shots she received were traumatic for her, Chris, and me! UGH!!!!

Also, we were referred to Cranial Technologies Inc. so they can check out her head which is flat in the back. This is common these days because of the huge push for babies to sleep on their backs in order to help prevent SIDS. She may have to wear a little helmet for a period of time in order to round out and reshape her head. My niece, London, had to wear one too so I guess flat heads run on my side of the family! : ) Anyway, more to come about this later.....our consultation appointment is this Wednesday. Please keep baby Scarlett in your prayers!