And a new adventure is upon the Axman...
I mentioned in my last blog that Axel has been undergoing occupational therapy for his torticollis and that he would be undergoing a craniofacial evaluation for his little head.
His OT is going beautifully. He's making excellent progress... he really hates it when the OT stretches him, so we have both mutually agreed that the right thing for him is more active participation where he doesn't realize he's working that li'l muscle. Doing the stretches started to concern the OT because she felt that he was so adverse to them and reactionary that they may have a negative impact because of the level of force he was using to pull away was activating the muscles that we DON'T need to be lengthening. The other trick we've learned is to wear him out enough that he falls asleep. He's super easy to stretch when he's passed out. :)
I feel pretty lucky that I have a great boss who doesn't blink about the appointments... so I get to skip out of work for about 90 minutes once a week and spend time with the Nugget, in time that he thinks is just playing. It's really fun to walk into the classroom when they are all in there playing... the social mannerisms of infants are pretty funny. And chaotic! We like to go outside if the weather permits, as Axel absolutely loves the sunshine and seems to thrive in his activities when we do that. I do have a confession... we were working indoors in an open area one day and a teacher who I'd never met/seen walked by and saw him working. She looked at me and said, "Oh, Axel!!!" Then she smiled and said, "He's my favorite". Always a nice thing to hear!!!
Anyway, we finally had the evaluation with a craniofacial doctor. It was really interesting, I thought. They brought him in and did some quick measurements; then they took a series of pictures that let him get his "model" on. They had a Bumbo secured to a pedestal and used toys to get him to look in a specific direction. They took photos from each side, up, down, and a few different angles. Doc came in a while later and said that he looks to have Moderate Plagiocephaly, verging on Severe. (I've seen pics on line of severe, so I think he's closer to the moderate side) She said that if it was just a flat spot on his head, she wouldn't suggest any sort of action and see what happens. But that since his ears have been affected and his forehead is a bit pushed out on one side due to this, he really should get a helmet. Boo. She said that it's really up to us, but I asked her if it was her child, would she do it. And she said she absolutely would. I know that we can decide not to move forward and see if time serves him well, but I'd rather not chance it and do something that we know will get him to where he needs to be.
We made the appointment with the clinic who specializes in Doc Bands. http://www.cranialtech.com This place specializes in helmets for little people - and that's all they focus on. The first thing they did was similar to the craniofacial doctor in that they took images of him to get a good read on his situation. When they do this first round of images, they put a nylon mask on his head - only his chubby little face sticks out - and he looks like a baby bandit. When the clinician came in to review his results, I'm not going to lie. We all giggled at his mugshot. So serious.
You can see the plagiocephaly in the below pics on the bottom left more than any other shot.. but you can also see that his profile is different on each side. One of his cheeks comes out more than the other because the overall shifting of his features. The other thing you can notice is the difference in his little ears... one is higher and more forward than the other one. The second page of the report showed an illustrative version of his dimensions and called out which angles are viewed as severe plagiocephaly. Two of the three are, so it's a good thing that we are doing this now and nipping it in the bud. (Hopefully you can see the image)
SO we got our Doc Band yesterday. I think it's a blessing that we have been putting hats on this little person since he was itty bitty - he embraced the band and has been great about it. In fact, this morning, I showed it to him and he got a big ol' smile on his face. Anyway, the bands are custom made for each baby based off the measurements they make. His was ready on Monday, but we couldn't get there until Tuesday to get it. Got there at 9am and it was ready and waiting for him. They put it on him and he didn't seem to care. They leave him in it for about 10 - 15 minutes to see if there is any immediate redness or reaction. None - then they come back in and show us to put it on and take it off. Pretty easy. I got a little upset, I won't lie, it sucks to know that your little person has to wear this contraption on his head for the next 4 months or so... but seeing that he really doesn't care makes it a lot easier. I do have to admit... it's much more difficult to get the boy dressed when you have to pull a shirt over this contraption. But I'm sure we'll get it all figured out in due time. :)
I've taken time off work to stay with him because for the first few days he wears the band for 3 - 4 hours, you take it off for an hour - then you do it again until he goes to bed. You do this to ensure there is no redness that doesn't go away - literally its a pressure test to ensure the band isn't putting too much pressure on his noggin. I didn't feel right asking the school to do this and I still have Maternity time I didn't use; so we are spending quality time together. Evidently his teacher misses him - she called this morning to check on him and said he could always come in... :)
We are working on decorating the band. There are some places that actually do custom wraps for them. I've tasked my brother in law with coming up with a design... until then we are painting and doing stickers. We look much happier with a navy band, don't you think?
BREAKING NEWS: We got a swing! And someone thinks he looks really good in said swing... (be sure and read the shirt)
In other fun information, we finally, after 13 years of living in this house, had a deck built in the backyard. We figured that as much as he enjoys being outside, we should make the investment so that we can actually enjoy being out there with him! The crew finished today and I think we are going to stain it this weekend. It'll be so nice to sit out there and not just perch on a step! Already Axel and I have gone out to sit and enjoy the breeze... I think we'll get a lot of use out of it.
I'm sure there are other fun and exciting things that have occurred over the past weeks, but the main thing that has been consuming me is the process to get my little man's head reshaped, so that in turn is the meat of this blog post. I hope the obligatory cute pics made it worth the read. :)
I have read a few blogs from other moms who had little ones go through this process and I found it really interesting to hear about their journeys and loved the before and after pics... so I expect you'll be seeing those soon.
In closing...
His nine month shot. :) I can't believe how FAST time is flying!
His OT is going beautifully. He's making excellent progress... he really hates it when the OT stretches him, so we have both mutually agreed that the right thing for him is more active participation where he doesn't realize he's working that li'l muscle. Doing the stretches started to concern the OT because she felt that he was so adverse to them and reactionary that they may have a negative impact because of the level of force he was using to pull away was activating the muscles that we DON'T need to be lengthening. The other trick we've learned is to wear him out enough that he falls asleep. He's super easy to stretch when he's passed out. :)
I feel pretty lucky that I have a great boss who doesn't blink about the appointments... so I get to skip out of work for about 90 minutes once a week and spend time with the Nugget, in time that he thinks is just playing. It's really fun to walk into the classroom when they are all in there playing... the social mannerisms of infants are pretty funny. And chaotic! We like to go outside if the weather permits, as Axel absolutely loves the sunshine and seems to thrive in his activities when we do that. I do have a confession... we were working indoors in an open area one day and a teacher who I'd never met/seen walked by and saw him working. She looked at me and said, "Oh, Axel!!!" Then she smiled and said, "He's my favorite". Always a nice thing to hear!!!
Anyway, we finally had the evaluation with a craniofacial doctor. It was really interesting, I thought. They brought him in and did some quick measurements; then they took a series of pictures that let him get his "model" on. They had a Bumbo secured to a pedestal and used toys to get him to look in a specific direction. They took photos from each side, up, down, and a few different angles. Doc came in a while later and said that he looks to have Moderate Plagiocephaly, verging on Severe. (I've seen pics on line of severe, so I think he's closer to the moderate side) She said that if it was just a flat spot on his head, she wouldn't suggest any sort of action and see what happens. But that since his ears have been affected and his forehead is a bit pushed out on one side due to this, he really should get a helmet. Boo. She said that it's really up to us, but I asked her if it was her child, would she do it. And she said she absolutely would. I know that we can decide not to move forward and see if time serves him well, but I'd rather not chance it and do something that we know will get him to where he needs to be.
We made the appointment with the clinic who specializes in Doc Bands. http://www.cranialtech.com This place specializes in helmets for little people - and that's all they focus on. The first thing they did was similar to the craniofacial doctor in that they took images of him to get a good read on his situation. When they do this first round of images, they put a nylon mask on his head - only his chubby little face sticks out - and he looks like a baby bandit. When the clinician came in to review his results, I'm not going to lie. We all giggled at his mugshot. So serious.
You can see the plagiocephaly in the below pics on the bottom left more than any other shot.. but you can also see that his profile is different on each side. One of his cheeks comes out more than the other because the overall shifting of his features. The other thing you can notice is the difference in his little ears... one is higher and more forward than the other one. The second page of the report showed an illustrative version of his dimensions and called out which angles are viewed as severe plagiocephaly. Two of the three are, so it's a good thing that we are doing this now and nipping it in the bud. (Hopefully you can see the image)
SO we got our Doc Band yesterday. I think it's a blessing that we have been putting hats on this little person since he was itty bitty - he embraced the band and has been great about it. In fact, this morning, I showed it to him and he got a big ol' smile on his face. Anyway, the bands are custom made for each baby based off the measurements they make. His was ready on Monday, but we couldn't get there until Tuesday to get it. Got there at 9am and it was ready and waiting for him. They put it on him and he didn't seem to care. They leave him in it for about 10 - 15 minutes to see if there is any immediate redness or reaction. None - then they come back in and show us to put it on and take it off. Pretty easy. I got a little upset, I won't lie, it sucks to know that your little person has to wear this contraption on his head for the next 4 months or so... but seeing that he really doesn't care makes it a lot easier. I do have to admit... it's much more difficult to get the boy dressed when you have to pull a shirt over this contraption. But I'm sure we'll get it all figured out in due time. :)
 |
| Leaving the clinic. Not impressed. |
I've taken time off work to stay with him because for the first few days he wears the band for 3 - 4 hours, you take it off for an hour - then you do it again until he goes to bed. You do this to ensure there is no redness that doesn't go away - literally its a pressure test to ensure the band isn't putting too much pressure on his noggin. I didn't feel right asking the school to do this and I still have Maternity time I didn't use; so we are spending quality time together. Evidently his teacher misses him - she called this morning to check on him and said he could always come in... :)
We are working on decorating the band. There are some places that actually do custom wraps for them. I've tasked my brother in law with coming up with a design... until then we are painting and doing stickers. We look much happier with a navy band, don't you think?
He and I had breakfast with one of my oldest friends this morning - she and I were giggling over the fact that he can slam his head on things and is none the wiser. I think he hit the table a handful of times - never flinched. Maybe there is some additional benefit here!
In other news, I took a trip to Mountain View and left the Bernfeld boys behind. Both survived. FaceTime is an amazing thing - I put time on my calendar each day to talk to my boys. People respected it and didn't schedule over that time slot. I was able to see and talk to them both, which made the distance more bearable... and Ben would send me a pic each morning if what Axel was wearing... proof both were surviving!
Token bluebonnet pic:
Cute bath pic... I think he looks like a cupie doll... (I have no idea how to spell that)
In other fun information, we finally, after 13 years of living in this house, had a deck built in the backyard. We figured that as much as he enjoys being outside, we should make the investment so that we can actually enjoy being out there with him! The crew finished today and I think we are going to stain it this weekend. It'll be so nice to sit out there and not just perch on a step! Already Axel and I have gone out to sit and enjoy the breeze... I think we'll get a lot of use out of it.
I'm sure there are other fun and exciting things that have occurred over the past weeks, but the main thing that has been consuming me is the process to get my little man's head reshaped, so that in turn is the meat of this blog post. I hope the obligatory cute pics made it worth the read. :)
I have read a few blogs from other moms who had little ones go through this process and I found it really interesting to hear about their journeys and loved the before and after pics... so I expect you'll be seeing those soon.
In closing...
My friend had a airbrusher paint the band to look like R2D2...
ReplyDeleteLove the blog and LOVE you kidos so much....Grammy
ReplyDelete