Helmet head!

Later today Noah has his second appointment with Cranial Technologies to evaluate his sweet little head for a molding helmet - a device called a DOC Band. Noah has plagiocephaly (slanted head shape), brachycephaly (flattened spot on head), and torticollis (tight neck muscle) from when he was in the womb. The doctors and clinicians suspect he spent too much time in a certain position with his head turned to the left in my tummy. Who knows what caused it - maybe he was just really comfortable or he dropped into my pelvis too soon. His doctor had us start special neck stretches, sleep positioning, and tummy time at 2 weeks old but the head shape has not changed on it's own despite intervention.

We went when Noah was 7 weeks old to Cranial Tech for a consult where they took pictures and measurements. The clinician suggested we come back when Noah was 3 months old for a follow-up evaluation. If his measurements are better he may not need the DOC Band - but his head looks the same to me! If he does need treatment, we go back in a few days for helmet creation! He would wear it for 23 hours a day for about 3 months (hopefully). Not continuing with the treatment has always been an option but we would risk Noah having vision, speech, hearing, and jaw alignment issues - no thank you! Most babies seem to adjust well to the helmet and it only weighs about 6 ounces. It does not put any painful pressure on his head but just prevents the skull from continuing to grow the direction it has been (basically up) so that it has no choice but to grow and fill out where his crooked flat spot is. That's all I've got for now.

Noah just woke up from an 8 1/2 hour stretch of sleep - thank you baby boy!!!