Plagiocephaly

Alright... I will just come out and say it...Zoey is going to be wearing a helmet in 2 weeks.  She has what the doctors call Plagiocephaly, which is just a fancy term for flat or misshapen head.  I call it, Henry squished her head before being born.  (And the month long hospital stay laying down 20 hrs a day probably didn't help either).   We have been monitoring it to see if it would get better, but no amount of 'repositioning' her at night has helped.  So, we are biting the bullet and getting her a cranial molding cap (read: Helmet).

Is it necessary? No.  It will not cause any changes to her brain function or anything like that.  But we are doing it for her anyway.  I would hate for her to be self conscious about it all her life, knowing that would could have prevented it.

This first picture is from their most recent bath time... once you get past the cuteness of them both taking a bath at the same time, you will notice the shape of Zoey's head from the top.  The back is definitely flat, and one side sticks out further that the other...

This picture is from the side (we were actually at her Dr.'s appointment to discuss her placiocephaly).  Again, once you get past the cuteness of her hair, you can see how flat the back of her head is, and how in the top back, it sticks up more than it should. 

So, we made the appointment to see the doctor and move forward with the helmet.  On the drive to Gillette Children's Hospital I was feeling really sorry for myself.  Annoyed that we would have to get a helmet for Zoey, and that she would have to go to appointments every other week to adjust the cap, etc.  And then I walked into the hospital.  Wow, I had nothing to complain about.  There were families there with much more serious issues, that are probably at the dr every other day, just to live their lives.  Talk about putting everything in perspective.  

So, now with my new found perspective, I went into the appointment with a better attitude.  Zoey was a trooper the whole time.  The molding cap is custom built for her head, so they had to take some digital photos to get her head shape right.  In order to do this, she had to put on this funny little hat/shirt/hood.  She was quite patient during taking the pictures... even the dr was impressed.  She was even happy enough to let me take these pictures of her. 

So, in two weeks we will go back to get the molding cap.  It will look something like this...

She will wear it for 23 hours a day for two to four months.  Most people have said that the babies get used to it very quickly, an it doesn't bother them... I am hoping that is the case for Zoey. 

Honestly, I think that I will initially be a little self conscious about taking her out in public once she gets the helmet.  I have read many things about how judgmental other people are... thinking to themselves that if you would just hold your baby this wouldn't happen.  I know I will get over it quickly, but I don't know what I will do if any one says anything.  I have considered getting a shirt for Henry that says 'My sister wears a helmet because I squished her'  :)

I will be sure to post pictures of Zoey when she gets her helmet... but until then, we are going to enjoy as much swinging with the wind blowing through her hair as we can.