New Year, New Head!

Happy 2011 to everyone! I am hoping that 2011 brings us as much happiness and joy as 2010 did, minus the flood etc! (-:

Now...the new head! Our little peanut Isabella has a little bit of a flat head in the back. Sure, a lot of babies do, right!? I first noticed it at about 4 months. At her Dr's visit, our Ped didn't say anything about it, so I didn't either. I just made a concerted effort to keep her off her back more, tried to encourage more tummy time (which she hates!) I am not sure how I managed to raise 3 normal headed kids & my much sought after IVF baby ended up with a flat head!?? Maybe it WAS because I had 3 other children to chase after & take care of and chauffeur around...poor Isa ended up on her back in a car seat more often. Maybe she just naturally has a flat head shape from how she laid in utero. Who knows. At her 6 month well visit, (which by the way, her head had VASTLY improved!) the Dr ask me if I thought her head was a bit flat in back. Yes...it is.... but it is sooooo much better than it was at 4 months. He was not too concerned, said it didn't look bad, but that there was a place he could refer us to for a free evaluation to see if they recommend any treatment. He thought they would just say to continue to watch it since it had improved since 4 months. So, on December 21st we took a visit to Cranial Technologies. They met with us & explained their services and evaluated Isabella. This included taking "mug shots" of her head!

Turns out she is in the Mild-Moderate category & they do recommend that she wear a "helmet" as I used to refer to them....it is actually called a DOCBand. Her condition is technically called "Brachycephaly", which means flat back of head. (-:
The flatness on the back of her head gives her a little added height and a "sloped forehead". (which personally, I do not really see!) However, you can tell by her mug shots that she does definitely have some flat headedness going on. Shane was not at all convinced that she needed any treatment, but I wanted to do it. I could not live with myself if I didn't at least try to help reshape her beautiful little flat head! Besides, if we do not treat it, she could have problems with overbite in the future. It was not imperative that we treated her & it was up to us. Nothing bad (besides possible dental problems) would come of a flat head. You can see the little lines they drew on the pictures of where they would like to see her head round out & "shelf" if you look at her mugs closely! Besides, insurance covers 90% of the $4000 fee! And apparently, if you have insurance, they charge them just $2500, so actually, we only have to pay 10% of $2500...a mere $250. Not too bad! We go again tomorrow for her 3D imaging, where they create a Doc Band specifically for Isabella. It should be ready in mid January. As of now, they say she will wear it for 23 hrs a day for about 3 months.