Fixin' my Melon!

Well, from the time Tatem was a few hours old, the on call pediatrician told us her head was not symmetrical and she might need a helmet.  We assumed the doctor was referring to the same asymmetry that most newborns have, and that it would even out on its own.  4 months later, it looks like he was right!  We've been to three different appointments at two different places, and all confirmed that Tatem needs a helmet to reshape her sweet little head!

Tatem has two factors making her head uneven.

#1  My uterus was always about 5 weeks behind in size, and Tatem's head was waaay down very early.  Both of these caused her to be more squished than an average baby.

#2  Her torticollis (neck tightness on one side) means that it's much more comfortable to turn her head in one direction all the time.  As her brain grows so quickly, it grows in the direction of least resistance.  She's sleeping with her head on one side, so as her brain grows, it pushes her skull out in the other direction!

Here are some pictures that Cranial Tech took that really show it.

The left one was when she was 3 months, and the right one was at 4 months.  You can see it getting worse as she grows!  See how the right side of each picture bulges out more and the left side is flatter?

Again, the first column was at 3 months and the 2nd one is at 4 months.  Look how much better her torticollis is!  The bottom picture shows how her head is flatter on one side and much "curvier" on the other. 

This shifting of her skull can cause many different problems for her, so we are thankful to get it taken care of at this young age.  

The good news is that  we live in a big city and we were able to find a company that takes our insurance who makes these!  Each case has to be sent in for approval, so please pray that we have favor with our insurance! They said that ours is usually a good one. :)

By the end of next week, Tatem should be decked out in her her helmet (of course I ordered a pink one!) and I'll post pictures.  They said she'll wear it for 23 hours a day for anywhere from 2-5 months.  Hopefully she'll be done before we hit our usual 100+ degree days!

In case you happened to land on our blog looking for info on this, or in case you're just curious, check out this website a lot of families use to "Bling their band!"  They have some pretty funny phrases you can put on yours!