Plagiocephaly

There is my sweet Savannah with her adorable purple helmet. She was diagnosed with Plagiocephaly.  If you had asked me 5 months ago if I was okay with either of my children having to wear a helmet, I would have definitely not described it as adorable. When Savannah was 5 months old, her pediatrician was a little concerned with the flatness on the back of her head. We decided to wait until her next check-up to see if it had changed. Nope, it sure didn't. So at 7 months we took her to a specialist to have it checked. Sure enough, she needed one. 

I was mad. Not because of her having to wear the helmet. It was my pride. As you can see the twins don't even look like each other, and strangers always seemed to point that out. It played out like this. "oh look at this little boy, he is so beautiful. Look at his gorgeous blue eyes and adorable smile, he is definitely the cutest baby I have ever seen." that same person would realize that he was a twin and then move up to look at Savannah. "oh she's cute, definitely doesn't look like her brother though." End of conversation. Now they probably didn't mean to say Logan was cuter but that is how I always take it. I am overly sensitive. So you can imagine the thought that is going through my head now when I have been told my daughter needs to wear a helmet. How are those people going to treat her now? So I became prideful and mad. 

Our specialist (Branch Hunsaker at Hanger Orthotics) was awesome. He started by measuring her head for circumference. He they measured from corner to corner so to speak. Her flattest side was her right. The difference from side to side was 11 mm. 12 mm is classified as severe so she definitely would benefit from this helmet. We then waited for the approval from the insurance and almost 3 weeks later, she was fitted for it. It took one week to make it and the Wednesday after Labor day she got to bring it home. 

You gradually build up to wearing it. By the 5th day they should be wearing it 23 out of 24 hours a day. We did all that we were supposed to to and by the 5th day she was wearing it. She was so cute in it. It never bothered her and we were on our way to a better shaped head. Or so we thought. She had only had the helmet for 3 weeks and she got this infection above her right ear. We had to take it off and she couldn't wear it until it was all cleared. It took 2 weeks. We were back to square one. We had to start over. By the first week of October we were back to wearing it. She was all cleared and was able to wear it all the time. We went to our follow up appointment and she had improved my 5 mm. WE WERE EXCITED!! Even after all the craziness that happened, her head was still healing. We scheduled another appointment for the 13th of November, just 6 days ago. We took her in and she GRADUATED!!! She was down to where she was supposed to be. All in all she only wore the helmet for 8 weeks. It was a miracle. We were so proud and relieved that it didn't take longer. 

Now ask me 3 months later from the first day we were told she needed the helmet, if I am mad. No way!! I was able to educate people about the helmet and explain to them what it was for. I was also educated myself. I never knew what they were for. I had never met anyone with one. I know it was a positive decision we made for our daughter. I know it was needed and she will thank us later when she is older. Did anyone tease her? No. Did anyone have nasty things to say? No. In the end it all worked out. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.