"Headed" in the right direction... See what I did there?

A couple of months ago when Will's umbilical hernia healed all on its own with no surgical intervention and without much fanfare... I remember breathing a sigh of relief. Whew! No surgery for this little guy. We are entirely out of the words. While we will not need to endure a surgery with an infant again (thank goodness for that!), Will ended up needing to have his own special moment apparently anyway.

At Will's 6 month appointment everything looked great! He is one healthy little guy. Robust at 18 lbs, 7 oz (75th percentile) and tall at 27.25 inches (93rd percentile) but his head looked a little... odd. Will has always been a back sleeper. Despite the fact that he CAN roll, he chooses not to do so at bedtime or naps. He has a couple of times, but it was more on accident and he doesn't actually want to sleep that way. I noticed a long time ago that he tends to favor his left side. As a result, I started turning him each time I lay him down and changing which way he faces as I read that babies typically look out of their cribs when they sleep and rarely at walls. Additionally, when he was still in our room I would often turn his head during the night to the other side if I noticed he was favoring the left. I remember thinking that he had a slight flat spot on his head, but it wasn't major and I knew that a lot of spots fix themselves once babies begin sitting, crawling, walking, etc. The doctor wasn't initially concerned either. Will wasn't a huge fan of tummy time, but I usually pushed it knowing that it was also good for helping to round out that adorable noggin. Now, he actually likes it because he is working on learning to crawl... but... too little, too late apparently.

Anyway, back to that 6 month appointment. Our pediatrician noticed a flat spot on his left side and that it appeared that his head was then pushing to the right as a result. Once she pointed it out, it became pretty obvious to us, but it wasn't something we noticed before. Those adorable chubby cheeks must be too distracting. Between that and his blue eyes, I guess I don't notice his head shape that much. Really, I think it is because we see him all day, every day. She wanted us to have a consultation with a neurosurgeon. We were told that it was mostly cosmetic and she figured we had about a 50% chance of being recommended for a helmet. I just kept thinking... yeah... last time she sent us for a "consult", I was scheduling surgery for my 4 month old. She was right about that though... and I'm not a doctor. I don't even play one on TV... so I scheduled.

Those cheeks!!

We decided to have a lunch date at Chick Fil A before our appointment.
I knew Kenzie would miss her nap and also wanted to get some energy
out of her before I made her sit for a while in an office. (She did amazing,
by the way)

We had that appointment this week. I have to admit, I was nervous. Nothing like I was for Kenzie's hernia. I knew that fixing that would involve surgery. This is only a helmet. Also... first baby versus second baby. Haha! You get the idea. So we headed up to the Heart Institute near Arnold Palmer. I have no idea why their office is in that building... but that is one NICE building. That is irrelevant to our story though. We first met with a nurse that took a few measurements and his vitals. Our little chunker weighed 19 lbs, 2 oz... but he was dressed. So, he might have put on a couple of ounces but that is about it. I just know the kid is heavy and my one bicep is probably bigger than the other at this point. He was okay with all of that. No harm, no foul. Then we met with the woman that did the Level 4 scan. I don't know a lot about that, other than there is no harmful radiation, but it takes a picture of his skull using some sort of laser type thing. The picture actually looked a lot like a 3-D ultrasound might. It was a two part evaluation. First, they put this sock-like thing on his head. He looked like he might try to rob a bank. He would make one adorable bank robber. Then we had to lay him in this box like contraption. It was open at the head and foot but the sides were about 18 inches high. He did NOT like that. He only had to remain in that position and as still as possible for 1.8 seconds. You would think that's not much... but it is to a very upset 6 month old. He was NOT having it. It took us about 15 minutes between trying to get a few pictures, distracting him with a toy or video, picking him up to comfort him, and laying him back down to try again, to get one good picture. Then the woman took pictures of his head from all angles as well as a few measurements.

Then came the verdict... Any shifting under 6mm is considered normal. Will is at 7.6. He is very mild. Usually, she said that with those numbers they would not recommend a helmet but rather that we do even more tummy time, rotate his head when he is sleeping, etc. However... and this is a big however... Will does not only have a flat spot on the back of his head, but the way it is shaping is pushing his left ear forward as well as the left side of his forehead. It is known as facial asymmetry. For that reason, she recommended that we use the helmet. All that being said, he wasn't a clear cut case because his shifting is still minor. We talked for a while about what a helmet would entail for Will. If we move forward now, it is projected that he will wear it for approximately 10-12 weeks. Could be longer, likely wouldn't be shorter. That is an estimate based on doing the helmet now. The longer we wait, the more chance we have of him needing it for longer because his head growth will begin to slow down as he gets older and it will take longer to correct. He will wear it for a minimum of 23 hours a day. Because heads grow "in the path of least resistance" there will be an opening in the right front and left back to allow his head to even itself out.

Not the best picture, but I'm working with a 6 month old here. You
can see his left ear pushed slightly forward as well as the slant on his
left rear side.

This is the print out graphic of his scan. 

Okay. Good. Except I was there alone and we make decisions like this as a parenting team. I didn't need to decide that day, so we were okay. I met with the neurosurgeon next and she basically reiterated all the same thoughts. She said, it isn't necessary, but if it were her child she would do it. She did say we always had an option of waiting and coming back in a month to see if anything changed (i.e. worsened or maybe got better). She said she could tell that he was a very healthy little guy and since he is already working on milestones such as sitting (which he can do and he proudly showed off in their office) and trying to crawl, that the helmet shouldn't hinder his ability to do either. He has very strong neck muscles and the helmet is fairly light.

I left their office feeling very lost to be honest. I was no where near as upset as I was when I realized that Kenzie needed surgery. I wasn't actually upset at all, but just sad that I didn't notice this earlier to give us an opportunity to try to correct it on our own or possibly get the helmet earlier so it would be done sooner. Regardless, it is what it is.

After some discussion together, we decided that this needed to be done. If the doctors told us that it was just a slight flat spot, we might have moved on and taken the re-check in a month option; however, with the facial asymmetry, we believe it is entirely necessary.

Our happy little guy. I actually am sort of excited to see his silly round face in
that helmet. How adorable will he be? Not like it's easy to get any more
adorable... but we will try.

The next morning I put in a call to the helmet people (no, they aren't technically the same as the neurosurgeons), and told them we wanted to move forward. I have to say, when I heard the price... whoa! Unfortunately, I was also informed that insurance typically will not cover it because it isn't "surgically necessary". We were prepared for that, and while I knew what they typically ranged... this hits right at the top of the range I saw when I researched. That being said, it is going to be worth it to fix his little head. I love him facial asymmetry and all... but we believe it is necessary for us to try to fix it. (By the way... NEVER Google anything. I seriously need to start taking my advice when it comes to that... Will's facial asymmetry is minor but if it were major... Eek!) It just amazes me how something so small can cost so much. We did find out though that all office visits, future scans, measurements, etc. are included in the price for the remainder of his time in treatment so that lessens the blow a bit.

So, on May 12 we will be picking up Will's camo helmet and he will be wearing it for at least 2 1/2 months while we round out that noggin of his. =)