Well, today was the day. We experienced what we were informed could be called the "Enlightenment Appointment." Luckily, Steven was able to stay home today and go with us to this appointment. This is actually the first helmet related appointment that he has been able to attend so it was nice having him there.
As of today Will has worn his helmet for approximately 5 1/2 weeks. We were initially informed that we could expect him to wear it around 10-12 weeks total. As I have mentioned before, his flattening is minimal. We were more concerned with the alignment of his ears and his forehead being pushed forward.
Today we didn't see Ms. Jackie but saw a very nice woman whose name escapes me at the moment. We made it there really early and the kids played together (very nicely might I add) until it was time for our appointment.
This appointment took place in a different room than we usually go into. This one had the black box of torture. Gasp! Luckily, Will didn't seem to remember this contraption. He was unfazed. We removed his helmet, put the sock cap thing on his head (which Steven felt made him look like a pirate) and got him ready to do his first scan since his initial scan was done to determine if the helmet was necessary.
Luckily today we had three people. The lady doing the scan, me holding his legs and arms down and Steven distracting him. It was so. much. easier. He did great! You never would have known that about 6 weeks ago it took two of us almost 45 minutes to get a fairly usable scan of his head. We did three different scans and he behaved for all of them. The last one was perfect and we got a really good picture of his head.
We must admit that we were super worried initially when the woman (I also am not 100% sure whether I want to call her an OT... I think she technically is so we will refer to her as one from this point forward) spent a lot of time reviewing his prior and current scan and not saying anything to us.
Then... it happened. She asked us if we were ready to remove the helmet. Um... what? It hasn't even been 6 weeks. As it turns out, Will experienced a huge growth spurt (7mm) in the last three weeks in his head and that really helped to round everything out. All of his numbers are within the limits expected and wanted and if we were ready to remove the helmet we were given the okay to do so.
After quite a bit of discussion we determined that Will still has a slight bump on the top of his head that doesn't show in the cranial scan. We decided that we would keep the helmet on him for now to attempt to help that as well as maybe get a bit more rounding on his back left and front right side but even if we do not get anything additional, he is good to go. His ears are still not perfectly symmetrical, but we were warned that might always be an issue. They are much closer than before, but may never fix themselves entirely. His forehead is rounded and if you look closely you can actually see where he had an indent on his front right side which is now corrected. Will is a helmet superstar. He rocks that helmet! Later, I had a thought... we are trying to fix that bump but if anyone has been reading our blog for a while, you might remember in Will's birth story that I mentioned that despite being delivered via c-section, suction was necessary. It caused a bump on his head that we were told could take years to rectify itself. That MIGHT be what the bump is. In which case, the helmet will not help.
We will have another follow up appointment in 2 1/2 weeks. At that time we will do another scan and determine if we want to continue with wearing the helmet. We are thinking that as long as nothing crazy happens to revert our progress, we will likely cease wearing the helmet at that point.
It is amazing to us to think that after 5 1/2 weeks we could have a helmet free baby. While we didn't choose that option, yet, it is possible. How crazy!
We also asked about the possibility of his head reverting to its prior flat state. We were informed that it is possible, but because he is sitting, standing, and trying to crawl as well as sleeping on his belly now, the chances are low. We will likely schedule a follow up appointment a few weeks after the helmet is removed to determine if there has been any regression.
So... we are looking at likely another 2 1/2 weeks (at least) of wearing the helmet. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I will admit, that I will miss it... but I will also be happy to see it go. I can't wait to see that adorable little head full of hair all the time. =)
One last picture. We took the top picture the day we found out that Will would benefit from the helmet. The bottom picture was taken about a week ago.
As of today Will has worn his helmet for approximately 5 1/2 weeks. We were initially informed that we could expect him to wear it around 10-12 weeks total. As I have mentioned before, his flattening is minimal. We were more concerned with the alignment of his ears and his forehead being pushed forward.
Today we didn't see Ms. Jackie but saw a very nice woman whose name escapes me at the moment. We made it there really early and the kids played together (very nicely might I add) until it was time for our appointment.
This appointment took place in a different room than we usually go into. This one had the black box of torture. Gasp! Luckily, Will didn't seem to remember this contraption. He was unfazed. We removed his helmet, put the sock cap thing on his head (which Steven felt made him look like a pirate) and got him ready to do his first scan since his initial scan was done to determine if the helmet was necessary.
Luckily today we had three people. The lady doing the scan, me holding his legs and arms down and Steven distracting him. It was so. much. easier. He did great! You never would have known that about 6 weeks ago it took two of us almost 45 minutes to get a fairly usable scan of his head. We did three different scans and he behaved for all of them. The last one was perfect and we got a really good picture of his head.
We must admit that we were super worried initially when the woman (I also am not 100% sure whether I want to call her an OT... I think she technically is so we will refer to her as one from this point forward) spent a lot of time reviewing his prior and current scan and not saying anything to us.
Then... it happened. She asked us if we were ready to remove the helmet. Um... what? It hasn't even been 6 weeks. As it turns out, Will experienced a huge growth spurt (7mm) in the last three weeks in his head and that really helped to round everything out. All of his numbers are within the limits expected and wanted and if we were ready to remove the helmet we were given the okay to do so.
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| Sort of hard to see in this format, but this is his initial scan with his new scan on top of it. |
We will have another follow up appointment in 2 1/2 weeks. At that time we will do another scan and determine if we want to continue with wearing the helmet. We are thinking that as long as nothing crazy happens to revert our progress, we will likely cease wearing the helmet at that point.
It is amazing to us to think that after 5 1/2 weeks we could have a helmet free baby. While we didn't choose that option, yet, it is possible. How crazy!
We also asked about the possibility of his head reverting to its prior flat state. We were informed that it is possible, but because he is sitting, standing, and trying to crawl as well as sleeping on his belly now, the chances are low. We will likely schedule a follow up appointment a few weeks after the helmet is removed to determine if there has been any regression.
So... we are looking at likely another 2 1/2 weeks (at least) of wearing the helmet. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I will admit, that I will miss it... but I will also be happy to see it go. I can't wait to see that adorable little head full of hair all the time. =)
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| Notice the helmet baby photo bomb... |
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