Helmet Graduation...Not So Fast!

Sooooo....Whitten and I flew to Dallas this past Thursday (May 5) for another helmet check! It was our first time to fly and it was sooo nice to be in and out of Dallas in less than 7 hours! He did absolutely great!!! Of course he didn't nap because he's such a people watcher...little man has to know everything that's going on in the world! He took a quick snooze in his stroller right before we boarded to come back to Midland, but that was it! I had to pull out lots of tricks on the flight back, but he was able to hang in there...barely....but he did!! A quick funny....! I saw three babies and mommies in the Dallas airport flying in for helmet appointments!!! We laughed that we should meet for reunions every other week!!

Anyway, after watching his noggin like a hawk for the past several weeks, I really felt like a lot of progress had been made. My expectations going into the appointment were, at best, we would only have to come back in for one more appt. in three weeks... and at the most, 2 more appts.! Making the duration of his helmet experience 9-12 weeks! But after his scan, our doctor came in and said, well, he's all fixed!!! He explained that there was nothing more that the helmet could do. He was 96% symmetrical. His original deviation was 7.1 mm. Our goal was to be at 3.5 mm. Mr. Homboy was at a whopping 1.7 mm in 5 1/2 weeks!!!!! Which means his head was nearly perfect!!!! He had some great growth during that time (1 cm.) and it all went to the right spots!!! So, as long as he wasn't a "couch potato" and flat on his back all of the time, he was good to go! The only time he is ever on his back is when he's in his car seat or stroller. I was super nervous about taking it off! He had only been wearing it for 5 1/2 weeks! Could this possibly be the end?!?! ****Side note....I kind of felt like his head might be over correcting a little bit! His right side, the good side, was looking a little flat. And his left side (the flat side) was super round. Ha....I was correct in my thinking! His head was actually starting to overcorrect!!***

Anyway, the doc said I can either wean him out of his helmet if that made me feel more comfortable, or I could just take it off! He assured me that his head wouldn't revert back, and all was well in "round noggin" land!!! At that moment, I opted for leaving it on, so he made some adjustments to it so that his head to could continue to grow in the right direction (without over correcting). However, when I got home and talked with Josh, we decided to just take the stinking thing off. If the doctor gave us an ok, then it was coming off!

Fast forward 5 days!!!!! Hmm......things are already starting to look different! I noticed it, but didn't say anything. Josh noticed it....and did say something! When Josh says something, that means a change has definitely been made. I called my mom to make her come and take a look, and sure enough, she felt like it was changing as well! So, long story short (not really) I called the doc, he said to put the helmet back on and that he would see us in two weeks! When I asked him if there was any way his head could reverse, he said, "No, not in this baby!" I still don't know what he meant by that, but....WE PUT THE HELMET BACK ON!!!!! I was so afraid that Whitt would throw a fit after having it off for 5 days...but he took it like a champ! Like it was supposed to be there! So, for now, the helmet is back on! As much as I hate it, it makes me feel better that it's back on! It's better to be safe than sorry because I would hate to have to start this process all over again. My sweet friend reminded me that bones in the head usually don't fuse until babies are 9 months, which means their heads are still soft...and any time before that, they can still flatten back out!

Here is a picture of his scan last Thursday. You can't see the red/blue color that tells you what's the before and after. So, the line on the inside is the before and the line on the outside is the after! Yes, the picture is turned sideways...I couldn't get it to flip for me! If you look closely, you can see the over correction!

P.S. I am so thankful that this is just a cosmetic issue! I know we are so blessed to have healthy babies. I know families are uprooted from their homes for months and months at a time for "real" issues. Thank you, sweet Jesus, for our healthy boys!