More Helmet Drama and EEG results

****Update*****

Whitt and I are flying out Wednesday for an appt.! Getting a little nervous about the way his head is shaping out.

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Well, after having his helmet back on for one day....it's back off!! I took it off yesterday for his "hour off" and noticed the skin under the side-burn part of the helmet was really red. Rubbing is normal and red spots are normal but only if they disappear with in 30 minutes. Whitt's was pretty red for about 3 hours....and is still a little pink this morning. So he definitely had some rubbing that caused a little break down in his skin. We are just going to keep it off for now. It is so tight on his head that I can't even close it. Sweet baby's head is just growing like a weed! It's frustrating being so far away from the treatment center because when things like this happen we can't just go in and get it taken care of. If we hopped on a plane to go right now, it would be over $500. I'm still having a hard time deciding what is going on with his head. Sometimes it looks totally normal, but other time it looks off. Crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. We don't have an appt. until 2 weeks from today....because we had to get the internet special for our flight.

It also occurred to me that I never posted about Whitt's EEG results. He had to have and EEG about a month ago to rule out infantile seizures. The results were normal....thank you, Jesus! He was doing (and still does) this little shiver, like when you have a chill go up your spine or when you've eaten a lemon. I had noticed him doing it for a while, but we just laughed and said he was having the hibbie-jibbies. Well, the day he started wearing his helmet 23 hours a day, he did it around 20 times in about 30 minutes. Long story short, Josh called our pedi, they wanted to see him that day, we recorded it on video so we could show the doc, he watched it a few times, he told us it was probably nothing but wanted to do an EEG anyway. So we did! The process is grueling. I let him go to sleep the night before about 6:45. Woke him up at 9:00 p.m. and kept him up until 11:45 p.m.. He slept until 4:30 a.m. when I had to wake him up and keep him up until the EEG at 8:00. Babies have to be sleep deprived to get an accurate reading. He took it all like a champ. We just played and played until it was time to go. He was great until about 7:30 and the melt down began. They glued all of the nodes to his head while he screamed bloody murder and then we had to wait for him to fall asleep. It took about 15 minutes of screaming before he passed out.....only to wake up about 15 minutes later screaming again. He was obviously just beyond his limit and couldn't get settled. He finally fell back asleep and slept for the remaining of the test....20 more min....to be awoken by strobe lights trying to induce a seizure. I had to go in there during that time and hold him to make sure he didn't fall off of the bed. I dang near had a seizure myself! ha! Anyway, we got the results about a week later and he's fine. We've come to the conclusion that he "shivers" because he's having a physical response to something....like eating, peeing, pooping, tired, and in the case of 20 shivers in 30 minutes....HIS HELMET!!!!!

Oh and Coop had to go to the er the other night because of croup! Boo......

All this to say......we are broke due to medical issues...and a $500 trip is hard on the wallet! So, I'm hoping we don't regret waiting this noggin thing out.

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!

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

I know this post is a day late...we've been a tad busy with birthday's/mother's day!

Wow! My sweet baby boy is 3! Wow! Cooper Joshua Jones, you are THREE! Wow! You are no longer a toddler, but a full blown kid!

So, what is Cooper up to these days? Where do I begin!?

You are truly the most affectionate human being that I have ever known to walk this earth. You absolutely love to love! You love to be held and kissed and hugged. One of your favorite things to do is "roll and kiss"! Thanks, Dee Dee! I will die on the inside the day that you realize that it is no longer cool to hug and kiss your mommy anymore...so, I am going to hold on to it as long as I possibly can! You have the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes.... and you sure know how to use them to get what you want!!!! They melt me into a million pieces. You are very much a big boy, but still like to be held like a baby on occasion! I think you get a tiny bit jealous of your brother....so I totally indulge you....and so do Dee Dee and Gabby! Daddy, on the other hand, thinks we are silly!

Ok, enough ewy-gooey stuff!! By all means, you are a boy....and even though you are a snuggle bug, you LOVE to play..... and play hard!!! However, you're not much for independent play. You will do it occasionally, but for the most part, you like company! Thank goodness you have a brother that you can some day be your play buddy! You are all about pretend play! You love to chase monsters with Dee Dee in a dark closet and bash them with toilet paper. You also enjoy riding your digger to the "store" to pick up groceries so that we can eat our strawberries and broccoli and drink our milk in the backyard! You love to catch minnows in the bathtub to put on your fishing pole so that I can catch you and reel you in! You are super imaginative and think up all sorts of fun little scenarios.

You are super social and love love love your playing with friends!!! I foresee you being a leader...you have a little bit of a bossy bone!

You love bugs!

You love your Gator and spend lots of time outside driving it. Daddy and I laugh that you are so good that you can practically parallel park it!

Our thing is: "You're my bestest!" I will say it to you and you will say it back!

You really love your little brother and he totally idolizes you! I pray with all of my heart that you will some day be the best friends!

You're really starting to enjoy playing baseball (t-ball) and are finally taking directions from Daddy on what to do! You can actually swing and hit the ball when daddy throws it to you!

You've been potty trained for almost a year! And you've been night trained for 6 months!

You still sleep with your froggy!

You are still taking a nap! It can last anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours. Your norm is about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. You go to bed between 8 and 8:30, but you sing and play in your bed for about 30 minutes before you actually fall asleep. You have been waking up quite frequently in the middle of the night crying. Usually once or twice a night. I think you are having nightmares! I don't know! But you always go right back to sleep!

Academically you are trucking right along! You know all of your letters (upper and lower...."g" "j" "q" are still tough for you) and all of their sounds. You are starting to sound out words in Bob books. You could be a little further along in the pre-reading department by now if you didn't have so much energy and if you had the desire to sit down and actually do it! Sometimes you can spell your name...but most of the time you say "O-P-R" Cooper!!!!! We'll get there! You've started to show someinterest in drawing and writing. We are working on writing letters. It depends on whether or not you are in the mood, but I think we will have something accomplished by the end of the summer! You can count to 20, but still miss 14 and 15! You can count backwards from 10 likenobodies business! You love to rhyme when we are reading Dr. Seuss! You can always finish the sentence with the correct rhyming word!

You love sno-cones, Toy Story, diggers, dirt, dark rooms, playing hide-and-seek, playing chase, terrorizing the kitty, Dee and Grandpa, Gabby and Grumps, you little brother, being naked, ......the list goes on and on! You're still a picky eater and would rather not ever have to eat! I hope to look back at this someday and laugh when you are a teenager and are consuming massive amounts of food!

Sweet baby boy, I love you more than you will ever know! You are so incredibly sweet, loving, hilarious, outgoing, silly, sensitive, happy, smart, and of course handsome! I'm so blessed to be your mommy! I can't believe you're already 3. I hope that you always stay as sweet and affectionate as you are right now! You are my world!

May 7, 2008

1st Birthday

1 year pics (14 months old)

2nd birthday

2 year pics (26 months old)

3rd birthday and 3 years pics to come!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed to be the daughter of an amazing mother and a mommy to two beautiful sons. To my mom: I wish I had the words, but I don't! Thank you so much for your love, compassion, and sacrificial heart! I love you so very much! I just hope that I can do half the job raising my boys as you did with us! To my sweet boys: My world would be nothing without you. I love you more than you can possibly ever comprehend. Thank you for making me the happiest mommy in the whole world!

There's No Crying in Baseball....

Or wearing clothes! But blue snow cones.....they're a must! ; )

9/11

This is a blog for our family memories. But May 1, 2011 was a big day. A day that will be etched in history forever. I want to remember this day. I want my boys to know about this day. I have no idea what this day will mean to them years from now. But in this moment, it means a lot to America and the world.

I know this is a popular blog that is read by many...me included, but this sweet girls says it better than I ever could. Take a second to read how she feels about this subject. As a Christian, I should feel the same....but didn't realize I should feel this way until I read her blog. Now I do. Click here to read her thoughts!

Ummmm...what was I doing when the news broke at 10:00 p.m.? I was in the front room folding laundry watching a dvr recorded episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County! So embarrassing to admit....but I want to remember what I was doing!!!!! Once the news broke, Josh was like, "Hey, Babe...look at this!" Then we were glued to the TV for the next hour! We watched Obama give a speech after several false reports that he was about to speak. We listened to his speech and then hit the sack...with lots of prayers.

Finally a play mate (video)!!!

Cooper is a kid that NEEDS a sibling! He is so desperate for attention all of the time. He's not a fan of playing by himself....mommy and daddy are his toys! We are constantly playing chase or "get me" as he calls it, rolling around on the floor or playing outside. His new favorite thing to do at Dee Dee's house is go in to her closet and hunt for monsters! I'm telling you, he likes his peeps!! So....now that Whitten is old enough to kind of play with Coop, he is in h-e-a-v-e-n!!!!! I'm am beyond thankful and blessed to have 2 boys! Maybe mommy can catch her breath soon while Cooper and Whitten play "chase"!!