Friday, September 25, 2009

Big Head Colin and his Plagiocephaly Helmet Progress



Oh, Colin - you just have a big head, that's all! You'll grow into it!

We went for an ultrasound on Monday at Childrens Hospital and everything turned out fine... nothing to worry about. What I was worried about was that my son would hate me following the procedure. If you really don't have to ultrasound your kid's head -- don't. They have to put the probe right on the open anterior fontanelle, and your child needs to be perfectly still for the tech to get pictures to then show to a specialist.

As some of you may know, Colin is not a fan of anyone touching his head, covering his head, etc. I have never seen his face turn that shade of red, he was crying so hard and he was all sweaty and slippery making it near impossible for me to hold his hands and head still. I was mortified - but mostly sad for him and his obvious terror. The tech said this is normal and that they sometimes need a third person in there to hold the child down. Ugh. I thought he'd hurl from all the crying and mucus he had swallowed. I thought he'd never forgive me. I tried to sing to him, we shook toys, blew on pinwheels, tried to adminster his paci. Nothing helped. After 15 minutes of sheer agony, it was over. It took a full 5 minutes of me rocking him for all the residual sadness to abate. In other words, I don't recommend it.

So no hydrocephalus, no growths... just a big noggin. Nothing to worry about.

As far as his plagiocephaly progress...his helmet is working WONDERS!! Last week, after only 3 weeks of wearing his "hat", his flat spot has already filled in by half!

Before and After:


His left side flattening was depressed 15mm in comparison to his right side. It's already filled in 7-8mm! We can tell just by looking at him, too. Hopefully, he wont' have to wear it the full 3 months, but he is pretty cute in it!

4 comments:

Mommy, Esq. said...

Don't worry - that's the good thing about this age, they always forgive you. I remember when Penny had to be encapsulated in this devise sitting up/still to get a chest x-ray. And the blood draws! Oh, lordy. I'm glad I know how much she loves me and she always bounces back so well.

Julie said...

I can't imagine what that was like. Glad to hear everything turned out OK and that the helmet is working so quickly! He is pretty darn cute in the helmet though.

Just Kristen said...

LOOKING GOOD, Colin!
I am so sorry about the ultrasound experience. At least everything is fine!!

Boston Chef said...

Thanks! You are absolutely right... we'll take having to go through the tests any day as long as everything is alright with Big C and Lil' A!