A head report

So glad I didn't go to med school because I hate needles, blood and body parts.

The end of the story is his head is fine.

Here's the story of the day.

Our appointment was at 8:15 but we were late because daddy mis-estimated the amount of traffic at 7:15 and mommy wanted to stop for Starbucks.  We still arrived before the appointment time, but after the "get here 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork" time.  Bad Parents.

I knew we were at a hospital when we had to pay to park.  Booo.

The staff at the Dell Children's Craniofacial Clinic were awesome.  They were great with Drew, but especially great with parents who had no idea what was going on.  I filled out some paperwork while Rob answered some questions for the nurse.  The paperwork had to be the hardest part of the whole thing.  It asked questions like:

• What was his head shape at birth?  Like literally at birth?  Aren't most kids coneheads right after they are born? (Apparently some are not).
• When did he first hold his head up? Like ever?  I think he could hold his head up for one second since birth, and it's gotten better from there.  Please give me more information.  I don't want you to mis-diagnose my child because I say "2 months" because that's when he could do it for 2+ minutes, and you meant "at all."
• How much tummy time does your child get per day? Is Tummy Time the important thing here, or is "off his head" the important part?  Because he gets about 45 minutes of "tummy time," but spends a lot of time in his "stay off his head" devices (walker, jumper, exersaucer, bumbo).  Am I going to look like a neglectful parent who leaves my kid in his crib 23.25 hours a day because I only answer "45 minutes?"

After the nurse asked Rob questions and I wrote essay answers to the above questions, we went to the photo studio so they could take pics of the shape of Drew's head.  Because Drew has hair (he does, but it's basically clear), they put this panty hose hat on his head to really see the shape, and I commenced calling him "my little bank robber."  Here is a not-so-great pic.  We decided it was better for us to get what we could and stay out of the way of the tech.

Then the doctor came in, felt around his head, diagnosed him with something that I didn't ask her to repeat because she followed it up with "this is totally cosmetic, won't affect his development, and should be able to be corrected without a helmet."  WIN!  Rob asked if it was mild or severe and she said it was mild.  Double win!

(Note, a google search says he was diagnosed with plagiocephaly)

The good news is it's his entire back of his head.  Why is this good, you ask?  Well, if it was one side or the other, him favoring that side would probably cause the ligaments and muscles in the side of his neck he favored to shorten, thereby causing him to even more strongly favor that side.  So along with repositioning techniques, we would have to be doing stretches and basically forcing those muscles to stretch.  Luckily, we don't have to do that.  I'm supposed to keep him off his head as much as possible, roll a towel up under him while he is napping to force him off the back of his head, etc. 

All in all, the best diagnosis possible.  The doctors said that we came in really early (most kids come in between 6 and 8 months), so it should correct pretty fast.  We have a follow up appointment in 3 months, but she said if we think it has corrected before then to cancel our appointment. 

So again, if any of you mamas have any great things your kids love that keep them off their head, please send me a note and let me know!  We have a stationary jumper, an exersaucer, a walker, and a bumbo.  I was considering a doorway jumper.  Anything else??