Plagiocephaly?

Plagio... what? I don't even know how to pronounce that word! Remember in my 2 Month post when I mentioned Cai's misshapen head? Apparently it's Plagiocephaly (or flat head syndrome). To sum it up - Flat and misshapen head. It's caused by laying on one side as a preference. Or even in utero. I definitely think she was laying this way in utero as well. Girlfriend was really low the whole pregnancy, and head down for a long time (before my 3rd trimester even). Ever since she was born she preferred her right side.

We had an appointment with the head doctor/helmet people this morning last Friday ( I started writing this a week ago). It went pretty well. They started by taking pictures of her head. She was so good! She only cried (as you can see in the bottom left picture) when she was turned away from the lights, toys and Mommy.

Please excuse the crappy cell phone pictures

 You can really tell the best on this one. Yikes!

 Just for fun :)

After they took pictures, they took measurements of her head. Then the doctor came in and we talked. Cai's too little for a helmet at this point. She showed us some stretches for her neck. 3 different ones to do at every diaper change. Also to do lots of tummy time. She also mentioned limiting time in the swing, bouncy chair, and car seat. This is the hardest part. It's been hell this past week keeping her out of the swing. That's the only place she'll nap. She's already refusing sleep because she is SO interested in the world now, add not being able to nap in the swing =  baby insomnia. She's been so fussy. It's been hell for the both of us, until I finally give in and let her take a nap in the swing. Anyway, if her head is still looking like this in 4-6 weeks we go back to get fitted for the helmet.


So far we've been doing pretty good with the neck stretches, tummy time and all that. I think I'm starting to see a very slight improvement. Yay! So let's pray/cross our fingers that she doesn't need the stupid helmet. It's really super expensive. Although my insurance covers it 90%, they're considered out of network for some reason, so they reimburse us. Don't ask me where we're going to get the money if we need it. Ugh!

I just purchased this Boppy Noggin pillow thing. I can't do this no swing and bouncy thing. We need the swing/bouncy chair for all of us to stay sane. It just really breaks my heart that my 2.5month old baby is only sleeping 20 minutes the entire day! That's just not right. I know she's tired. As soon as give up and put her in the swing she's out for hours. You can insert this Noggin Pillow in all those things and it's really supposed to help with the flat head problem. The reviews are great and say they really helped with their babies flat heads. I will still limit her time in the swing/bouncy meaning I won't have her in there all day, but when we gotta give in, she's going in there. Saturday I sat around all day, and she would fall asleep 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there and then wake up. She was so fussy and crying all day because she was over tired.  So we'll see.