Helmet results

Wow! After looking at these pictures I can't believe how fast Jackson's head is remolding! This is simply amazing!!

 This is a picture of his head before he started wearing the helmet. His head is more square.

1 week in the helmet- His head already looks way better! The right side is still flat.
2 weeks in the helmet- His head look GREAT!!! Jackson's hair has grown tremendously. His ears are still not aligned (can't see this in the picture).

Boy meets helmet

Sorry I've been MIA. I took a blog vacation to focus on Jackson and helping him ease into his new "head gear".

So here it is... The helmet story..

The last picture of my big guy helmet less

Monday- Our appointment was at 2:30 for the final fitting of Jackson's helmet. Should be easy and quick..right..Wrong!!!

They brought out Jackson's helmet and tried it on him

 He did pretty good. He didn't even seem to care.

 He was just wondering what we were doing to his head.

 After hours...yes hours... of adjusting we finally went home!

Isn't  my little man so cute in his helmet??

I was still not satisfied with Jackson's helmet. His left eyelid was smashed over his eye and he couldn't see. This happened anytime he moved his head at all. The assistant said it was just the way Jackson's face was and there was nothing he could do. I was not happy. There was no way I was going to let my baby have a smashed eye for 3-6 months!!

On my hour and a half drive home. I  decided to call another clinic to see if they could look at his helmet and try to fix the problem. After a little bit of begging they were going to squeeze us in the next day. 

Jackson did not wear his helmet on Monday. By the time we got home from sitting in traffic it was dinner and bedtime.

 

I was SO mad that they drilled so many holes!!

Tuesday- We rushed off to our morning appointment at a new clinic to see if they could fix the mushed eyelid issue. After many adjustments and problem solving attempts it was fixed!!! Jackson wore his helmet on Tuesday one hour on, one hour off. He did great!! He doesn't even seem to notice its on.  I also decorated Jackson's helmet.

Wednesday- Jackson wore his helmet 2 hours on, 1 hour off today. He did great again! No issues. 

Thursday- Jackson wore his helmet 4 hours on, 1 hour off. He also took it off for physical therapy.

He did great again! 

 He played in it

 He took a nap without it

 He played some more in it

 He even fell asleep in it

Friday- Jackson wore his helmet for 8 hours on, 1 hour off and wore it for nap time. 

 This picture cracks me up. He fell asleep in his "hour off" with his tongue out!!!

Saturday- 23 hours on and 1 hour off from now on

 Jackson hung out with Mimi and she said he did great!!!!

Jackson is doing great with his helmet! He doesn't seem to mind wearing it at all. I think it makes his head a little heavier but that's it!!! This is such great news. It's harder on me then him for sure. You have to be careful when holding him or he will bang his helmet on your face!

We go back to the neurologist in December. Hopefully it's great news and he will be out of it sooner then we thought!!!

Here is his 1st head shot (day 1) of the helmet..I am going to take weekly progression pictures.

11/13/12- 1 day in the helmet.

 

Helment appointment #1

Yesterday Jackson and I headed off to get his head scanned (again) for his helmet.

Insurance IS going to cover his band!! Great news..right? Bad news: we have a horriably high co-pay. (BOO!)

 He got to wear the famous cap.

 

STAR scanner- One good thing about the star band is no molding! A  machine takes a 3d image of this head in about 3 seconds. Super quick!! 

 

Inside of the machine

After scanning his head we got to pick the color of his band. They do not have near the selection I was hoping for.

 This is it... Nothing I particularly liked.

So we ended up going with the baby blue

 The band on the far left. That is Jackson on the screen in 3d!!!

Jackson did great!!! We were not there very long. Everyone was very friendly and very efficient.

We go back November 12th to pick up his band. The tech told me they gradually work up to wearing the band over a weeks time. HORRAY! I though he was just going to have to wear it 23 hours starting from day one. 

Now I'm just waiting on his stickers. I can't wait to decorate it!! 

Torticollis

This morning Jackson had a Torticollis evaluation. We went to a physical therapist to see if he has it or not. He did get diagnosed. So now our journey begins. We will be doing weekly physical therapy sessions and I will be doing the stretches at home. Hopefully within time we can get his neck back to the way it should be.

I asked the therapist if she thought Jackson needed a helmet. She said his head is actually not terribly flat. After looking further she showed us his ear is being moved forward from the Torticollis. She felt around on his head and noticed that his soft spot is almost gone. He is only (almost) 3 months old. So this is the scary part. I know babies heads keep changing and growing until the age of 1 but I dont want his head to be "stuck" this flat. She told us his head isnt that bad but seeing his soft spot almost gone that if we wanted to do a helmet we should go forward with it now.

So, now its a waiting game. I called our pediatrician. She has to refer us to a neurologist who will then refer us to plastics ( the helmet people).

In the mean time I have already started his stretches at home. The pt told us no bouncer at all. Good thing Jackson doesn't like his bouncer. We have to do tummy time and lots of it. Jackson really does not like tummy time or his stretches so we are going to have one cranky baby.

I am so happy we caught this early. If it is not corrected it can effect his facial features, his fine motor skills, gross motor skills, eye site, speech.... the list goes on and on. So I am going to do everything I can to help Jackson.

Here is Jackson's head. It is very flat. This is our starting point. It can only get better!!!

(Please pray the pt, stretching and helmet fixes Jackson's head and neck muscles)

Let's talk helmets!!

James and I are pretty sure Jackson is going to need a helmet. He has his first PT appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully she will tell us if he will need one or not.

I have been researching them. I know they all cosmetic and they have nothing to do with their brain function. But, seriously would you want your baby growing up with a misshaped head? No. Jackson will thank us for this one day.

From what I gather there are different types of bands, but not every city has the facilities for that type of band. We live in Houston so there has to be different companies here. I guess??

So, spill the beans. If we have to get him a helmet which one do you suggest and why? If you don't mind me asking how much was it? I read that insurance wont cover most of it because it's "cosmetic".

Thanks in advance!!

(All I know if if Jackson has to get one he will be the cutest helmet baby EVER!!)


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