A new helmet coming soon

Today was a busy day. This morning Eli had an appointment at UNC to look at his head. If you recall, we've had "flat head" issues for a long time now. At 4 months it was pretty severe and diagnosed as torticollis. We have been doing stretching exercises with him and his mobility to the right side has improved but not as well as the doctor would have liked to see at 6 months. So Eli's doctor recommended we see a pediatric cranio specialist. That's what we did this morning. We met with the doctor and talked about Eli's situation. When we left his office, we had decided to give it two more months and see how it looked then. Tim & I decided to go check out the "Brace Shop" at the hospital while we were there and see what we could expect if we had to get a helmet. We found out about the expense (and they're calling to see if insurance will help. Good news for us is that they said our insurance is one of the best at covering - whew!) and then met with a Certified Orthotist to talk about the process. She was so great and looked at Eli and talked to us about what happens. We also got to see pictures of lots of other babies with their helmets. Of course, this is much more common now that the push is for babies to sleep on their backs so we're not alone at all. The helmets are made of a semi-rigid foam interior and then an exterior shell. There is a hole in the top of it and it goes around their ears. There are lots of designs to choose from or you can get it white and decorate it yourself (who knew?!). The process is one where we would take Eli in to have a plaster mold made of his head to create his helmet. About 2 weeks later it would be ready and we take him back to get it fitted. A week later, we go back to have it checked and then it would be a visit every 2-3 weeks for as long as he wears it. They continually mold the helmet as he grows and his head changes. There is not supposed to be any pressure on his head, it only touches it. He would have to wear the helmet 23 hours a day for probably 4 months. Of course, the earlier we start, the better correction we'll get. We started thinking about summer, about losing two months of correctability and all other things if we delay him getting one. The Orthotist advised us that his head will self correct some but it will not completely correct on its' own. So, we're starting the process to get Eli a helmet. They're calling our insurance company and then, after the insurance is verified, we'll schedule his appointment to get the plaster mold made. He will absolutely hate that but we'll have to get through it. We'd rather be reporting that he's getting a new bike helmet but this is a little different than that. It'll take us a while to get used to but it is the best thing for him while he's still young and we can correct the problem. He exudes so much cuteness, he'll be able to pull off his new head gear no problem!!

After the doctor visit, we stopped by my jobsite in Chapel Hill so the guys could meet Tim and see how much Eli had grown. Couldn't resist taking a plans / hard hat picture.

Ready for work