My Achy "Brachy" Heart

In a few weeks we will start on a short, however, difficult journey with miss Addyson. When she was 2 months old we discovered she had a condition called torticollis. Basically, she had stiff neck muscles. Whenever she was in the womb her head was positioned facing her right, and therefore when she was born she continued to always look in that direction. We promptly began therapy and started doing exercises with her at home to help correct and strengthen her neck muscles. It was there that our physical therapist mentioned that she had a bit of plagiocephaly as well. In a nut shell, plagiocephaly is a flattening on one or more sides of the head. Because of the encouragement to put babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS, my Addy-girl was beginning to develop a flat spot on the back of her head. Even worse, because of her torticollis she was always on her back with her head turned to the right, which was making her flatter on the right side of her head. Our pediatrician said that a lot of times babies heads will round out on their own, but if not she could require a helmet to help shape her skull.

Sleeping baby, turned to the right :(

I immediately began doing everything I could to keep my sweet girl off the back of her head and get her looking left. I put her on her stomach for naps (but we all know how nap time goes in this house), I quit taking morning walks so that she wouldn't be in her stroller, I quit putting her in her swing, and I even made my own little donut shaped pillow so if I had to put her down her head wouldn't be directly on the ground. I carried that baby around all day long so she wouldn't be on her back. But it wasn't enough.

Sleeping in her carseat...turned to the right

We went for her 6 month check-up last month and the doctor recommended a helmet. He said even though she's a girl and her hair will probably cover up the shape of her head when she's older, it can still affect how glasses will sit on her face, can cause TMJ or jaw misalignment, and even the way a regular sports or bike helmet will fit her head in the future. He wrote us a prescription and we were off to the "helmet specialists".

Last week we visited two places to get an evaluation for Addyson's plagiocephaly. They did scans of her head so we could get a true look at her skull shape and see the extent of the flat spots. We learned that she technically has what's called brachycephaly, which is the combination of a flat spot in the back and side of the head. Depending on how well her skull adapts to the helmet, she will have to wear it for 2-3 months for 23 hours a day :( We get to take it off for bath time and that's it! We will go in once a week to have adjustments made to the helmet and see her progress. Hopefully within the next few weeks we will have her helmet, and the sooner she gets it on, the sooner she gets to take it off!

Here is a front shot where you can really tell her torticollis causes her to be tighter on the right side. You can also see the left side of her skull protrudes more than the right.

Here is a side shot where you can see the flatness of the back of her skull. It has also caused her forehead to protrude slightly in the front.

This is the view from the top of her head where you can really see the left side protruding further than the right.

 

 

God is so good for blessing us with such a beautiful and healthy girl! We are so lucky that this has been our only bump in the road so far, and I know these next few months will fly by!!!