update on Annelise's appointment - plagiocephaly

Annelise had her appointment with the craniofacial doctor for her head shape on Friday. The appointment went well. The doctor said that she has "mild to average" plagiocephaly (flat spot) and that most of it is due to factors in utero (multiple gestation, low amniotic fluid, head down and low in the pelvis for the whole pregnancy). He said that it will likely improve by her third birthday, but the extent of improvement cannot be predicted. Annelise does qualify for a helmet to correct her head shape, but her head is a bit too small yet. She measures 40.2 cm and her head needs to be 42 cm before she can be measured for a helmet. He also wants her to have just a bit more head control before getting the helmet. If she gets a helmet, she will have to wear it for 23 hours a day for 3-4 months. We haven't decided get the helmet for her yet, but I think we are leaning towards doing it. It's so hard to think of her having to wear the helmet for so long. She's just so darn cute now. However, not getting the helmet for her would just be selfishness on our part. Insurance will likely cover it. I keep thinking of self esteem issues she may have as she gets older if we don't get her the helmet and it doesn't completely correct on its own. I'd hate for her to be self conscious when she goes swimming or whatever. Anyway, we did set up the future appointments for measurements for the helmet and the follow up appointments. We go back in a month. I can't imagine that her head will grow 1.8 cm in a month's time, but that's when they told us to come back, so I guess we will.

You can't see her flatness in this picture, but I just think it's cute, so I'm sharing it just because. I'm hoping I haven't shared this picture before. I don't think I have. She likes to put her hands behind her head like this. We even have a picture of her doing this a few days after she was born while she was in the NICU.

Annelise Chillin'

Flying Baby Annelise

And I have to post a few pictures of Karina just to be fair.

Karina reading with Daddy

Flying Baby Karina

 

Beth, the girls are absolutely adorable! :wub: I love them all! I'm glad the appointment went well {as well as it could have gone} and her plagio isn't that bad. :hug99: I'm sure she'll look cute no matter what!

 

Glad the appointment went well and they're both definite cuties!

 

Your girls are so gorgeous!! It makes me so happy to see them looking so healthy and beautiful after all the troubles you had getting them here!

(I agree with you on the helmet... better a few months now, than a lifetime of self-concsiousness!)

 

I just wanted to add my input. Elizabeth had torticollis with plagiocephaly. Her head shape was bad. Once she started sleeping on her tummy it has corrected so much and now you can barely tell.

I just wanted to let you know you can have a positive outcome with the helmet. My PED agreed that getting it would have made sense if her face was out of shape because of it, but it wasnt. Her ears were and still are slightly misaligned but nothing hair will not cover.

A good friend has a son who did get a helmet as his face was totally different on each side. He just got his second helmet as he hat outgrown his first.


Good Luck with your decision.

PS My insurance would not cover it as it was considered cosmetic.

 

I wish I had pictures of my dd head to show you. Her ears were very misaligned and had quite the flat spot right behind her left ear. I didn't know much about helmets at the time and also didn't have a Ped. anywhere near us. So I decided at 4 months to let her sleep on her belly and play in the exersaucer during the day. It took a few months, but eventually it all straightened out on it's own. I also started her at the Chiropractor cause it was obvious she was favoring that side while she slept. Anyways, I'm sure our situation is different, but it is possible it might resolve on it's own.

By the way, your daughters are so beautiful!!!

 

Your girls are both so lovely!!!

Joel is getting his helmet tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

They are just adorable :wub: I hope everything goes okay with the helmet issue.

 

The doctor told us that there really isn't anything we can do other than the helmet right now. Her plagiocephaly may be slightly impacted by position, but most of hers has been caused by conditions in utero. She can't sleep on her tummy because she needs to be in a Danny Sling on an incline for her relux. She also is not able to roll over, so I'm not really comfortable with her being on her tummy unless I'm there to supervise. Our physical therapist told us not to use exersaucers right now because she is not developmentally ready for them. Her head control isn't perfect and she tends to not want to use her leg muscles. Right now, I'm just trying to do tummy time as often as I can. I'm trying to just accept that the helmet is probably the best route for Annelise.

Aimee~ Good luck tomorrow. I'm definitely interested to hear how Joel adapts to his helmet. I think the literature we got says they don't start wearing it 23 hours a day immediately and that the time is gradually increased as they get used to it. I'm curious what happens when you need to be out in the sun. Will a sun hat fit over the helmet?

 

Beth,
They are sooo adorable! They aren't ID are they?? Why did she have low amniotic fluid?? I cannot see a flat spot at all. Is it in the back of her head??

I'm soo sorry that you have to worry about this but I think you are correct that it might be beneficial to her later in life if you bite the bullet and do it now. It's tough but I have heard from MANY other mothers that it really turns out fine wearing the helmet.

Love the pics!! You guys sure look like a very happy family. I just wish you lived closer in MN! We're on opposite sides of the state pretty much!!

Good luck w/ whatever you decide but DO keep us posted. Also, I think her head WILL grow that much in a month. Those noggins can grow pretty quickly LOL.

 

Such cuties!!! GL in making your decision and with her f/u appointments... and thanks for sharing your pictures!

 

QUOTE(ivfbound078 @ Jun 23 2008, 09:10 AM) [snapback]840886[/snapback]
Beth,
They are sooo adorable! They aren't ID are they?? Why did she have low amniotic fluid?? I cannot see a flat spot at all. Is it in the back of her head??

I'm soo sorry that you have to worry about this but I think you are correct that it might be beneficial to her later in life if you bite the bullet and do it now. It's tough but I have heard from MANY other mothers that it really turns out fine wearing the helmet.

Love the pics!! You guys sure look like a very happy family. I just wish you lived closer in MN! We're on opposite sides of the state pretty much!!

Good luck w/ whatever you decide but DO keep us posted. Also, I think her head WILL grow that much in a month. Those noggins can grow pretty quickly LOL.


Thanks. Nope. Defintely not ID. She had low amniotic fluid while I was on Indocin. Once we saw it was getting too low, they took me off the Indocin. Probably being jammed in my pelvis for the whole 30 weeks was the real problem with her head. Yes, the flat spot is on the back of her head.

I do wish I didn't live in the middle of nowhere. I'd love to meet the other MN TS members.

 

I just wanted to let you know that my DS is in his helmet right now. Honestly it was soooo much better then I could have ever imagined. It was without a doubt harder on me then it has ever been on him. He had a moderate case of plagiocephaly measuring at 12. He started with the helmet mid May when he was about 7 months old and 5.5 months adjusted age. He now is measuring at a 5. If you feel his head you can feel the flat spot but you can no longer see it without really looking for it. I am so happy with our decision and he will be out of it in no time and like I said, he never has been bothered by it. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me. Someone refered me to this Yahoo group that has tons of info. Good Luck and bye the way your girls are absolutely adorable!

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Plagiocephaly/

 

They are so cute Beth! Let us know how the follow-up goes.

 

Wow! They are so cute!

 

I haven't read the other replies, but I do have experience with plagio from my son (who will be 5 in July)

Here is his story:
http://www.thetowlefamily.com/TJsDOC.html

First, Insurance will most likely NOT pay for the helmet. From my experience and a friend's experience, this is one of the hardest things to try to get insurance to pay for.

Second, 3-4 months isn't that long. I know it SEEMS long, but I promise you, that time will FLY by and before you know it, she will be out of the helmet.

And third - I HIGHLY suggest you do the helmet therapy. There's a lot more to the plagio than just a visual difference. It can cause a lot of problems later on in life and you don't want that.

Please feel free to contact me with questions if you have them. My link has our entire journey, before and after pictures, etc. Hopefully it will help you

 

I hope everything goes well with her! Your daughters are beautiful!

 

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments on my babies.

Jen S - Thanks for the Yahoo Group info. I subscribed.

JediMom - Thanks for the info you gave. I checked out your son's website. He's very cute. You are a very good painter. I'm not that talented. We'll probably just use some stickers if we decorate it.