Sadie has been wearing her 2nd Doc-Band for 3 1/2 months & that means all total with both bands she has almost worn it 8 months. I know, I am so tired of it & cannot believe she is still wearing it. The majority of babies do not wear them that long & I had no idea last May when we started this process that I would still be dealing with it today.
We went in on Monday for a check up & based on our last appointment, I had a strong suspicion that she would be getting her helmet off this week. I have been telling everyone & I was so excited! Needless to say my excitement turned in to disappointment when I realized that she probably needs to wear it another 4-6 weeks now :( At this age, babies growth (their heads specifically) really slows down, so most of the improvement we saw in her head happened when she wore her 1st helmet. In fact, we went for almost 8 weeks with no growth in January & February. That's why we were considering taking the helmet off because it wasn't doing anything to help her since her head wasn't growing anymore. So the good news/bad news is that she grew 2 mm over the past 3 weeks which is a huge growth spurt for her! So we all decided (me, Bryan & her therapist) that we should leave her in the helmet until she can outgrow this growth spurt.
Obviously I was extremely disappointed because I had already psyched myself up thinking that she wouldn't have to wear it anymore & I thought Easter weekend would be her big debut for family & friends. I had even bought her a bunch of small bows that she could wear in her hair now like all of her little friends. Don't get me wrong, I love that she can still wear all of her big bows on her helmet, but I long for her to look more like a toddler these days.
This was her "before" picture. I took it while we waited at her appointment because I thought it would have been her last picture with the helmet on. We did take new images & scans of her head & we were able to compare them to the very beginning (before she wore a helmet) to the middle (when she outgrew her 1st helmet but before she started her new helmet) to today.
I will admit that we have seen significant progress & are very pleased with the results. Sometimes it's hard to see the results when you look at her every day, but when they show us the digital images of her skull from all angles, I am amazed.
Bottom line is that we have worked so hard - 6 months of physical therapy, multiple appointments at Baylor - Our Children's House in Frisco, Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital - Craniofacial Center & now Cranial Technologies that we can't give up now. What's 4-6 more weeks? Hopefully she will get it off before we go on vacation in May & before the hot summer months hit. In the mean time, I will try to keep enjoying her big bows & will save her little bows for the future.
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