I'm so excited....and a little nervous

Tomorrow Cash has his scan. I am so excited and nervous. Like the night before school. 

I am excited to see the comparison from his first scan. I am excited to have In & Out for lunch. I am excited it's supposed to be warm.

I am nervous that Mr. Dwain will say he is done with treatment. (I really don't think his head is ready) I am not ready for him to be done. I feel like his head will deflate like a flat tire.  It's a bad dream I keep having.  I am nervous my alarm won't go off and we will be late and then we can't have the scan I have been looking forward to.  I guess those are both silly things to be worried about. 

A fellow plagio momma posted this in the Facebook support group tonight. 

I love it.  We get asked these all the time and sometimes I just want to hear how cute and handsome my baby is. ;) 

I read today that Chase Pistone (NASCAR truck series) will be racing to support Plagiocephaly Awareness on Saturday. This made my heart so happy. 

I also learned about the Noggin Roundup this week. www.plagoawareness.com  It is a 5k/fun run to support plagio awareness. This year it is September 6 at Midland Collage in Midland Texas. We will be there. I guess I need to get to running.... 

My little guy started sitting up on his own yesterday.  

Pleae excuse any typos or misspellings. Blogging on the iPhone tonight. :) 

2 Monthiversary

Yesterday was Cash's 2 Monthiversary and his 7 month birthday.  I can not believe how quickly the last 2 months have gone by.  Everyone always says it goes by quickly....and that it does.  Here is his 2 month comparison photo. 

I love this little round head

I look at the shape from Day 1 and am just stunned.  I really didn't realize it was that bad.  Wow.  Cash has his 2 month scan on Friday.  I can not wait to see what his numbers are and to see a visual picture of the change. 

 

Cash has been super busy in the last few weeks. 

He has been practicing sitting up on his own. 

 

He got to meet his Grumpy for the first time!!

He has 5 teeth and working on #6.

He likes chicken. 
(he decided he wanted what was on my plate.  LOL)

 

 

Cash loves to play with his Daddy.

He likes to take selfies.

Cash has also started "crawling".  I tried to upload a video but my computer has gone crazy! 

 

 

Save The Date

3 Hours 1-way

When I take Cash for his adjustments we have to drive 3 hours to get there.  Some days we have a good trip and get there without having to stop. Other days we don't. Today we left early enough that Cash fell back asleep and slept the entire way. It's was nice. ;)  

Cash was so excited to see Mr. Dwain!  I was shocked when he told me that Cash had had 3 mm of growth since his last visit. I thought that Cash was going through a growth spurt. He was sleeping and eating a lot last week. 

I couldn't believe how round the back of his head was! I know I keep saying that, but I am just amazed by this entire process. 

After our visit we stopped at the mall to stretch and be out of the truck for a while before our 3 hour drive home.  I had a hard time there. It seemed like everyone was staring and it just really rubbed me wrong today for some reason. I am usually easy going about it and tell my self that everyone is staring because he is the cutest baby in the world. ;) But today I couldn't get past it. So much so I had to leave the mall. As we were riding the elevator down to the parking garage a lady asked me about it.  It's always the same "please forgive me for asking..." I always say "don't be sorry, thank you for asking". Anyways the lady asked and I told her why and what the helmet does. She was so kind and sweet. I walked out of the elevator and started to cry.  Some days are just hard. 

I love my helmet baby. But somedays I am just so tired of it. Tired of having to take it on and off to get dressed, tired of the smell, tired of cleaning it, tired of the stares. But when I see his round little head it makes all of that and the 6 hr drive worth every second!!  

1 Hour a Day

Cash gets to have his helmet off for 1 hour each day.  I thought I would give you a little inside view of our special 1 hr a day. 

We start our 1 hr right after dinner.  I check all over Cashs head for any red marks. When I put his helmet back on I will check his head again to make sure all red marks have faded. 

I clean Cashs helmet with alcohol. I have found if I clean the helmet, let it dry, clean it again, let it dry, wipe it out with just a wet rag and let it dry that the smell is almost gone. The smell. Oh the smell. It's bad.  It's real bad. 

I love to kiss and rub all over his sweet little head. I am in awe of its transformation. 

Cash plays for a few minutes while I get his bath and jammys ready. 

Jammys ready. We use a fragrance free lotion. This way when I put it on his face and neck it won't cause more stink in the helmet.  Any fragrance will cause stank! 

We also use a fragrance free shampoo to help control the odor. I have found California Baby to be the best.

I wash Cashs head really good.  He loves loves loves to take a bath! 

We get out of the bath and lotion up and get jammys on. 

The helmet goes back on after a little playing. Now it's time for bed.

Sometimes our hour goes by super fast and other nights it's long. Either way we enjoy our helmet free hour. 

1 Month Update

It's been a while since I have updated. We have had some great progress!! 

Can you believe how much his head shape has changed?!?  I was amazed when I put this collage together. 

There really hasn't been much to update about in the past few weeks.  Cash did get sick with croup and we had to leave the helmet off for a few days due to his fever.  While he had it off we went to dinner and while Cash was sitting in the high chair eating a server dropped a cheese grater on his head.  Of course he didn't have his protection on!! He had a few red marks and a little bump. Nothing to bad and all were gone the next morning. 

Cash celebrated his 6 month birthday! 

And he now has 3 teeth!  I can't get a good picture of his top tooth, but this one makes me smile. 

We went to Star Craninal this past Friday to see Mr. Dwain for an adjustment. 

Here Mr. D was checking to see how much room was between the helmet and Cashs head. 

He took Cashs helmet off to check for red spots and to make note of the areas to shave and make room for growth. 

He measured Cashs head to see how much growth he has had. His head is now as long as it is wide!! Woot Woot!! He has had about 3 mm growth. 

Mr. D checks all over Cashs head each visit. 

After all adjustments are made Mr. D puts Cashs helmet back on and says he will see us in 2 weeks. 

In a month we will have another scan in the STARScanner to see exactly how much growth and change he has had. I can't wait!! 

I will leave you with pictures from the last few weeks. 

Special Delivery

Last week I ordered a book for Cash from Barnes & Noble!  I found it on Pinterest during all my research of Plagiocephaly. I was super excited to find it in the mail today!  I wasn't expecting it until late in the week.  So what is this book you ask?

The book is based on the authors personal experience with plagiocephaly and the treatment of her son, Miller. 

I opened it up and started reading. Before I was even half way through I was crying. I am so happy to have something I can read to Cash now and when he is older to help explain why he had to wear a helmet.  

Cash loved reading his new book.❤️ 

At the end of the book, Miller asks his mom if God loves little boys in little blue helmets and his momma replies "God especially loves little boys in blue helmets." Melt my heart and hand me the tissues. 

You can order the book here at Barnes & Noble.com.

2 Week Update

The past 2 weeks have not been what I expected.  What I expected was a bunch of tears, sleepless nights, sweat, stink & just learning to adjust to life with a helmet.  Let me tell you...this little boy is a rock star!  He doesn't even know the helmet is on his head.  It hasn't affected him at all. 

 

We have adjusted very well to life with the helmet.  Our daily schedule hasn't changed much.  We wake up, have breakfast (loves bananas & cereal), get dressed (take helmet off & put back on), play, nap, eat, play, nap, eat.  Around 6:30 we have dinner (green beans, sweet potatoes or carrots) then take a bath.  This is when Cash gets to have his helmet off for 1 hour.  Before we started therapy I thought that 1 hr was not going to be long enough.  How do you get a bath, clean the helmet & let it all dry in 1 hr?  Well, most of the time 1 hr is too long.  Cash has always gone to bed soon after his bath, so it has been an adjustment to have an hour after his bath to play.  I have heard that the sweat from the helmet is awful.  Cash again has surprised me...he doesn't sweat any more than he used to.  The smell is horrible, not just in the helmet, but on his head.  I can't get him in the bath quick enough.  But after cleaning the helmet out with rubbing alcohol & letting it air dry the smell disappears.  Not what I expected.  Cash sleeps surprisingly well.  The last few days he has been waking up multiple times during the night and wanting to eat.  I am thinking he may be going through a growth spurt.  Which would be awesome!  That would really help to round out his little noggin.   

 

This past Sunday I had Cash's helmet off so I could dress him and could see a visible difference in his head shape.  10 days & there is already change!  How amazing is that!  

 

This picture shows the difference in just 2 weeks.  I am just so amazed.

 

Cash has been super busy the past 2 weeks.  Since getting his helmet he:

• doesn't sleep swaddled anymore
• has 2 teeth
• can roll over!!