Cute Photos of the Boys (and Sophie too!)

Poconos and Crawling

This weekend we had an invite from Justin & Destiny to join them at their parent's lake house in the Poconos. It was a last minute trip, but a great one. We were so fortunate that the drive was only 2 1/2 hours away and the boys were so good. They are great little travelers. This adventure was more for Nolan than Carter. They have access to a great little beach with a kids pool. Nolan spent hours in the sand and running into the water. He loved splashing around with his feet. At first he was timid, but the more he was in the water the farther in he went. He wears a 'tortoise shell' which helps him swim. It's not a flotation aid, but keeps him upright and on top of the water, so he has to do the work. He really seemed to enjoy himself. Nolan has been having a tough time at swim class. He's timid in the water, scared to jump in or even swim sometimes. So, we've stopped going. It's an actual regression and Chris and I felt that he was assigning some kind of negative stigma to the JCC pool and class in particular. So we have been looking for ways to get into the water where it's a completely fun experience. I just want him to be a kid and enjoy summer. Maybe we'll pick up swimming classes again later.
In the meantime, Carter was doing a great job hanging out at the beach. He got a little extra time out of his DOC band in order to avoid a heat rash, but this was just one morning. He wasn't sure what to make of the kiddie pool. I held him the entire time. He loved observing what was going on around him, but seemed petrified if he got in past his waist. While at the Lake house, we discovered Carter's new favorite toy. An empty water bottle. You buy them all kinds of things you think will be stimulating or interesting, but no. What do they like? Water bottles and cardboard boxes. Touche. While playing with his water bottle, Carter crawled for the first time at the lake house in the Poconos. It wasn't far, maybe 6 feet, but Carter REALLY wanted that water bottle and worked his way over on his hands and knees. I'm not ready to have two mobile children, but it looks like I don't have a choice. Congratulations Carter!!

4 weeks in the DOC Band

We've been in the DOC Band for 4 weeks now. We had an appointment yesterday and we are showing positive results. Amy said that the lower shelf on the back of his skull is really starting pop out. It's definitely noticeable. With that moving out the highest point of his skull has moved forward, which is what we want to see. When we went for our initial appointment Gina said we might need to go through 2 treatments. I asked Amy if she thought this might be the case, but she didn't want to speculate this early. We will have at least another two months in this particular band and if we still need more adjustment we will then have to go to another band. I'm really hoping to be done by the end of July. I'd prefer not to spend the entire summer in it. Chris has gifted both boys with super sensitive skin. So Carter is prone to heat rash while wearing the helmet. Not only will he get it on his head, he will get prickly heat on his chest too. So this is something we have to watch out for. Another mom on Facebook has found a dog bed that you wet down and it stays cool for several hours. She uses it on her child's stroller and finds that it really helps. I think I'll invest in the same thing for Oklahoma. As you have gathered, I'm pretty concerned about the heat and humidity there. I think I'll go online shopping now!

Carters Before Photos

I've wanted to share these for a while, but now I finally have them scanned. These are the initial photos and observations take by Cranial Technologies. After seeing these photos, (especially when the talk about how it was affecting the front of his face) I knew in my heart something had to be done. Us mothers, we have a tendency to see our children through our own little smoke screen. I've always seen Carter as the beautiful fat baby that he is. I think my mind rounded his head out for me. I knew it was flat, but didn't understand how flat until I saw these photos. I seriously thought they would have laughed me out of the room, when I went to see Cranial Tech. On the contrary, Carter was a severe case and looked like many of their Brachycephaly before and after photos. It's pretty amazing. This will also give you a benchmark for when we finally get the helmet off, we can look back and compare. Again, comment if you have any questions.

In case you can't read it I am going to type in the observations Cranial Tech made here.

PHOTOSTUDY

pg1.

(top) Carter is a 5.75 month old male referred to Cranial Technologies for the treatment of his brachycephaly. He presents with left occipital flattening, right frontal flattening and associated facial assymetry. He has an ear shift with the left ear anterior to the right and an increased head width to length ratio.

(bottom) Increased posterior head height; sloped forehead

pg2.

(bottom)

Left occipital flattening; right frontal flattening; increased head to width length ratio: left eye and cheek anterior to right.

IKEA and the Peabody Museum

We went to Carter's fitting last week. He's already showing improvement, which a great sign since we are only 3 weeks into treatment. Amy did say, we still have a long way to go. That's obvious, but it was nice to see some results. I had a return to make to IKEA so on the way back I took Nolan into their playarea. You can actually drop off a potty trained toddler for up to an hour while you shop. It's like the best idea EVER. So Carter and I had a little time to mess around while Nolan got to stretch his legs from spending so much time in the car. He loves it there. As a big treat to Nolan we drove to the Yale campus and went to the Peabody Museum. Think of a mini Museum of Natural History. The great hall has dinosaur bones. Nolan knew the names of all of them. I had to read the plaques to make sure he was right, and sure enough, he was right about all of them. Nolan got to see an apatosaurus, a stegosaurus, a t-rex skull, a triceratops skull and a velociraptor. He was enamored. He ran from dinosaur to dinosaur, pointing them all out. It really made his day, which was good since Carter gets a lot of the attention during fittings. We have a zoo, a beach and an outlet mall to visit. OK, OK! That last one is for me.

This week...

On Wednesday, we were able to continue with treatment and Carter resumed his 23 hours on, 1 hour off schedule. The heat rash seemed terrible on Saturday, but only took a couple of days to heal. Once the red spots were gone we could resume. I have made a general rule: 70 degrees and under we take the band off every 2 hours for a minute to dry off Carter's head and the inside of the band...70 degrees and over, we do the same every 1 hour. So far, it's been working. Carter never ever wears socks or footies. Which I really don't mind, it means I always have access to those cute, fat piggies! He seems to have adapted really well, this second time around. We go back to Cranial Tech on Wednesday for another fitting. I'll update you more then.

In the meantime, Nolan has been showing off Carter's 'round head', he announces it to anyone and everyone while we are out. I actually think it helps to break the ice. It's obvious some people are unsure about the band and what it's for, but those people are few. I've been more surprised, by how many people approach us to either tell me that their niece, nephew, granddaughter, grandson...had one or to tell us how absolutely adorable Carter looks in his. Let's be honest, he is SO cute it's hard to resist. BUT maybe, I'm a little partial!

Carter Update:

Turns out that Carter had a severe heat rash. He kept sweating against the helmet and that caused his skin breakdown. I can't begin to tell you how bad it stunk! Who knew? Cranial Tech called me first thing on Monday morning and got us in immediately. They didn't seem bothered by the rash and said it's very common. Carter sweats at night, so we have to make an effort to keep him cool in bed. No more footies, run the ceiling fan and towel his head off if he gets up at night. During the day, we have to take the Band off every couple of hours and towel off the helmet and his head.

The day Carter got the infection it was only 70 degrees outside. So I'm a bit apprehensive about the summer. When it gets really hot I think we'll have to take a few small breaks throughout the day in order to avoid situations like these. I'm his mother so of course I worry, but all in all, it was good news from Cranial Tech and Carter will be back in treatment starting tomorrow.

Skin Breakdown

So, one of your major concerns with the DOC Band is skin breakdown. Cranial Tech makes you do skin checks every 3 hours the first 2 days of therapy. If there aren't any concerns then you can proceed to the 23 hour a day schedule. Carter's skin was recovering nicely from his pressure areas so we were able to go to the 23 hour schedule on time. But today (our 3rd full day of treatment) we all noticed a funny odor and I could see something yellowish coming out from the band. So when I took it off, Carter had a huge 'angry' spot on his right side and across the back. The inside of his band has turned yellow on the edges which is a major concern for me. I've already washed the helmet per Cranial Tech's instructions and Carter will not be wearing it until we get into see someone on Monday. Sensitive skin runs in this family and Carter might just be cursed in that department. His father and brother both have skin issues. I'm just concerned about what happens next. Especially now that there is a yellowing to Carter's band. I'll let you know more after our next appointment.

Helmetized

On Tuesday Carter had his fitting with Cranial Tech. It was a difficult appointment for me, but Chris and Nolan were there. We wanted to make sure that Nolan included in the process. He walks around now saying 'See my brother's round head!?' He means the helmet, but we told him that Carter was getting a helmet so he'd have a round head. I guess he shortened it.

Our first 2 days home we had to do skin checks every 2-3 hours. They want you to keep an eye on the pressure points where the helmet is applying resistance. You don't want anything to red or dark, they call them 'angry' spots. If he has 'angry' spots you want to see them disappear within an hour. The skin needs to recover, if it doesn't you can have problems. Fortunately, Carter didn't have any of these. So we could proceed as planned, from here on out Carter has to wear for 23 hours out of the day. During the one hour, I have to wash it everyday in rubbing alcohol and in the summer months the helmet can start to stink from all the perspiration. Great. We got DOC Band put on in May...Carter will wear it for a minimum of 3 months...May, JUNE, JULY. We'll be in nasty Oklahoma heat and humidity in July. That'll smell fantastic!!

So then painting process began. It was definitely trial and (A LOT of) error. But in the end it turned out really cute. I had to apply 3 coats of acrylic paint. The third coat crackled instead of looking smooth. I cried, but then just went with it. Then I put his name on in sticker and then painted his flame details. I wish I could have enjoyed the process more, but I was stressing out about it and having an allergy attack all at the same time. It was a mess. Once I had painted it all I then had to apply three coats of Modge Podge to keep the paint from peeling. The Modge Podge really helped it look shiny and polished and disguised some of the cracked paint. I'll probably do a coat of Modge Podge a week to help maintain the AWESOMENESS.

It's going to be quite a process, but I'm glad we are finally in it instead of just talking about it. Again, if you have any questions about this please comment and I'm happy to answer them!!