DOC band Graduation

Today was Ryan's first graduation day! Wohoo! Look at that round little noggin! He did such a good job getting all his exit pictures taken even though it ran into his nap time.

So here are the before and after pictures. You can really see how much rounder his head has gotten and how much chubbier he is!  We still are working on his head tilt and it seems pretty bad in these pictures but I think it is because he was really tired. He has really been improving and we will continue to work on it!

No more DOC band - I think I am going to miss decorating it! Now I need to submit his pictures for next years calendar. I think he would make a great Mr. July! 

Bad hair day

Ryan was born with a lot of hair....and he has been losing it ever since.  I took his helmet off the other day to clean it and look at all the hair that I found in it!

And then look what I found on his head! Now that is some wild hair. 

He's like "what so funny, mommy?"

 And then he became a wild man!

So we decided to wear a hat!

Our first Doc band day!

iPhone dump from today!

Hanging with Ryan at Cranial Technologies waiting on his new Doc band.

So tired - It's nap time mommy! Take me home please.

Napping with my head gear...well about to fall asleep

My SWEET little man!

Hanging out at Little Gym!

Got my toy!

BUBBLES! And I am tired again...ready for a nap!

And lastly - Grandma stopped by and brought us yummy cupcakes from a new bakery in Inwood Village. YumYum!!!

What a fun Thursday!

It's here

So the helmet is here or shall I say it's on! Ryan did so well at his appointment this morning. He is such a happy little man and didn't even notice when we put the helmet on him! Today and tomorrow we are suppose to let him wear it in three hour increments. After three hours we take off and monitor any red marks - once they have cleared (usually takes less than an hour) the helmet goes back on. As his skin gets use to the helmet the marks will go away so by Saturday he will be in it full time.

I just ordered the Turtle Shell decorations which was everyone's favorite (including mom and dad's), so hopefully it will be here early next week! It's 11:30 now so he has been wearing it for almost two hours and is not phased in the least. We even had a feeding and it didn't cause any issues. Business as usual. Hopefully tonight it won't cause any issues with his sleeping - he is such a good little sleeper - fingers crossed!!

Doc band decorating

We are getting Ryan's Doc band on Thursday and I still haven't figured out how I am going to decorate it! I was planning to do the cutouts myself but I can't find any adhesive paper in colors that I want. There is a site called Blingyourband.com where you can order stickers so I might do that. Here are a few that I thought were cute:

Which design do y'all like best? I might still try and paint the helmet but it makes me nervous because you only get one try - if I mess up we can't just get another one! 

Cranial Technologies

We had out appointment at Cranial Technologies today and it looks like our little man is getting a DOC band. While it probably goes without saying - I really didn't want my little man to have to wear one. He is so adorable and I don't want anything covering up his cute little head. However, I know it's for the best and the time will fly by.  At the appointment today they took pictures and measurements of his head. Once that had been done the therapist came in and we talked to her about what the band could do for him.  Although we have seen slight improvement in his head its obvious that his head is misshaped and that there is asymmetry. Here are the pics from today.

This is a typical case and the band should be able to fix it - so thats good news. They can't tell you how long it will take because it really just depends on how fast his little head grows. So now we just wait - they have to contact our pediatrician to get a prescription for the helmet. Once they have that they contact our insurance to see if/what they will cover. I guess there is a lot of controversy over this because most insurance companies will not cover the cost because they say it is cosmetic. Regardless of what our insurance will end up doing (I am thinking they aren't going to cover it) we are still going to move forward with it. So next week we will go and get the digital scan done so that they can create the band and then hopefully we can start the treatment right away! I can't wait to get that noggin in shape!

On another note - parents tend to decorate the bands for the little babies. Cranial Technologies has a whole section on their site about decorating bands. There are facebook groups and lots of blogs where people showcase their bands. And you can even enter your child/band into a contest to be in the Doc Band Calendar! Hey - you gotta make this a fun experience somehow!! I am excited to make him a cute little band and will be headed to the craft store to get some vinyl for my Cricut machine. I can make all sorts of cutouts for his helmet. We can decorate for Valentine's day and Easter....oh the possibilities!