Miss. Charlotte at one of our many doctor appointments the last few weeks
So the last few weeks would be classified in the "or worse" category of marital vows. This time has been surrounded by stress, appointments, illness-boooo! The majority of my thoughts seem to be centered around Penny. Penelope is Twin B. She weighed in at 4lbs 6oz but was the stronger of the twins from the start. She was released from the NICU three days before her chunky counterpart. Penny is inquisitive, active, happy and amazed by her surrounding world. I would say that in many ways Penny is the easier of the two but she breaks my heart in worry more than any other child ever has. It all started with Penny's bum kidney that will require surgery in July ( that will require a blog of its own as well). As if having a kidney issue isn't enough to worry she also has Plagiocephaly and Torticallis. Both of these terms are fancy for mis-shappen head and muscle weakness in the neck. Basically I am 5'4" and mostly legs- so two growing babies had to fight for room and Penny lost. Charlie was head down most of the pregnancy but Penny Penny was jammed under my diaphragm for months, the pressure of this on her head caused it to be odd in shape and that in turn caused her to hold her head to one side weakening the muscles. Originally our pediatrician said it would all fix itself with time as she grew but at 7 months we saw little improvement and were finally sent to a Neurosurgeon. When we met with Neurosurgeon and Plastic surgeon they were both in agreement it would fix itself to a degree but we would have a better result with the use of an orthotic aka helmet.
Josh and I had a tough decision to make. When a child wears a helmet for Plagiocephaly its between 5-8 months, 23 hours a day... Did we really want to put her through that for vanity? Josh was on board from the beginning but I was hesitant. I have lots of reasons for not wanting my baby in a hard, hot helmet 23 hours a day like her comfort for one. I couldn't care less of the questions and looks it may get but I hated thinking of her being uncomfortable but even more I was selfish... I was selfish in the fact that I didn't want to loose a single kiss or the sweet smell of her lop sided little head! Ultimately Josh made a good point that she may be angry with us later if we didn't do everything we could to give her the best result and he was right... If she was a Singleton I don't think I would do it but knowing that she will be compared to her identical twin sister everyday of her life- I just couldn't let her identifier be her odd shaped head. After deciding to go through with it -the process began.
Time to get the helmet made...
The technician ran a wire up through her shirt and placed a stocking on her head
The wire fed through the top and attached to a sensor
Penny didn't seem to mind at all
Another helper sat across from Penny with a toy to keep her attention and played The Beach Boys so the sound of the laser wouldn't scare her
It was actually pretty cool-
He scanned her from all different angles and the 3-D image popped up on his computer
Penny lost interest--- I told him to play the Beetles because my Penny Layne loves her song!
A week later we went back for the fitting....
Penny was obviously excited.
After putting it on, shaving it down, putting it on, shaving it down- she was done
She didn't seem to mind but my heart broke a little looking down at this face...
My kids aren't perfect by any means but to see it so evident and to know it causes discomfort just....hurts....
Penny has actually done remarkably well wearing it and has fussed very little although its harder to put her to sleep. During the one hour it can be off she gets her bath and lots of cuddles! I try to stretch the hour and get a bunch in like tummy time and playing with toys without the helmet. She plays just fine with it but it makes me happy to see her play without it. I have to admit I kiss her head a dozen times at least while its off and then we put it back on....
I decided if my baby has to wear an ugly, plastic helmet we're gonna fix it up- so I did!
I'm still going to Velcro a bow to the front I think
Charlie couldn't care less about Penny's helmet
Yup that's a watermelon and seeds decal
If you can't laugh at yourself life will be miserable...
If we're gonna have this thing as part of our life the next few months it has to try and be as cute as it's owner...
At the end of the day we're just trying to make the best decisions for our kids even when its inconvenient to all. We can't make life choices based on convenience because you will never know the joy that hard work can bring. Anything worth having is worth fighting, working and waiting for. Everyday I make it a choice not to go for the instant gratification although I fail miserably when it comes to cupcakes but I'm only human- we all are, so all we can really do is try...
and then try again and again...
Much love to all
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