Week In Review: February 22 - February 28

Here is this weeks Week In Review for February 22 through February 28, 2009.

Sunday: Everyone slept in except me. So I had almost two hours of peace and quiet. We still had to unpack the car, but because of the sleet Joe didn't want to go out there. I got tired of waiting and wanted my slippers though so I finally went out there to get the stuff and Joe followed. We brought everything up and I began unpacking and sorting all of the laundry. Got a load going and discovered I was going to need more fabric softener. So we went to Walmart to pick that up. Then we went to Walgreens to get some prints of our vacation pictures for the girls to show at school. Then back home for dinner and so I could continue working on that laundry. The kids showered and went to bed and Joe and I watched some of our DVR recordings for the week. I also chose the winner for my 200th post giveaway so if you haven't seen that yet and are wondering if it's you click here.

Monday: First day back to school. The girls were not into it this morning. I think they had a good day though. They shared about our trip last week. I cleaned up and finally finished all of the vacation laundry. CJ's therapist came over. She was very impressed with seeing him walk. She was choked up about the news of us moving to TN. She's happy for us, but I think is going to miss us. After I picked the girls up from school I made copies of the reminder sheet to get those Avon fundraisers in. Got everything in the mailboxes and hopefully they will be sent home this week.

Tuesday: Girls were up late this morning. So I had to get after them. They made it to school on time though. I counted Box Tops. Then I wrote up a little reminder to send in those Box Tops by Friday. We already have 1500 Box Tops for the month of February! I put CJ down for a nap and then took a nice leisurely shower. All day I felt like I was forgetting something. I guess not though. It was one of those rare days I actually didn't have something on my calendar. I picked the girls up from school and I had a great note from Kaitlyn's reading teacher. She read a Level 7 book today with 100% accuracy! She was so proud of herself. I'm proud of her too. They did homework, I made dinner, they got ready for bed, and I got to relax the rest of the night.

Wednesday: Playgroup day. We got a late start again though. I hope we get back into the swing of things soon. CJ took a few steps at playgroup. I started telling people about our upcoming move. So far everyone has been very supportive. I just hope they really mean what they say. It's been a hard choice to flake out on these commitments that I've made. I picked the girls up from school. As I was pulling out of the parking spot someone came and double parked. Grrr, I hate when they do that. I got the kids home and doing their homework.

Thursday: Today I met with the principal of the school to ask him about the testing of Kaitlyn. The speech therapist has tested Kaitlyn. She did find some phonemic awareness trouble with her, but nothing that would require her to see her on a regular basis. It doesn't seem that the testing of her memory has been done yet. I also informed him of us moving in a month. He's happy for us and thinks the girls will do great in TN. He's going to miss us and all we do for the school, but he understands. I also discussed some PTA stuff with him. Then I came home and practiced making some balloon animals. I picked the girls up from school. After they did their homework I started getting ready to Clown Around. The girls and I (as Sparkles) went to a carnival at the school for the after school program. Afterwords I went to get some Subway for dinner for me and Joe. It's always interesting to see people's reactions when you walk into a business dressed as a clown.

Friday: We took the hour long drive to Cranial Tech for the very last time today. CJ graduated from his Doc Band! We are so excited to no longer need to make that trip. After picking the girls up from school I counted Box Tops. I have to get them mailed out. Natalie's class won this months competition! She's so excited. Kaitlyn brought home her spelling test. I posted it on my blog because there's something very interesting about it. See if you can find it. Kaitlyn was complaining of a tummy ache again. We thought maybe she was just hungry and we wanted to go out to celebrate CJ's "graduation". So we chanced it. First we had to stop at Staples to fax something for Joe's brother. Darn thing cost $3 to fax, but at least it stopped the harassment. We never hear from his brother, but when he needs something he's calling five times a day, no joke. He even resorted to calling MY cell phone. Then we went to Friendly's where we got terrible service. It took over half an hour to get our food. Kaitlyn did end up getting sick while we were there too. So we took our ice cream to go once we tracked down our waitress. I had some issues with the bill of course too. I was going to go to Walmart, but Kaitlyn was miserable so we came home. Just going to have to get that box for the Box Tops Saturday instead. I hope Kaitlyn isn't coming down with something.

Saturday: CJ was up way too early. Not sure what was up with that. So it was an early start to the day. I went to Walmart before the girls even got up and got my box for Box Tops. Then I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some munchkins. Brought those home and the girls ate them. CJ went down for a nap and Joe and I tried to do the same, but the girls wouldn't allow it and CJ only slept for an hour. So we gave him lunch and then went out to mail my Box Tops and the prize to my 200th post winner. I sent in over 3000 box tops. Another $300 plus for our school which makes over $1300 earned for the year! We stocked up on CJ's pediasure while at the store. Also picked up a few other things and then went to Walmart to find Kaitlyn a jewelery box because hers broke. We had to go to a few different stores for that. We ended up eating out at Applebees because things took longer than expected. We had a nice dinner there. CJ keeps playing with his head. We think looking for his helmet that he doesn't have to wear anymore. That's the highlights of our week though.

Check out more Week In Review posts!

Doc Band Graduate

CJ received his first diploma today. He is now a Doc Band graduate! This means he no longer has to wear the Doc Band. We no longer have to make the hour long drive every two weeks. We no longer have to fight with him to put on his Doc Band. He is done!

Here are some pictures of him while we waited for them to do his exit photos.


These are all of the photos throughout treatment. He started July of 2008, received the second band in November of 2008, and finally the exit photos in February 2009. They are side by side so you can compare the progress.

What a huge difference! Can you see it? They showed me the digital images of his head too and there really is marked improvement. Especially on the front of his head.

We are so happy we did this. Even with the skin issues we had in the first band. His head is beautiful. I would definitely recommend Cranial Technologies to anyone who's child does not have a round head. It was a long process for us, but with a great outcome!

Week In Review: February 1 - February 7, 2009

Here is this weeks Week In Review for February 1 through February 7, 2009.

Sunday: Laundry day again. I went through some of the girl's clothes in their drawers finally to get rid of what doesn't fit. I put together 40 goody bags for our Box Top winners at school. I got a phone call from my brother. He was obviously drinking. And he told me he was in a bar with his 18 month old daughter. That's always nice to hear. He was completely plastered. And that's pretty much the only time he seems to call me is when he's drunk. He'll never change. CJ is 15 months today.

Monday: Brought the girls to school and handed out the goody bags to the classes who had won them November and December. Both teachers were apparently unaware they had won. Hmmm, I guess I'm not making it very clear who the winner is. Gave CJ a bath and got him ready to go down to Cranial Tech for his helmet. We were told he's got 4 more weeks left. That translates to 2 more visits. I can't wait to not have to make that 1 hour drive one way every other week. Then we went grocery shopping, to the bank, and picked the girls up from school. Back home for me to prepare for my PTA meeting. Wrote up my agenda and notes and then typed out this months Box Tops collection notice with prize. Made a bunch of copies at school. Had our PTA meeting. We sadly had a very poor turnout. Not a single teacher came. I hate when that happens. But I can say I love our new Vice Principal. He's young and has so many fresh new ideas. Seems to be such a great fit. And it's so nice to have someone who's willing to try some new stuff to get parent involvement. I chit chatted afterwards with the only parent who came who was not an officer and one of my officers for a little while. A nice little break from the kids. Came home to a very happy baby who was so excited to see me, awwwww!

Tuesday: CJ was up early. I took the opportunity to get some e-mailing done and phone calls. Called to confirm our McDonald's night for Wednesday and we are all set. Called the school to try and talk to the principal about Kaitlyn, but he was busy preparing for early dismissal due to inclement weather. So the girls were out at 1:20. They came home and began working on their homework. And they spent the rest of the afternoon driving me crazy. Perhaps suffering from a little cabin fever.

Wednesday: Playgroup day! And the snow did not cancel it this week. So after bringing the girls to school I brought CJ down stairs to playgroup. There was a birthday this week for one of the little boys so we had chocolate cake. After playgroup I went up to the office to try and pin down the principal, but he was out again. So I left a message for him to call me. We came home and CJ went down for his nap. I finally heard from the principal late afternoon and scheduled a meeting with him for Thursday morning. We had our McTeachers night from 5-8 at McDonalds. We had an awesome turn out and made $417.37. Not bad considering that was 15% of the profits. That's about what we made last year as well when we actually earned 20% of the profits.

Thursday: Brought the girls to school like usual. Did some budgeting to make sure we will have funds for our upcoming trip in a week and a half. Wrote a letter to the principal in regards to Kaitlyn's reading. I went and met with the principal. I feel confident that we are moving forward to solve her problems. After my meeting with the principal I had to go downstairs in the school to have an FRC Advisory board meeting. That meeting was short and sweet. We were very happy to learn that the governors proposed budget does not have any further cuts for public education or the FRC's. So this was discussed at length. The meeting ended and I went to pick Joe up at work. I picked the girls up from school and Natalie had a huge attitude. Not fun when it came time to go over her homework. Thankfully her bad mood did not last all night long.

Friday: We received our tax refund today. So I spent the morning paying off a bunch of bills including my credit card. I called the insurance company to add our new vehicle to the policy and we are going to pay the rest of our down payment. We went to Walmart to get a few things. Then we came back home to clean up. CJ's therapist came over. She's going on vacation for two weeks so I am hoping we have lots to report to her when she comes back. We picked the girls up from school, went to the post office to mail out Box Tops, and then went and picked up my new car. I am very happy to have the second vehicle again.

Saturday: We went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Then to Walmart where we got the kids a few things. Next we had to check out the sale at Once Upon a Child. They were offering fill a bag for $20. Problem is the bag wasn't big enough to fit one item in. Luckily they were still offering their 10 items for $10 sale. So all three kids got something. Then we went to Stride Rite where CJ got new sneakers (he was the only one who needed them). We came home to get a coupon for Build A Bear and have something to eat. I had taken my wallet out of my purse to look up something. We left with no money. We didn't realize it until we needed money of course. We had built our bears at Build A Bear (four bears in all), picked out clothes, waited in line to name our bears, waited in line to pay, and then realized we had no money. And the majority of the time CJ was screaming his head off. He did not like the stuffing machines at Build A Bear. So we had to go all the way home (with CJ still screaming) to find my wallet. Thankfully we found it. Then we drove all the way back there with CJ still screaming. We got and paid for all of our bears and went to the store for something for dinner. CJ finally calmed down and was actually a happy little guy. I don't know how he didn't just pass out after basically two hours plus of screaming. We picked up two movies out of the Redbox (Swing Vote and Space Buddies). We came home and had dinner. And then we had a movie night. I have a giveaway going on right now so be sure to check that out here.

Check out other Week In Review posts.

Going to Need a 2nd DOC Band

Because of all the time that CJ needed to spend out of the DOC band due to a rash it's looking like he's going to need a second one. I think we have the rash under control. It's not perfect, but it's not all scabby looking and over half of his head anymore. They have put some mole skin inside which really seems to have helped with the rash. There is improvement, but they think this current band is only going to fit him for another month. And because of all the time he spent out of it they think he'll need a second band. Now my concern of course is if the insurance will pay for a second band. This thing costs $3600 which I most definitely do not have. Honestly, I'm in no position to pay any portion of it. The insurance hasn't even completely paid for this band. They said they would work something out though. Not entirely sure what that means, but because of how rare it is for a child to have as severe of a rash as CJ has had in this they seem to think they can get us a second band. I suppose we will cross that bridge when we come to it though. I am frustrated at how long it took them to finally put some sort of covering on the band since I had asked for that from the moment the rash popped up and they told me they couldn't do it. Then suddenly they could. Now unfortunately it's looking like he'll still have the band on for his 1st birthday. I really was hoping to avoid the long trip during the winter months with slick icy roads, but that looks like it's not going to happen either. But at least there is improvement in the shape of his head. We are getting somewhere. I did ask today if we get a second band if they would put the mole skin on it right away and they told me no. I thought that was strange since so far this seems to be the only thing that is protecting his little head. They told me they would probably just monitor him closer in the beginning. So it looks like our weekly trips down there are going to continue. I have to say I don't know what I would do without my insurance paying for this treatment and reimbursing my gas to drive down there. I guess I am very fortunate.

A DOC Band Saga

Over seven weeks ago CJ first received his DOC Band to help reshape his head. The first few weeks things seemed to be going really well, but then about 4 weeks into wearing it I noticed he was developing a rash on the back of his head. I called and they said it's a heat rash just put some hydrocortisone cream on it and it should be fine in a day. Well, no improvement one day later so I called back and they said okay take the band off let it heal and then put the band back on. So I did, but after it healed and the band went back on the rash came back. He has seemed to completely stump the employees at Cranial Tech with this rash. For weeks now we've been going in every week to try to control this. It has just been expanding more and more around his head.

So this last time when we drove down there I was a little better prepared with a second opinion. His doctor had seen the rash now and was sure that despite what Cranial Tech believed he is in deed allergic to the material in the band and is developing eczema. She had suggested some sort of barrier, which I have been told time and time again is not possible to do. So when I told them this week about what the doctor said I was told again that she doesn't believe that to be the problem because it's not all over his head and she has never seen this in the eight years of doing this. But if that's what his doctor thinks it is she's not saying that she's wrong, but she's never seen it and she still believes it's a heat rash. Now suddenly though she is able to line the helmet with something. So in the spots he's getting the rash she has put this felt feeling material in there. She told me to wait until his head heals from this current rash and then put it back on so we can be sure if this helps or not. She doesn't sound too optimistic that it will help though. I have had the helmet off since Thursday now. He still has a bit of rash on his head, but it's mostly healed so I'll probably put it back on today. We go back again on Wednesday to see if this has helped.

She did compare his head to the mold of the pretreatment shape and there is improvement. So it is working. We just need to get it to stay on his head long enough to be effective. We are halfway through what they told us would be the treatment time. I'm still optimistic that we'll have it off for his birthday.

A Whole Bunch of Stuff

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated on things here. Things are getting crazy. First of all let me tell you about CJ. His helmet is still causing him to have a rash. Here are some pictures of it.






So last Thursday when we went to Cranial Tech for his appointment they didn't really know what to make of it. Because it's not all over his head they don't think he's allergic. They were thinking it was just because of the heat and he sweats too much in it. So they decided to hold onto his band for a few days, let his head heal, and then return Monday to have it checked again and see if the rash will come back when they put the band back on.

So yesterday we went back down. His head had mostly healed up. They put the band back on and almost instantly the redness came back. So now they think I'm just not getting the band clean enough. So I am to scrub it every few hours with a dry cloth and dry his head really well before I put the band back on. We can't keep leaving him out of it because it's not going to do it's job and eventually he'll grow out of it. There's no sort of barrier we can put in there either apparently. Now we have to go back in a week to see how he's doing. The rash is still there with my cleaning though. I'm not sure what their next step will be if we can't clear up his head.

We went for his 9 month check up today. I know it's a month late, but they were booked in August. So we went today. I waited forever to see the doctor too. Not fun. But anyways, everything is good. He weighs 18 pounds 5.6 ounces and is 28 inches long. This is all wonderful news. His %tiles are all above 10 now. So the doctor was very pleased. She has upped his reflux meds as he has been spitting up more lately. She looked at his head and first of all I have to say she notices a difference already in the shape of his head. I've thought I've noticed it too, but it's so hard to tell when you see him everyday. So hearing it from someone else is good too. As far as his rash goes she does believe that he is allergic to the material in it even though it's not all over his head. She says it's where it's touching his head. She thinks he's developing eczema. However, she thinks the benefits of the band outweigh the rash problems. So as long as he's tolerating it she says to just keep letting him wear it and take it off if it's getting too bad or looking infected and let it heal. She says once he's out of the band we can deal with the eczema. So we'll try to last a little longer with this if we can. Hopefully it doesn't get too bad. Maybe the cooler weather and less sweating will help matters.

That's pretty much what's been going on with CJ. Now about the girls. They are both doing great in school so far. I did have to go pick them both up from school early today. They have lice AGAIN. I cannot get rid of this stuff. The school nurse says to get the nits out we just need to keep combing and she'd help. When I bring them back tomorrow if we come a little early we can comb through their hair and hopefully get rid of this once and for all. I am getting so tired of the lice drill. And it's just them who gets it. Never me and Joe. I don't get it. So other than that they are doing great. Getting into the swing of things at school.

Now changes for me! I am going back to work. Just part time a few evenings a week when Joe is home from work so he can watch the kids. I got a job at Kohl's. They just called today to set up my Orientation. I go next Tuesday for that and then hopefully can get on the schedule for a few days of training next week too. Funny thing about this. The person who interviewed me called me up today to offer me the job and then he tells me it was funny seeing you at the PTA meeting last night. Ummm, what you were there? You have a child in the same school as mine? You live near me? Crazy, I feel a little embarrassed that I didn't notice him. He was sitting behind me though with his children. His wife was sitting in front of me and seemed very helpful. They are new to the school this year. What a small world this is though. This should help me though when I need nights off for school events. Since he'll be my boss I'm sure he'd like to see these events go off well for his child. I think this is going to work out well. I get a discount too which will be very handy for the upcoming holidays. So I'm excited and nervous. I haven't worked in over 9 years since Natalie was just a baby. So this is kind of hard for me. At least I don't have to pay for childcare though.

So that's what's been going on in the Barnes Bunch. I need to go now. Time to comb out the girls hair and vacuum the entire apartment. Loads of fun.

A Rash and a Tooth or Two; Oh My

A little good news bad news with CJ. I'll start with the bad news. Tuesday night we noticed his head looked like this when we took off his DOC Band to change him. So we kept the band off for the night in hopes that it would go away. It didn't so I called Cranial Tech in the morning. They said it sounds like it's from the heat so I'm to put hydrocortisone cream on it and take the band off every three hours to wipe the sweat. So I did that under the impression that by the night it would look lots better. It did not nor did it look better the next day. So I called Cranial Tech again. They took a while to get back to me so I ended up calling his pediatrician too. Cranial Tech did get back to me first about it and they said to take the band off and don't put it back on until the rash goes away. Once it has gone away then I am to put the hydrocortosone cream on that spot to head off any further rash. A little while later his pediatrician called back and said to put Aquaphor on it and cover it with a non stick pad and then put the band back on. Okay, so I'm now using Aquaphor to get rid of the rash and once it's gone I will continue to use the Aquaphor with the non stick pad to keep his head from getting this rash again. Poor little guy. It doesn't seem to bother him too much though which is always a good sign.

Now for the good news. CJ finally got his 1st tooth. It took 9 1/2 months, but yesterday I felt it in there. And my boy he can't do anything small so there's not one, but there's actually two teeth in there. They are both on the bottom front right next to each other. Joe managed to get a peek at them last night to in fact see there are two in there, but I haven't actually seen them yet. Little bugger keeps putting his tongue in the way. Oh well, I'll see them eventually.

It's Happening

The questions and stares have begun. I'm not sure which is actually better. I was worried about people's reactions to CJ's DOC Band. Day one things weren't so bad, but on Friday the questions began.

It started with a little girl that we actually know from playgroup that we saw at swim lesson sign ups on Friday. She asked Kaitlyn why "her baby" was wearing that hat. Kaitlyn apparently did not know how to respond to her so instead she looks down at her feet and tries to ignore her by moving away. So I simply said to her it's to make him have a nice round head. She seemed satisfied with that. And hey I knew that the kids would ask about it. That's what kids do.

I guess what I really didn't expect was the being approached by a total stranger in the grocery store. I went grocery shopping Friday afternoon with Joe at his store. Actually, I arrived just as he was getting off so he was still in his store "uniform". Now at first when I was approached by this woman I thought perhaps she was a customer of Joe's. He does talk to some of his customers about us like any proud father would, but nope that wasn't the case. This woman made a bee line right for us to ask about CJ's helmet. She thought he had brain surgery. So I explained to her that no that wasn't the case, but rather the back of his head was flat so this was reshaping it. She told me she wished they had that when she had her brain surgery and then showed me her scar. She wasn't mean about it or anything and was really impressed with the things they have come up with and stuff, but I thought it was a little rude that she felt the need to stop her grocery shopping to make a bee line over to us to ask why our son was wearing that on his head.

But perhaps it is better than the awkward glances we have gotten from some people. You know the ones who are probably really dying to know what that thing is on his head, but don't dare want to ask.

And I of course know that we are doing what's best for our son. I suppose I've experienced this before in a sense when Natalie was little and used sign language to communicate. People would ask if she was deaf. And I'd have to go through and explain that no this is just how she tells us what she wants because she doesn't talk yet. Still I wish that my children didn't have to experience any of this. Of course they have no clue what's going on. They are happy as a clam which really is all that matters. I am just going to have to get a thicker skin I suppose and not worry so much about what other people think or say. And things could be so much worse that's for sure. So I guess I'll just answer peoples questions and stares with a smile on my face and the confidence that I have that this is giving my child a better quality of life.

Giving it a Little Personality

The plain white DOC Band had to go and is replaced with something with a little more personality. I painted it blue, but because we didn't put a sealant on it the paint began to rub off. So we removed the paint, but it did leave a blue tint to it. You can't really tell in the pictures. Then we put these cute rub on sticker things on it. I'm not too confident that it will all stay on so it could change over time.

CJ has been pretty fussy today. It's hard to tell if it's teething or the band. The red mark on the side of his head continues to show up. It does take a while for it to go away. Cranial Tech called this afternoon to check on things and I mentioned the red spot which lasts more than an hour. She said if it goes away it's fine and when we come in next week they'll relieve some pressure there.

I noticed some dry skin on the back of his head later tonight. It's not red or anything so I guess it's okay. As I kept being told yesterday pink skin is healthy skin. I'll keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get any worse.

Sleeping has been pretty much not happening today. He might have napped a total today of 3 hours if we were lucky. Mostly cat naps. He's very restless tonight sleeping in the helmet. Again I'm not sure if it's the helmet or teething or something else entirely. I was giving him a bath tonight and he kept pulling on his right ear. So I'm not sure if he might be coming down with something. Maybe he just discovered that it was there and free to be played with. Maybe it was itchy, I don't really know. So another thing for me to keep an eye on. But pretty much I don't anticipate getting too much sleep tonight. And since Joe has to get up early for work I'll be up with him tonight. I might just sleep out in the living room actually so to not disturb Joe.

I am hoping tomorrow will be a better day for him. I guess we'll see. He still looks so darn cute though, doesn't he?

CJ Got his DOC Band

Today we made the hour drive to Clinton to go to Cranial Technologies for the 3rd time this month. This time it was to actually receive the DOC Band that is going to reshape his head and make it more round, we hope. So here he is. Happy as a clam. So far he seems to be doing well with it. He gets mad when you are putting it on, but that only lasts a few seconds and then he's fine. I put him down for a nap though today and he didn't like it much. He's supposed to wear this 23 hours a day.

The first few days though we have to take it off to check his skin. So every three hours we have to take it off and if there are any red marks on his head we have to keep it off till they fade. If tomorrow the red marks last more than an hour then we'll have to call the clinic. He seems to have this one spot on the right side of his head that gets pretty red and stays that way. Actually, it's looking a little raised right now too. We opted to let him sleep without it tonight even though they told us to leave it on him at night. I decorated it tonight though and the paint is still drying. I think his head could use a break from it though.

And of course this has to be one of the hottest days of the week this week that we get it. He's been sweating, which they told us is normal. It will take a few days for his body to regulate and get used to it, but the sweating is supposed to stop.

We have to take it off everyday and clean the inside with 70% rubbing alcohol. We'll also have to shampoo his head every night. I'm hoping this thing doesn't get too stinky though.

It is basically a hard smooth plastic on the outside. It's even taking some getting used to for me. I was carrying him today and rammed his head into the door frame. It didn't phase him at all. He's independent with sitting up, but he's trying to do more now that he has more confidence. So now when he falls over this kind of cushions his head. This could be a good thing, but also could be a bad thing. He's going to become quite the dare devil.

We go back next Wednesday to get it checked and make sure everything is okay. Hopefully after that we'll only have to go back every two weeks and not every week.

And now I leave you some pictures from this morning at Cranial Tech when he got the DOC band and while they were trimming it. We hung out there for a little while to see how he handled it. So CJ had fun playing with the toys while we waited. Tomorrow I will hopefully have the band completely decorated and I can share pictures of how we personalized it for him. I couldn't leave it just plain white.

"What's this on your head CJ?"

"What's this button do?"

"I really like this!"

"What are you doing here Natalie?"

"Watch out, I drive with my feet!"

Pucker Face

CJ's DOC Band Measuring

Sorry for the multiple posts today about our week. This is what happens when you aren't home much to blog about anything. I actually have things to talk about. So now you've seen where we were on Monday and then Tuesday our swimming pictures. Now yesterday we went for CJ's DOC Band measuring. That was quick and painless. All the literature I was given at the place and on their website was telling me the appointment would be an hour and a half long and they'd be casting his head and it was going to be a big mess. However, they apparently fazed that out a few months ago and now just do digital photos instead. I forgot my camera and I was so disappointed because I would have had some good shots. They came in and put this net over his head. It was white and they pulled it down over his face too. He wasn't too sure what to make of that. He kept trying to eat it of course since it was touching his face. He looked all ready to rob a bank though. We then carried him into another room where we weren't allowed to cross the masking tape line on the floor. They took CJ over to this stool and put him on it with the therapist holding him and then snapped a couple of pictures before he started crying. Luckily that was enough and they gave him back to me and sent us back to the room. They needed to make sure the pictures came out and if they did we could leave and if not we would have to try again. Luckily they came out and we were on our way. So now we go back in two weeks to get the band. They will go over the wearing and care of it and do any "trimming" on it if it should need it while we're there. Hopefully then I won't forget my camera.

After that we headed on down to where Joe and I both grew up in CT. Both our family still lives in that area of the state so we were going to visit Joe's sister. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and of course didn't want to leave. It was a nice day though. We even brought the kids to the pizza restaurant that we had Natalie's 1st birthday party at for dinner.

Insurance Approval

We got the insurance's approval yesterday for CJ's DOC Band. So tomorrow we have an appointment to get his head measured for it. They used to do this whole casting process, but now they just take a bunch of digital images of his head and it's less time. So only a 30 minute appointment and then in 2 weeks we have to go back to get the helmet. So July 30th he'll start wearing it. That appointment will be a little longer because we'll have to learn all about it and stuff I guess. I'm so relieved this is getting done. I figure 12 weeks from when he gets it brings us to October 22nd which would be before his 1st birthday. If he had to go the longer the 14 weeks it would be after his birthday. So I'm hopeful the 12 weeks will be enough or maybe even 13 weeks. It sure would be nice to have it off for his birthday.

Cranial Technology

Yesterday was CJ's evaluation to see if he's a candidate for a helmet or doc band for his misshaped head. We went to a place called Cranial Technologies for this. They were very nice and we got seen right away.

We went back and first they took pictures and measurements of CJ's head shape from all different angles. We got to bring home those pictures. I do not have a scanner, but I took a picture of the pictures with my camera so you can see just what his odd shaped head looks like.



So here is all the medical mumbo jumbo about his head. He has Plagiocephaly of the right side and Brachycephaly on the back of his head. So what this means is the back right of his head is flattened and the left front on his forehead is flattening too. So because his head was restricted on the back it got pushed in on the back and has thus caused some asymmetry on the front as well. He is mild on their scale, but he does qualify for treatment with the Doc Band.

This is not something that can correct on its own at this point in time. If he were younger then we could try some repositioning, but because of his age it just won't work. Now we don't have to do this. His head will continue to grow in this misshaped manner though, but it won't hurt him in anyway. The only thing we would have to worry about is fitting a bike helmet to his head in the future if we were to leave it like this. We'd have to add some extra padding. Now this Doc Band is still relatively new so there are no studies on the effects of it on a child beyond preschool age. Up until preschool age though there are no signs of there causing any sort of hearing or vision problems in children who have worn it and it seems to have no effect on the development of the brain. CJ would need to wear the helmet for 12-14 weeks though 23 hours a day.

Right now we are waiting on the approval from the insurance company. They do cover 100% of this treatment which is great and they don't need a whole lot to do that approval. We just need the doctor to write a note of medical need and a prescription for the Doc Band and we are good to go. The person I spoke to about this yesterday said it usually takes the doctor's office like 2 or 3 days to get them this stuff and then another week for the insurance to approve it. Trying to see if I could speed the process along I called the doctor's office to let them know that we are definitely interested in continuing with this and they told me they were working on it then and it should be a week before they are done with their part. Hmmmm, that was a bit discouraging. But maybe they just wanted to give themselves that extra time so I'm not calling them everyday or something asking where the stuff is. I've found their office to be really good so far about getting things done right away so I'm hoping it won't take too long.

Once the insurance is all on board with this though we can then schedule the appointment to have the Doc Band fitted to his head. This process is going to include taking a mold of his head. That should be interesting. And it looks like CJ will be wearing this until just about his first birthday. I'm hoping we'll get to have it off in time for his first birthday. What a great birthday present that would be. A nice round head helmet free for the newly turned 1 year old.

All in all things went well. They were very nice and helpful. They assured us that since it only weighs 6 ounces that it's not going to effect him in reaching any of his developmental milestones. He'll still be able to learn to sit and crawl and walk with this on. So we are very anxious to get this whole process started. It's just too bad that there's not a Cranial Technologies closer to us. This is an hour away from us and the next one is in New Jersey. Luckily there is lots to do down there though. We should get to know the area well since we'll be down there every other week.

CJ's Weight

Who knew? Feed your kid Pringles and he'll gain weight. Nah, I'm just kidding, he didn't get into that can of Pringles, although he really was trying to get them open. CJ had another weight check today. Actually, we managed to go a month this time so we're doing good. He's now up to 16 pounds 15.6 ounces. Almost 17 pounds ;). That's a 20 ounce weight gain in 34 days to be exact. So we're happy happy happy. The doctor is happy happy happy. So happy in fact that we actually don't need to come back until he has his 9 month check up. And actually since they are booked in August we aren't even going for that until September when he'll be 10 months. Wow! What a great feeling.

But you know the worry wart mommy in me can't leave anything alone. His therapist has been bringing up a cranial helmet being a possibility for CJ because the back of his head is flat. She's been telling us that just by getting him up off his head we can possibly avoid that, but I want to be prepared so I brought it up to the doctor today. We have a consultation in Clinton, CT (over an hour away) to see if he does in fact need a helmet. His doctor did tell me it's cosmetics and this is not causing him any sort of brain damage. So there's not really a huge medical need there, but it could get worse as he gets older and then we wouldn't be able to fix it. Now of course I don't want my son to have a flat head. He's a peanut so there's plenty there for other children to pick on him for. So if I can make life a little easier for him in the future I definitely want to do that. So I have set up an appointment today to have him evaluated at this place on July 3rd. They will tell us if he does in fact need to have a helmet or not and can answer all of our questions about it I'm sure. So I'll have to keep you updated on how that goes.

And then of course the whole chicken pox worry since I have shingles. As long as he doesn't touch my blisters (they are covered by clothing) and I wash my hands after touching them he should be fine. If he does get them, then I will call the doctor and she can prescribe something to make them less severe. So now we just have to wait and see. Hopefully he stays pox free, but if not we'll be ready for it.

So that was our doctor's appointment today for CJ. The girls have physicals coming up in July so I don't really get that much of a break from the doctor's office, but it will be nice to be going there for another child besides CJ.