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