If it's not one thing it's another...
Well, I didn't mention this on Gabriel's 2 mo. post because I didn't want to be a downer on such a happy day. You're probably wondering why I have a picture of the top of my child's head on our blog. Bear with me as this is long. (There are lots of great new pictures further down too of his beautiful little face so please continue beyond this post.)
A couple of weeks ago I began to notice that Gabriel was always sleeping on the right side of his head, was always playing on his gym on the right side of his head and that he just generally looked right. This led me to begin examining his head shape. I noticed a small flat spot beginning to form. As any new mom would I began getting paranoid and obsessing. All of a sudden it seemed glaringly obvious that his head was misshapen, and why couldn't anyone else tell but me?!
I have since found out this statistic:
In 1992 the American Academy of Pediatrics started a program called "Back to sleep" which encouraged parents to keep their infants on their backs while sleeping instead of their front as had been conventional wisdom.[2][3]This reduced the risk of SIDS by nearly 40% but increased the incidence of positional plagiocephaly by 600%.
Yes, we think Gabriel has Positional Plagiocephaly. Basically because he lays on the right side of his head so much it is flattening...but that's not even the worst of it. It is causing his forehead and ear on the right side to move forward. Babies skulls are not fully developed and are still very soft so even the slightest pressure on the same spot repetitively can cause this. You might say...well, just turn him so he faces out of his crib in the opposite direction, or put all of his toys on one side. But, you would be wrong. Why? Because it doesn't work, and it's driving me MAD!!!! He will stare at the wall rather than turn his head left.
Well, it must be Torticollis you are thinking to yourself. (Oh, come on...you know you were thinking Torticollis.) ;) Torticollis the shortening of or weakened neck muscle causing the head to tilt to one side. The only thing is...he can and will look left for long periods of time when he darn well pleases! See the photo session from Hondo. I think he was in the position in the womb and it just feels comfortable, and frankly, wouldn't you rather lay on the comfy flat part of your head than try to keep it still on a rounded part?
So, logical next step...take him to the pediatrician. Been there, done that. I have since decided that our ped. here is not for me. I have felt that way since Day 1, but honestly the appts. are so short it was hard to form an opinion. But, this latest one sealed the deal for me. He hardly listened to me, he prattled on about the fact that the plates of his skull aren't growing together too fast, but if they were he would need surgery. WHAT?! I reminded him that that was not what I was talking about, and I told him Plagiocephaly. He proceeded to tell me that his head is perfect. One of the best he's seen on a 2 mo. old since the start of the back to sleep campaign. Well, he didn't even look at his forehead and ears. Even though I did mention them. I was so exasperated I stopped talking about it. So, we are going to make an appt. with the ped. Gabriel had at the hospital he was born at. I liked her more and she was a great listener.
So...there will be more to come from this story. However, in the mean time. Check out the picture. As you can see the right side of his forehead sticks out further than the left. His case is VERY mild. But, I'd like to do what I can now. You can't see it in this picture but his right ear is forward too and no longer aligned with his left ear.
If you would like to read more about Plagiocephaly you can go here for a great summary on what it is and what can be done...http://www.childrensmn.org/Manuals/PFS/Condill/042534.pdf
I will keep you posted on what Dr. Savrick tells us.