Adventures with the Ratcliff Family: Jameson's Helmet

Jameson got his helmet on Wednesday. He was diagnosed with plagiocephaly about a month ago due to torticollis. That basically means that the muscles on one side of his neck are extremely tight, making him only want to look to one side (to use the muscles that are loose). Because of this, he developed a severe flat spot on the back left side of his head. The left side of his forehead protrudes farther out because of this and his left ear is pushed VERY far forward. When we went for the initial helmet fitting last week they took a digital scan of his head to make the helmet and to track his progress. On a scale of 1-5 of severity, she said she would rate his head a 4. So this isn't a mild case or something that would correct itself in a few months; it's a serious flatness on his head that has already affected his ears and could also affect his other facial features (which I haven't noticed it's done yet).

I equate this helmet to getting braces. We are not talking about a life or death diagnosis and his health would most likely remain fine if we didn't fix this. But we are talking about his head. We are not talking about a body part that is kept covered, we are talking about a body part that is always viewable. We are talking about a little boy who will have short hair, making it impossible to cover the flatness in any way. We are talking about the way he will look FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. Not just now as a baby, but as a child who might get picked on in school or an adult who has a lopsided head. So it is a serious matter to us. Just as it is extremely common to get braces for our children to fix their crooked teeth, I am getting a helmet for my baby to fix his crooked head. And in about five months when he gets it off and has a round head, I will be grateful that we have something like this to turn to to fix the problem. I am sure that Jameson will never thank me, but without even knowing it he'll appreciate having a normal shaped head.

So on Wednesday his helmet was ready and we went to go get it. The process took awhile because she kept having to try it on him and trim some spots to make it fit better. She created holes for his ears to poke out and cut some off the top so his eyes weren't covered. She told me that he would cry when she first put it on, but you know what? He didn't. He was extremely fine with the whole process. And I have just been holding my breath ever since waiting for him to snap and to realize he doesn't like this helmet. But we have had smooth sailing so far and it's been an okay experience. As I type he is taking his first nap with his helmet on and has been asleep for an hour and a half, after going down with no problems. We have to break him into wearing it slowly so by the time next Wednesday comes he will be wearing it twenty-three hours a day. He doesn't wear it at night until Monday and that is the time I am most nervous about. I keep trying to tell myself that I will look back someday and this will be just a blip on the radar. Just as his NICU stay was. Just as everything in life is. Time passes. He should have it off before his first birthday.

So I figured if my son had to have a helmet he was going to have the COOLEST helmet I could manage to create. I ordered a plain white one with the intention of painting it. I gathered my acrylic paint, paintbrushes and sealant at Michael's. I ordered my stickers off the internet. So when Wednesday night rolled around and the helmet was in our possession, I went to work. I put on several coats of gold paint and let it dry overnight. When I saw it in the morning I thought it looked really great! I cut my stickers to fit and put them on and VOILA: a 49er fan was born! It was the one thing I could really get excited for in this whole process and I'm happy with how it turned out. It won't make it any easier on Jameson (he doesn't know what the heck is on his helmet!) but it makes it a little easier on me. He is the cutest little five month old football player ever!!

These are the before shots of his head. I can't wait to post the afters!! You can see how the left side of his forehead is pushed forward and the left back is flat (I don't think the pictures even do it justice, it's more noticeable in person).

This pic shows how much his ears are out of alignment; the left one is pushed forward

Here is a side shot of the flatness

Jameson in his helmet for the first time. We had just come home from the orthotist's office and he fell asleep in the car. I took it as a good sign that he was able to fall asleep in the helmet.