And so we keep going

Jameson is scheduled to have his helmet off in about two weeks, but the more I think about it, the more unsure I am. Originally, his appointment was yesterday, but they had to reschedule to next week. I accidently chose a time that conflicted with Calli's dance class so it got pushed back another week again to the 16th. I just don't think we're ready to get the helmet off. He has made amazing progress in his head shape, but we're not completely there yet. As we near the end of treatment I am having to come to terms with the fact that his head is never going to be perfectly symetrical (a hard truth for a perfectionist to grasp!). I knew this from the beginning, yet I didn't KNOW it. I hadn't seen what 2-3mm assymetry still looked like and I thought that anything would be an improvement over the 14mm he started out at. And while that is true and his head is much improved, I don't want to have any regrets. He doesn't mind wearing the helmet, we already have the thing, we might as well keep going. There is such a small window to be able to fix his head and once we're done, we're done. I can't change my mind in a month because he will have outgrown the helmet. I can't change my mind when he's sixteen years old and ask me why his head is lopsided because it won't be growing anymore. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but so what? It's his head we're talking about; it's the first thing you notice about a person. And while we're lucky and he doesn't really have any facial assymetries that a lot of plagio or brachy kids have, I still want to get as close to normal as possible.

When curiousity gets the best of me I google plagiocephaly in adults and find many stories about grown men and women (men more than women because they can't hide behind the long hair) who are comtemplating expensive surgery to fix their head shape. I never ever ever want my son to be one of those stories. And I never want him to feel embarrassed over something as silly as the shape of his head when it is easily fixable.

We saw the pediatrician the other day for his nine month check-up (23.5 pounds and 31.5 inches put him in the 85th and way over 100th percentiles, respectively) and he told me to trust my instincts. The last time we were there for a well-check visit he also praised me for trusting my instincts in having Jameson helmeted. So again, he told me to go with my gut and that if I felt we weren't done, then to keep going. He saw that Jameson's head has room for improvement still and really, what's another month in his long, long life? I am anxious to say goodbye to the helmet, but I also want to make sure that we let it do the job it is supposed to do COMPLETELY.

And so we keep going. We won't keep it on forever, but I see him in it for another month, as long as his pediatric neurosurgeon approves it. He goes back to her in three weeks so we shall see then. It's not affecting his development in the least and we see how quickly our little boy is growing up. Just this last week he has started pulling to stand. For the first two days he could only get as far as his knees, but now he quickly gets to his feet and loves to stand. It won't be long now before he is cruising the furniture and then WALKING. How happy he will be when he can finally join in playing with his big sisters. He definitely will not break Serena's walking record (she took her first steps at about nine months, one week), but I am thinking by eleven months we'll have some steps. I have yet to have a baby fail to walk before his or her first birthday so don't break the pattern Jameson!!

Speaking of birthdays, we have exactly one month until our Serena girl turns two! Her birthday falls on Easter this year so we'll have to think of something very special to do. I am thinking a celebration at Chuck E Cheese the next day perhaps? I am also thinking her theme will be cats and dogs because she just adores animals. Now I have to find a good cake pan for that! We have some big birthdays this year, with Serena entering the "terrible twos", Calli turning FIVE and Jameson celebrating his first birthday. I love making their birthdays special so that means I need to start planning now. Should be a fun few months in store for us!