Thank you, Donna, for the precious snow suit! I've been wanting to take her on a run in cold weather just so I could put it on her!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Beautiful Bundle
Brooke is such a trooper. We got her bundled up in her snow suit to go on a run and she didn't make a single complaint. She quickly knocked out in her stroller despite the cold and windy conditions! This suit was made for warmth but it wasn't made for maneuverability. She was stiff as a board in the suit which made it even funnier!
Thank you, Donna, for the precious snow suit! I've been wanting to take her on a run in cold weather just so I could put it on her!
Thank you, Donna, for the precious snow suit! I've been wanting to take her on a run in cold weather just so I could put it on her!
Sing-a-long
The beauty of singing to babies is that they have no idea when you don't know the words!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Helmet scan
So Brooke and I finally had her appointment to get scanned for her helmet. She was supposed to have her appointment last Monday, but the guys was sick and ended up being out all last week. So we got in there and the guy took some more measurements of her head and he said she has grown since he measure her last, but that her asymmetry is now 12 mm instead of 11 mm. He admitted that he might have measured a little looser this time, but the fact remains that she definitely hasn't improved. That really helped to give me a sense of peace about the helmet since I still have people telling me that they knew kids who had flat heads and did NOT get helmets and they turned out fine. So I really feel like a helmet is the best course of action for Brooke so she won't be mad at us when she gets older.
I was very impressed with how high-tech the process was. I had read online that they make a mold of the child's head . . . but Bo Co Mo (Boone County, Missouri, that is) does it with style. The guy tied this white sock-type thing around her head . . .
. . . then he put a small, black hair-cutting type apron on her . . .
. . . and he proceeded to scan her head like you would a bar code. I was pretty impressed. I would look behind me at the computer and it was popping up clay-type looking models of her head and face. It even showed her pacifier in her mouth. It was a quick and painless process so I was thankful for that. I guess the pictures above will give us a pretty good idea of how she'll look with a helmet on. I'll miss seeing her fluffy hair! The helmet should be ready some time next week! Until then, I'll savor every kiss I get on her precious little head!
I was very impressed with how high-tech the process was. I had read online that they make a mold of the child's head . . . but Bo Co Mo (Boone County, Missouri, that is) does it with style. The guy tied this white sock-type thing around her head . . .
. . . then he put a small, black hair-cutting type apron on her . . .. . . and he proceeded to scan her head like you would a bar code. I was pretty impressed. I would look behind me at the computer and it was popping up clay-type looking models of her head and face. It even showed her pacifier in her mouth. It was a quick and painless process so I was thankful for that. I guess the pictures above will give us a pretty good idea of how she'll look with a helmet on. I'll miss seeing her fluffy hair! The helmet should be ready some time next week! Until then, I'll savor every kiss I get on her precious little head! Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Silly pics
Since Ryan's tax season is now under way I haven't had much time to post. So last weekend I got off work at 3:30, picked up Brooke and got on the road at 4 o'clock to make the 4 hour drive to see Ryan who is working in Arkansas (and probably won't be home until after April 15th). Brooke was an angel in the car. She had the hiccuphs for the first hour of the trip and then took a two hour nap and was awake the last hour. I was able to drive straight through without having to stop and feed her since she stayed content - normally she eats every 3 hours. Brooke was very excited to see her daddy. Thankfully Brooke was a trooper and was also an angel on the way home on Sunday. The hardest part of the trip was having Brooke sleep in our room (since we stay in a one bedroom apartment). I was unaware that my daughter likes to talk in the middle of the night . . . at 2 am, 3 am, and then at 5:15 am. She wasn't crying . . . just talking and cooing and having a grand ole time . . . meanwhile mommy and daddy were getting pretty grouchy! Only 11 more weekends that I have to make the trip and I am definitely counting them down since I already feel worn down! So here are some pics of our little angel. I should be getting her scanned for her helmet this week and possibly get it next week! Bummer!
Hmm . . . we probably won't be able to fit a hat over her helmet!
Big chair . . . little baby!
Visiting daddy in Arkansas during tax season!
Hello . . . welcome to my show!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Meeting with the helmet specialist
So Brooke and I met with the helmet specialist yesterday that works at the University Hospital. As I'm pulling Brooke out of the car I hear the thunder of her bowels at work filling her diaper. It never fails! Five seconds before meeting her physical therapist for her first appointment she did the same thing. Let me tell you that Brooke makes smashing first impressions and in the same vein . . . I guess I do too.
So we walk into the small waiting room that has a dungeon feel nestled down in the basement of the University Hospital. As I followed the twist and turns of the dingy hallway to locate the room, it definitely wasn't evoking the pristine hospital scenery you see on tv. I sign Brooke in and proceed to change her diaper. My debris litters the small room but I figured it was no big deal since we had it all to ourselves. Since the temperature was 18 degrees I had my coat and purse strewn on some chairs, Brooke's blanket, hat and gloves on another, and the diaper bag, her car seat and all the diaper changing paraphernalia strewn about me. For the chairs that I haven't clogged up I'm blocking the path to get to them since I now have Brooke sprawled on the floor (on a changing mat of course) and I'm poised to take off her diaper when a gruff guy walks in. As I'm waiting to pull the tabs of Brooke's diaper off, the man walks to the reception window and I'm thinking/hoping he has the wrong room. Of course he doesn't and he finishes checking in and turns around to find a seat. I nervously smile and apologize and move my coat over so there is an open seat for him. Now that he is sitting so close to us I have second thoughts as to changing her diaper. First off I didn't want to expose my 4 month old daughter to any strange man, but secondly I didn't really want to subject the man to whatever surprise was waiting in her diaper for me. But then I decide that packing her and all our stuff off somewhere else is way too much trouble so I go to work. Then of course while I'm trying to get her cleaned up the helmet specialist (also a guy) walks in and waits for me to get Brooke put back together. I'm sure my oldest sister thinks I'm a bad mother for exposing my little girl to strange men . . . but what can you do???
Then I follow the specialist into a different room and he proceeds to ask me questions. He asked me to rate how severe I thought Brooke's head was on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most severe. He sat looking at me waiting for my answer with his pen poised in the air. I himmed and hawed and finally blurted out a 2 as if the jeopardy theme song was winding to a close and I was running out of time. "A two", he repeated making me feel as if I'd given the wrong answer. "Okay, okay, okay", I said, "how about a 2 to 3". He smiled and said "2 to 3" as his pen was scribbling away on his papers. I asked him what he thought it looked like and he said that he would've also given it a "2 to 3". So who is the specialist now, ha! He then proceeded to take measurements of her head and he said that she has 11 millimeters of asymmetry. He said that a lot of insurance companies will pay for the helmet if there is over 10 millimeters of asymmetry. So he is going to contact my insurance to see if they will cough up for the hefty bill (over $2,000 for the helmet) and then we'll proceed from there.
So I've accepted the fact that Brooke will wear a helmet even though I was secretly holding out hope that the specialist would say she doesn't need one. The good news is that the specialist said she would only need to wear it for 3-5 months which is a ton better than the 8 months my pediatrician was saying.
Note: THIS PICTURE IS NOT A PICTURE OF BROOKE. This is roughly how her helmet will look though. I guess there are different colors you can choose from.
So we walk into the small waiting room that has a dungeon feel nestled down in the basement of the University Hospital. As I followed the twist and turns of the dingy hallway to locate the room, it definitely wasn't evoking the pristine hospital scenery you see on tv. I sign Brooke in and proceed to change her diaper. My debris litters the small room but I figured it was no big deal since we had it all to ourselves. Since the temperature was 18 degrees I had my coat and purse strewn on some chairs, Brooke's blanket, hat and gloves on another, and the diaper bag, her car seat and all the diaper changing paraphernalia strewn about me. For the chairs that I haven't clogged up I'm blocking the path to get to them since I now have Brooke sprawled on the floor (on a changing mat of course) and I'm poised to take off her diaper when a gruff guy walks in. As I'm waiting to pull the tabs of Brooke's diaper off, the man walks to the reception window and I'm thinking/hoping he has the wrong room. Of course he doesn't and he finishes checking in and turns around to find a seat. I nervously smile and apologize and move my coat over so there is an open seat for him. Now that he is sitting so close to us I have second thoughts as to changing her diaper. First off I didn't want to expose my 4 month old daughter to any strange man, but secondly I didn't really want to subject the man to whatever surprise was waiting in her diaper for me. But then I decide that packing her and all our stuff off somewhere else is way too much trouble so I go to work. Then of course while I'm trying to get her cleaned up the helmet specialist (also a guy) walks in and waits for me to get Brooke put back together. I'm sure my oldest sister thinks I'm a bad mother for exposing my little girl to strange men . . . but what can you do???
Then I follow the specialist into a different room and he proceeds to ask me questions. He asked me to rate how severe I thought Brooke's head was on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most severe. He sat looking at me waiting for my answer with his pen poised in the air. I himmed and hawed and finally blurted out a 2 as if the jeopardy theme song was winding to a close and I was running out of time. "A two", he repeated making me feel as if I'd given the wrong answer. "Okay, okay, okay", I said, "how about a 2 to 3". He smiled and said "2 to 3" as his pen was scribbling away on his papers. I asked him what he thought it looked like and he said that he would've also given it a "2 to 3". So who is the specialist now, ha! He then proceeded to take measurements of her head and he said that she has 11 millimeters of asymmetry. He said that a lot of insurance companies will pay for the helmet if there is over 10 millimeters of asymmetry. So he is going to contact my insurance to see if they will cough up for the hefty bill (over $2,000 for the helmet) and then we'll proceed from there.
So I've accepted the fact that Brooke will wear a helmet even though I was secretly holding out hope that the specialist would say she doesn't need one. The good news is that the specialist said she would only need to wear it for 3-5 months which is a ton better than the 8 months my pediatrician was saying.
Note: THIS PICTURE IS NOT A PICTURE OF BROOKE. This is roughly how her helmet will look though. I guess there are different colors you can choose from.
Once again . . . this is not a picture of Brooke . . . for all of the people that didn't take the time to read my mindless ramblings above!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Good things and bad
I take Brooke to the helmet specialists tomorrow to be evaluated. I guess this has been a mix of good things and bad things. Obviously the bad being that my daughter will spend most of her babyhood in a helmet. I think what I'll miss the most is kissing her sweet head. And I guess I'll miss smelling her hair after she's had a bath, and I'll definitely miss putting little bows in her hair! And I can't imagine how it will feel nursing her with a large helmet rubbing against my arm. . . but enough of the bad!
I can definitely say I have a greater appreciation for people who have children who endure serious hardships. I take great comfort in knowing that Brooke's ordeal will be short-lived so I can't even understand how people deal with life-long ailments. My heart truly goes out to families in such situations.
Speaking of family, that is another thing that I have further appreciated. I have always felt like I have been blessed with a wonderful family, but it's nice to be reminded of just how great they are. I guess this is my thank you to them. It really touches my heart knowing that I have a mother who stood by and cried with me with the doctor was diagnosing Brooke and twisting on her neck. And what a blessing to have sisters who cried with me when they heard the news of the helmet. And in a disturbing way it was even a comfort when my father and brother made tasteless jokes in order to make me laugh through my tears! I sincerely hope Brooke can one day feel the same way about her family as I do.
And as to the helmet, the people said it typically takes anywhere from 3 weeks to a month to get it made so somewhere in the near future we'll be posting pictures of our peanut in her new duds!
I can definitely say I have a greater appreciation for people who have children who endure serious hardships. I take great comfort in knowing that Brooke's ordeal will be short-lived so I can't even understand how people deal with life-long ailments. My heart truly goes out to families in such situations.
Speaking of family, that is another thing that I have further appreciated. I have always felt like I have been blessed with a wonderful family, but it's nice to be reminded of just how great they are. I guess this is my thank you to them. It really touches my heart knowing that I have a mother who stood by and cried with me with the doctor was diagnosing Brooke and twisting on her neck. And what a blessing to have sisters who cried with me when they heard the news of the helmet. And in a disturbing way it was even a comfort when my father and brother made tasteless jokes in order to make me laugh through my tears! I sincerely hope Brooke can one day feel the same way about her family as I do.
And as to the helmet, the people said it typically takes anywhere from 3 weeks to a month to get it made so somewhere in the near future we'll be posting pictures of our peanut in her new duds!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Disappointing 4 month doctor visit
I took Brooke to the doctor for her 4 month doctor visit. She now weighs 13 pounds, 14 ounces which has her at the 60th percentile on weight. She now measures 24 inches long which puts her in the 50th percentile on height. Her head cirumference is 41 1/2 cm which puts her in the 50-75th percentile on head circumference.
Now her little head is causing her mother much heartache. Due to her sleep habits the back of her head has been flattening out and the doctor dropped the bomb that Brooke would need to wear a helmet. I'm trying to have a good attitude about it but the thought that I won't be able to snuggle my precious peanut and kiss her head brings tears to my ears. I've been informed that it's similar to a football helmet and that she'll have to wear it for 23 hours a day for potentially the next 8 months. I guess the situation is what it is and there is a reason for everything, so we have to make the best of it. The good thing is that her brain development is in no way impeded by any of this! I'm sure it will just take a lot of getting used to!
Now her little head is causing her mother much heartache. Due to her sleep habits the back of her head has been flattening out and the doctor dropped the bomb that Brooke would need to wear a helmet. I'm trying to have a good attitude about it but the thought that I won't be able to snuggle my precious peanut and kiss her head brings tears to my ears. I've been informed that it's similar to a football helmet and that she'll have to wear it for 23 hours a day for potentially the next 8 months. I guess the situation is what it is and there is a reason for everything, so we have to make the best of it. The good thing is that her brain development is in no way impeded by any of this! I'm sure it will just take a lot of getting used to!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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