We are sitting!

The quality is bad because these were taken from my phone...but look at our little bit!

6 month Stats

So our appointment with the pediatrician was today...just about 2 weeks after she turned 6 months.

Drum roll please...

Weight: 19lbs 5oz - 95%
Height: 27 3/4 inches - greater than 97%
Head: 17 5/8 inches - 95%

3 shots and a liquid and she did great! This was our last visit with Dr. Ewing as she is headed to Mississippi. Our new pediatrician is Dr. Buie..hoping she is just as wonderful. Anna is on target for everything developmentally and we got instructions on fun "new" things to start in the next couple months!

Next appointment: August 3

Day 5

So, here we are on day 5 of our helmet transition schedule. I will say, she is doing GREAT! Once we get it on, she seems to forget about it. She is now napping in the helmet and we will add nights tomorrow. Now that she has it on, I am just excited to see results! A lot of other moms said they say improvement after the first full week of wear. We have an appointment this Friday and next for check-ins and adjustments if needed. I am hoping he will trim a little more above the brow and around the back so she can look up easier.

My sister said to me, "You know that God had a plan for her...she is still so absolutely beautiful even in a helmet!". She couldn't be more right.

Her 6 month appointment at the pediatrician's is tomorrow..and more shots. :( She is a trooper though!

(oh, and check out the serious baby skills in the picture above...toes IN mouth!)

Here we go...

Here is our little fighter pilot!



We are doing pretty good so far. Well, I will say, Anna is doing good. I am a mess. I only cry if anyone asks me how I am doing. I know it will get better...

Tomorrow is the day..

Helmet day. Now I am just ready to get this started!!! Our appointment is at 11am. I promise to post pictures because I know she will be absolutely ADORABLE! :)

My good friend Jennifer and her husband and son are coming to visit us this weekend. Well, Eric is running the half-marathon and we are just a bonus. :) Parker (son) is about a year and a half and we are thinking some zoo time is in order...that is if it doesn't rain. Maybe the Adventure Science center?

6 months old!

Happy 6 months to Anna!! She is growing so fast! We have her 6 month appointment on the 28th so I will post her updated "stats" then. At her CT scan she weighed in at 17 lbs...so I would guess just a bit heavier than that now. She is definitely on the move more..almost rolling from her back to belly! Once on her belly, she does this "super man" move and scoots backwards and forwards towards her toys. She definitely wants to crawl but can't get the arms and legs to do the same thing at the same time!

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all the posts on facebook and emails that have been sent our way. We feel extremely lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that are sending prayers and good thoughts to us. It makes this easier knowing we have some serious support.

PT went great last Thursday. Hard to believe we have been going for over 2 months now! She sat up unassisted for about 30 seconds and rolled to her belly with just a little kick of her leg!! Amy (our PT) and I were so excited! We are staying on an every other week schedule.

Anna was scanned for her helmet last Friday and she did great! She definitely let us know ALL about it. You can see in this quick snapshot her mouth was open because she was talking up a storm. The lady at the front said she could hear her all the way at her desk! HA! We will be fitted in her helmet this Friday. We have a 7 day schedule that I mentioned earlier which will hopefully make this transition easy (or well...somewhat easy). The hardest part is apparently learning to sleep with it on. We don't do naps in the helmet until day 3 and no nights until day 5. This week my goal is to keep her in hats and bonnets to help with the transition.



Stay posted for photos!

Pink or White?

Anna and I met with B.J at the Dickerson Pike Hanger office this morning and I feel that he really knows his helmets. We go back on Friday for a scan and then more than likely fitted next Wednesday. Our timeline in the helmet will be about 6 months (instead of the 4 months we originally estimated...very sad). We start off with a schedule of one hour on, one hour off, no naps and nighttime...and gradually work into a 23 hour per day schedule. I am glad we will be able to help Anna's head get corrected but I am going to miss her little sweet head. Some mom's have said that their personalities can be affected...they can become more reserved and introverted. I am hoping that won't happen with Anna.

So now the question is...pink or white? Here is a picture of the band with a screen printed image (which we aren't doing). I am going to get some vinyl stickers to decorate it tastefully! Staying positive!

Orthotist Appointment

Yesterday we met with an orthotist at Hanger orthotics to discuss helmet therapy for Anna. While we were there we got a bunch of questions answered and an evaluation/measurement of Anna's head. Her numbers suggest Plagiocephaly (which we knew) and Brachycephaly, which means she also has flattening on the back of her head as well. Her celphalic index percent was 95.8 and should be around 80% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalic_index). Her cranial vault asymmetry is 7.4mm...We want this to be 0mm!. All this to say that a helmet will be a necessity.

Here comes the confusing and stressful part. We didn't think that orthotist had enough experience (only has treated 4 babies TOTAL) so we are meeting at another Hanger location tomorrow with BJ who apparently has over 13 years experience. We still have our specialist appointment with Dr. Kelly but we found out the cost of his services is about the same as the helmet. Keeping in mind that none of this is covered by insurance, we are having to make some decisions. We, of course, will do anything we need for Anna...just all in what is actually needed and best for her. Once we decide on an orthotist, we will need to order the helmet within a day or two of the evaluation as it has to be fitted within 2-3 weeks of the scan (FDA mandate). The helmet will take about 2 weeks to be created and then our 4 months of helmet therapy will begin.

I joined another Plagiocephaly support board and had a woman from Nashville contact me to talk about her story and problems that she experienced. She also went through Dr. Kelly and BJ...so her knowledge and help is extraordinary.

Today has been a tough day for Anna as it seems her Torticollis is in full force. We are continuing our stretches...but will definitely have to work harder today. I am sure yesterday's appointment with the scans took a toll on her.

This is so hard and confusing as I constantly struggle with the best decision for Anna. Do we see Dr. Kelly? Do we bypass that process and go straight to Hanger? Do we do both?? It's not easy, but we know we just have to continue to do the research and hope what we chose is best.

To be honest, the hardest part for me will be not being able to kiss her sweet head all day. I am getting in as much as possible every second.

A little blue box...

My wonderful husband brings home to me a little bag filled with a big gift! He ordered this for our anniversary but it didn't come in until this week. I am a happy girl...


Welcome Andrew Davis!

John and I are proud to have a new nephew!! Andrew Davis was born on April 2, 7lbs, 12oz and 19 3/4 inches long. We can't tell who he looks like yet...but we do know that he is absolutely adorable (and so little! I can't believe Anna was that small!).

Kristen is doing great and I know Ryan and Emily are just loving that little guy!

Plagio update.

As you have read in earlier posts, Anna was diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly and we have a journey ahead of us to help her. For the past couple months Anna has been in physical therapy at Vanderbilt Children's hospital for the torticollis (head tilt which caused the plagiocephaly). Amy is our therapist and she is great! We have now graduated from every week appointments to every other week! We are pretty excited about it.

We are continuing to work with Anna so she doesn't fall behind developmentally. So we work really hard with sitting (supported and un-supported), rolling over tummy to back in both directions (she only wants to roll one way...easier way because of her neck), "catching" her weight when unbalanced, rolling back to tummy (we aren't quite there yet), pushing up with her hands when she is on her tummy (almost there...not quite yet) and many more exercises. We do these many times a day with stretches added in. She is a good sport.

Last friday, Anna had a head CT at Vanderbilt at 7:30am. It was a tough morning as I couldn't nurse her past 3am. So the alarm was set, woke her up at 2:25am to nurse (she normally sleeps until past 4am) which she was a good sport for. Unfortunately, she was stirring at 6am which broke my heart since no food was in sight for her for awhile. Thankfully she went back to sleep in the car as we head to Vanderbilt at 6:30am. They brought us back around 7:20am and of course, she wakes up. They put us in a small room and poor Anna was just hungry. She was just crying and crying...which kept getting louder and louder. I don't blame her!

They gave her an oral medication (propibarbitol--something like that) to sedate her during the scan. Well, this is where I just lost it. Her eyes got really sleepy and I just cried and cried...I can only imagine that feeling was strange and new to her and I was just worried. Once she was asleep, I was able to carry her into the CT room and while John and I donned lead jackets...she wakes up. Umm...that's right, she WOKE UP. Everyone just stopped what they were doing as she looks at us with wide eyes. Yea...they aren't supposed to wake up. So we just stared back at her and I slowly rubbed her forehead until she went back to sleep. A quick 5 min scan and we were able to take her to recovery. The nurse told us to expect at least 30 min of grogginess or her just being asleep. Well, just kidding, Anna was awake from the moment we walked into recovery...and happy as a clam! She was showing all the nurses her toes and how great they were. We were extremely relieved!

We received a call from our pediatrician, Dr. Ewing, that night that the CT scan looked normal (except for the plagiocephaly). Whew! We scheduled our appointment with Dr. Kelly at Vanderbilt plastic surgery to discuss helmet therapy. I am trying to get us in sooner as we have to wait until May 10! Grrr. This is time sensitive!

In the mean time, we have an appointment with Hanger Orthotics next Monday with Jason to discuss their helmet options and process.

This will be a trying time for all of us as we cope with the potential that Anna could be in a helmet for 3-4 months. Prayers are appreciated!

Update to Baptism post..pictures.

Finally, here are a couple pictures from Anna's Baptism on March 21, 2010! It was a wonderful weekend!