Parker's 7-Month Update

Dear Parker,

Seven months was a really big month for you!  You are really starting to turn into a baby boy rather than just a baby!  You are so active.  You have finally figured out how to roll and know how to get from one toy to the next.  At daycare, they say you will just roll anywhere.  Can't figure out how to get that toy?  Never fear, I'll just roll to it!  You definitely roll at home, but I wouldn't say you roll from one end of the house to the other.  You know mom & dad will get you whatever you want, so you just let us know if you aren't happy or want a different toy.

Since you have figured out rolling, you earned your "I roll" tag at daycare and you now mostly sleep on your tummy.  We had a rough 3 weeks with you in December.  You caught a terrible cold and got two teeth all at the same time.  You were a terrible sleeper during those battles.  It broke mom's heart to see you in pain!  You traveled to Arkansas for New Years and you were a superb airplane passenger.  You just slept both ways.  However, I'm discovering that you are not a good sleeper in new locations.  I think you wake up and kind of get scared/confused at where you are.  It takes you a long time to fall back asleep when that happens.

You are such a good eater.  You love your solid foods.  You will pretty much eat anything if it has some fruit in it and you aren't picky about your fruits.  You just open your mouth up wide everytime a spoon gets near you.  It's adorable.  Mom has also started giving you some Baby Mum Mum's (rice cracker) and some Puffs.  You despise the texture of those items, but you love to try to get them to your mouth.  I think this has really improved some of your fine motor skills because it takes a lot of work to get a puff into your mouth.  Mom puts about six on your tray and you usually can get about 1 or 2 in your mouth.  But, once in your mouth you hate it.  You try to gag and get it out of your mouth. I'm hoping you move past this pretty soon so I can get you to eat some real food.  You spit out anything that has any texture to it so far.  We are also working on a sippy cup.  You *sometimes* get some water out of a sippy cup.  You at least like to play with it and bring it to your mouth.  You mostly just smile when you get it to your mouth.

You are still such a stander.  I got you a musical play table for Christmas and you could pretty much stand at that and dance to the music all day.  I love this.  Your little feet just go, go, go.  You will also walk behind your walker.  You haven't grasped the concept of turning or anything like that and you need extreme adult supervision... but you like it nonetheless.  Your little face is so serious when you are walking.  You also love to stand at the ottoman.  You prefer to play with mom's chapstick, the tv remote and the coasters more than any other toys.  Funny how that is.

You also had a very wonderful Christmas.  Your family spoiled you rotten!  You got so many toys, that we had to leave some of it behind in Arkansas for another trip.  You liked to play with the paper and the boxes.  You just say in my lap the whole time and watched your surroundings.  DD Nana got you a toy manger scene and you loved it the most, I think.  You liked being able to chew on everything and I think Baby Jesus was your favorite chew toy.  :-)

At 7 months you:

• Wear size 3 diapers.  But, are still finishing up the rest of the size 2 diapers we have first.
• Eat 5 5-6oz bottles a day, but you seem to be transitioning to 4 bottles a day.
• Eat at LEAST 4 oz of baby food in one sitting, 3-4x a day.
• Nap 2 to 3 times a day.  You usually only nap for about an hour to an hour and a half at a time.
• Starting to make more sounds and be more vocal in general.
• Love riding in your wagon and/or your trike (that the adult pushes).
• Have a tolerance for swinging in a swing.  I can't decide if you really like it because you don't smile, but you at least don't seem upset by it.  The forward swing motion seems to kind of scare you at first, but you will unclench your fists after about five minutes when you realize its okay.
• Are generally a happy baby.  But, if we don't let you stand/walk you are sure to let us know that is your preference.  You aren't interested in trying to crawl.  You are more interested in learning to climb so that you can stand.
• You will scoot backwards, but no forward motion yet.
• Refuse to walk inside your walker; you much prefer the walker you can push.
• Have friends at daycare and aren't afraid to take another baby's toys.  It's cute to see you interact with the other babies.  You guys will just sit and smile at each other.  I wish I could see you during the day!!  This one baby, Brooklyn, will cry if I come to pick you up.  She loves you and I think you love her, too!
• Moved up a class at daycare, so now you are in a class with crawlers!  You seem to have adjusted well, it's mom who still has work to do in that area.  I really loved your first set of teachers, Ms. Nairy and Ms. Hale.  It's taking some getting used to with the new ones.
• Becoming quite the car rider!  Mom is so proud!!  We have come such a long way with the car.  You will just sit in your carseat and look around until we make it home from work.  I love watching you back there just take in your surroundings.  You also like to fall asleep in the car, too.

You are such a big boy!  I can already tell that month eight is going to be a big month for you as well.  You got a helmet in month eight.. special post about that will come later.  Mom and dad love you baby boy, always and forever.

I'm so happy to be seven months old!

My first restaurant experience!

You love your DD Nana.. and she loves you!!

My cool trike that my Great Nana bought me.
Note: very dangerous should child fall asleep while riding.
Must stay close to house while riding.

Positional Plagiocephaly

Well, my sweet boy Parker has been diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly.  In layman's terms, Parker has a flat head.  He is going to be wearing a cranial orthotic helmet (aka, baby helmet) for the next six months for 23 hours a day.

Our first appointment was on December 29th where we got a picture made of Parker's head and spoke with a neurosurgeon.  We were also worried about craniosytosis (premature fusion of the skull), but it turns out that Parker's brain is good as new!  Parker literally just has a flat head, which is good news.  No surgery.  Whoo!  We left Texas Children's with a prescription for Parker's helmet and an image showing us Parker's head compared to the "average" head.  Most babies heads are oval shaped when you look at them from the top and Parker's head is very round.  Since its flat in the back, Parker's head is just getting wider so that his brain can grow.

We knew it would take 2-3 weeks for insurance to approve the helmet, so we have just been waiting for the phone call saying all is well, as we knew we met Cigna's requirements to get a helmet.  Here is Cigna's official position on positional plagiocephaly, if you're interested.  

When you read the internet about the helmet you can see a whole host of opinions and thoughts on the helmet.  Some say it is not worth it and it will return to its normal round shape on its own.  Well, did you know that at 6 months a babies head is 86% the size of an adults?  That's a big head!  The curve of how fast your brain grows rapidly flattens out after year one and then stops growing around year two.  What happens if it doesn't round out after year one?  You're pretty much stuck with a flat head, that's what.

You can also read online that the helmet is just for cosmetic reasons only.  True, his brain is fine.  But really, who wants to go around with a flat head the rest of their life if they can prevent it?  Parker's head is clearly flat.  We did all we could do to reposition him beginning at month four, but he just preferred his back.  I'll never know if I should have done something differently to prevent his flat head; its just the way it has to be.  But, would you want to have a flat head for the rest of your life knowing that someone could have done something about it?  From daycare workers, to great grandparents and to even my six-year old niece, they have all noticed Parker's head.  I wouldn't want him to be teased for something that can be fixed.

This leads me to the next part of the story.  We received notification that Cigna will not cover Parker's helmet.  It's not because of Cigna's policy, it is because it is National Oilwell Varco's (the place where Robert works) decision to specifically exclude the use of cranial orthotic devices from the plan unless you have surgery.  I can guarantee if the CEO of NOV's little baby had a flat head he would want to get that fixed, too.  But nope, the helmet won't count towards your deductible or anything of that nature if you work for NOV.

You might be thinking that I should have read my plan documents before I re-enrolled in January.  Well, I did.  I read the entire booklet from front to cover and read the summary plan description.  The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires plan administrators — the people who run plans — to give plan participants in writing the most important facts they need to know about their retirement and health benefit plans including plan rules, financial information, and documents on the operation and management of the plan.  However, nowhere in our summary plan description did it mention that it wouldn't cover the baby helmet.  The summary plan description had a specific section for services not covered and it completely left out cranial orthoses.  Turns out the "SPD" didn't consider this an important fact to call out.  I guess the fact that 1/5th (20%) of all babies get flat heads since medical science has changed its position to have babies sleeping their backs isn't considered important.  We had to have NOV's benefits department send us the actual plan description to find the specific exclusion.

Really, I understand a flat head is cosmetic in nature.  Really, I do.  It's elective.  But the thing is, I didn't choose for Parker to have a flat head in the first place.  How is this different than say, a nose job or some other cosmetic election?  Well, God designed your looks and maybe you want to just randomly change that.  Okay, fine other people/insurance shouldn't have to pay (via higher premiums) for you to just randomly change your look on a whim.  But, Parker wasn't born with a flat head.. God didn't design it that way.  Medical science told me to lay him on his back.  The flatness was not there right away.  Sleeping on his back over time created the flat head.  Essentially, his environment created his flat head.  Just like our environment causes us to break bones and get sick.  How is this any different?

What's even more odd-- our plan will pay for the regular DR visits to check on the helmet and his head, but not for the actual helmet.  Now, how does that make sense?  To me, it just a cop out.  Someone along the way decided that having a flat head wasn't a big deal.  Maybe you still think that.

Let me tell you this.  I know what its like to look different first hand.  I know what its like to wear a back brace to school.  I know what its like to be teased and made fun of.  I know what its like.  I would never put my kid in some time of brace/device just for the fun of it.  But, trust me when I say, I will do everything in my power to make sure that Parker can fit in at school.  There's so much we can't control... but I will do everything I can in what I can control.  And, I can control his flat head, to the best of my ability at least.  With or without insurance help.

Here is Parker's head at 6.5 months.

 

Oh, this kid.  He's the light of my life.  Yes, I know.. this is just a little blip on the radar.  Really no big deal in the scheme of things.  He won't ever remember this.  He'll get used to the helmet everyone says.  And, considering how often he hits his head on things now that he can stand and sit up, it's probably good that he is getting a helmet.  :-)  Mostly, I just want to vent.  I'm fortunate enough that paying for the helmet out of pocket without insurance will just be inconvenient.  But, for others, it could be the decision between getting something every kid has the right to have... a round head or not.