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I am finally feeling better. Isn't is lost on me that my mood started to change for the better just after I started my period, either. I don't know if this round of funk was brought on by some strange hormonal shift or what, but I have been bleeding like crazy and have broken out in head to toe hives. Let's just say that it isn't fun to feel like you want to scratch your skin off your body while visiting the toilet every freaking minute.
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I am having trouble getting Sh.awn to drink liquids. He won't take more than 2-3 ounces from his bottle at a time and flat out refuses his sippy cup. His poor mouth is speckled with new little teeth (all four uppers plus eye teeth and two bottom teeth), so I know that has to be a major part of the issue. We're talking he isn't getting more than 10 ounces on some days. I've tried everything I can think of over the last several days, but nothing is working. I am really worried he's going to dehydrate and land himself in the hospital. (Oh, God, please no.)
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Thursday was our fourth month of helmet hell. We went in for a growth check/helmet adjustment. I left feeling the same way that I always do, angry. Sigh.
Ja.son's head has grown 1/8 of an inch this last month giving us a whopping total of 3/8 of an inch for the entire 4 month period. That's it. That means we still have a ways to go to get his head shape within "normal" range.
Of course I ask how much longer Ja.son will have to be in the helmet. (asked while I am daydreaming of pitching the stupid thing out the window on the way home) The answers are always vague without any definites. I don't handle that well. I am a planner. I need estimations, if-then statements, and goals--take that away from me, and you lose my support. Support that is barely hanging on by a thread at this point if you want to know the truth. So, I had to come home to research, answer the questions for myself, and hopefully renew my enthusiasm for this treatment.
Here's what I found:
The whole reason Ja.son is wearing the helmet in the first place is because his cephalic ratio (the width of his head divided by the length of his head) is below the normal range. The ideal cephalic ratio is 78% with the normal range between 73%-83%. Ja.son's ratio was at 60% when he first got his helmet, which characterizes his head shape as severe.
Now his ratio is at 66%.
My goal is to get him as close to the 73% as possible, while keeping in mind that I will be satisfied with near that ratio as long as I feel his head shape is decent. (I admit that this will be tough to keep objective when I didn't really see a problem with his head originally.)
By my calculations, if his head continues to grow at the same rate it has grown so far, it should take him 4 more months!
Holy cow. I. Don't. Know. If. I. Can. Take. It. For. That. Much. Longer.
Seriously.
I mean, I am all for the round head thing and all, but wearing that sucker for 23 hours a day (and we really do follow that pretty closely even though he is never wearing it in pictures--I just try to take the pictures when he has it off) is getting very old. His head is always sweaty and smells like stinky feet. He head butts you with the helmet. The stupid velcro strap on the back of it has sliced my face more times than I can count now. And I just miss being able to kiss the top of his sweet little head.
Sigh.
*Fortunately, the growth has increased the width of his head while the length hasn't increased much. It's grown 1/16 of an inch to be exact, but I think that was just due to the different techs measuring his head and not so much due to actual growth.
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Why is my husband grating on my every last nerve? He's sitting on the couch next to me, and all I can think of doing is smacking the snot out of him. Jeez. All he's doing is breathing. I'll admit it is loud breathing, but still. WTF?
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Thank goodness Monday is a holiday for us. Yea.
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I have been paranoid that everyone I know is reading this blog because my friend Jen found it because of a careless mistake on my part. (but I really am okay with you reading, Jen) I got a phishing email about another person I know looking for me on Twitter which freaked me. I went over there and took my url link off of it. A while later I had calmed enough to realize that there is no way for this irl person to have found my Twitter account unless she had already been here, so I put it back up.
WTF. Who cares if people know how I am really feeling. Maybe it will help me. Maybe it will just make me go crazy.
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Now it's time for some celebrating...
A big congrats to docgrumbles on the birth of little JAG! She's beautiful!
Congrats to Mel for winning the Weblog Award for the best medical/health blog!
Happy Birthday to Neenie!
Last, but not least,
Happy Due Date Birthday
Sh.awn and Ja.son!
Now you're 1 year old adjusted! Mommy loves you very, very much!
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10 comments:
1. The helmets. One of my twins really probably should ideally have one, but I'm hanging with I don't see a big issue to start with and also it's meant to largely spontaneously improve anyway. I hope. Stinky head sounds un-fun.
2. Wanting to kill spouse for breathing. Uh, huh. Yet I'd also love more children. Crazy.
J
((((hugs)))
I hear you on the medical equipment stuff. Yesterday we hit one month down, 5 to go, before we get something less annoying.
Everyone always says crap like "it's just a blip in time", but .. it's not. They're only babies once. It will end, of course, but they won't be babies anymore, and we'll have missed out on stuff.
As for the fluids -- lots of fruits. Does he still take purees? Fruit has a lot of water. And add as much milk as you can to his cereal. As long as he's peeing, he's fine. (So they tell me as they also tell me I'm running, on average, 2-3 oz short on hydration for Daniel every day.)
Glad you are feeling better. Since Shawn is not drinking as much fluid as you would like let him play in the tub. With him sitting in the tub his body will absorb some of that water. It will help him to not dehydrate. Whenever my kids were throwing up that's what we would do. It really does help. Plus it takes their mind off of what is bothering them. (If they love the water like most kids do)
I can see a difference in Jason's head. I am telling you in that video of him saying uh oh, his head looks perfect. Not everyone has a perfectly round head. Jason looks like his mommy with the long narrow face. He's handsome!!
Again I am sorry (not really ;o))for finding your secert place. I am addicted!! I check everyday 2-3 times a day. I love hearing about the boys. Oh and leave poor Isaac alone. It is not his fault he is a man and there are times he just can't do ANYTHING right. (even if it is just breathing) Men can screw up anything. Love and hugs to all.
Happy one year adjusted to your boys!
I have had AWFUL eating and drinking issues with my son (ok, well, not awful, but not good) and we just CONSTANTLY offer the sippy/bottle/whatever. As in I carry it around all day pushing it at him...I ask his sister to hand the cup to him....I give it to him literally all.day.long. and the most he EVER drinks is 16 oz (he eats). For about a week I was lucky if he got like 4 oz in.
Cathy knows how much a kid our boys' age needs...she JUST told me the other day but I didn't write it down (dumb) and don't remember. So maybe ask her...
Of course, that's all assvice if your son isn't EATING some.
Also, if it's hydration you're worried about they can have stuff like jello, fruits, etc....and there's always pedialyte if you can get him to drink it.
GOOD LUCK!
I know firsthand how tough the whole helmet thing is. Mr. B just graduated from his after 4 months of wearing it. Stick with the helmet. It's not purely cosmetic - all sorts of problems can occur if it's not corrected!! My wife who is a pedi wasn't totally on board with the whole helmet thing in the beginning, she kept saying it would likely round out on it's own - but everything we've learned since then says otherwise. Also babies grow in spurts, so it may be less time than what you've calculated :) What *really* helped me was joining the plagio yahoo group. Lots of support!!
Hang in there!!!! (and stick it out - you can do it!! They will thank you later... I mean, this is their head after all - the one they will have their entire lives!! They will never remember this stage, but the results will be with them forever!!)
If he's eating food I'm sure it's helping with the fluids. You don't realize it but lots of foods are chuck full.
What about icecream, pudding, yogurt, jello ?
Good luck.
I'm sorry about the bad news on the helmet.
That sucks and other than the light at the end of the tunnel I have nothing. I think you should invent some kind of head liner that smells like babies and make TONS of money.
Sorry about the peanut butter cookies. :(
What about popsicles? Would he eat any of those? Poor kiddo...teething is no fun! I'm dreading it as my twins have become big droolers lately.
Helmet - you are getting so much closer, I hope that you all don't have to deal with it too much longer.
He is still eating solid foods, and I have been giving him loads of purees.
Got him to drink some extra by giving him some Banana yogurt stuff today.
His bowel movements are still softish and he isn't constipated by any stretch of the word.
So far, I suppose we are okay. Still, I will be happy when things get back to normal.
Ugh, husbands!
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