Under Construction

Seth was born with Torticollis, a twisted neck in which the head is tipped to one side, while the chin is turned to the other. The muscle on the right side of his neck was tightened into a knot forming a lump the size of a ping-pong-ball. Because of it, he could not turn his head to the right. At 1 month old, Seth started going to physical therapy once a week and doing stretches at home. He has made great progress and can now turn his head to 100 on the right side (full range of motion is 110). Although the muscle is becoming stretched out and he is doing so well, he still prefers his left side. We have had him sleeping on his right side during the day so that his left gets a break but 12 hours straight every night has taken its toll.

Because of all this, he developed Plagiocephaly meaning that he has a flat spot on one side of his head. To correct his head shape, a helmet was made just for him which he has to wear 23 hours a day.

The cause of his flat head

His left side is flat, his left cheek is also bigger because of the pressure.

uneven head....

His side profile is I quote the clinition "Gorgeous" but if you compare the two pictures you can really tell that his cheek and ears are different sizes/at different levels.

See how his ear is lower?

And you can tell his head is misshapen from the top of his head also.

Helmet Head!!!

Seth was irritable the first day he wore the helmet and extremely sweaty but 4 days later and its as if he doesn't even know he is wearing it.

This experience has been interesting. When we first went in to have Seth's head measured they said he was in the moderate to severe range and assured us several times that this isn't our fault, there was nothing we could have done, it does not reflect our parenting... well, I never thought it was my fault! haha I thought it was strange that every time I went in, they made sure I knew this. Then another mom started talking to me in the waiting room just after Seth got his helmet and she was telling me how her daughter has been wearing hers for a week and that she, the mother, has cried several times. She said that people keep staring at her baby. I found this interesting because yes I have noticed people looking at Seth, but no more than they did before. People LOVE babies. Its second nature to look at a baby whether he is wearing a helmet or not. Everyone we have seen has treated him just like any other kid. Maybe its because I figure this is just his first of many helmets, if he's anything like his dad and uncles he will be riding bikes, roller blades, skateboards, snowboards, and motorbikes the rest of his life. The only thing about the helmet that makes me sad, is that it makes it hard for me to kiss his head!

Brandon and I had a fun Saturday morning, the longest we have spent away from Seth is just over an hour (except to go to the Temple which was more like 2 hours). We left the house before he even woke up at 6:30am and didn't get back until 1pm. We had fun and apparently so did Seth. He got to go to the park, read stories, play in the bath and just be loved unconditionally by his grandparents. He didn't seem to care that I wasn't around but boy was he excited when I got home! Brandon and I spent our morning alone running, for our second time, in the Camp Pendleton mud run. Cory came with us as our photographer.

We ran with Brandon's work, DealerSocket again this year.