so ella had her 9 month appointment today. all went well this morning…we were up…ate…coffeed…showered…hair did and mascara. (had to look like i had my shit together ..espesh at a 9 month appointment. i think it is expected by now.) i pushed off her nap since the appointment was at 10:30. i did not want to arrive to early for fear that i would have to sit in a pig flu infested waiting room. lucky for us we were brought into a room within minutes…thank god.
so as awesome as it was to get into a room…it was not so awesome that the dr. was 30 minutes behind schedule…and it was like 500 degrees in the room. so she shows up…”sorry i am running behind”. i tell her “its not a big deal.” (i lied. ella was being a fidget monster because…ummm…it was NAP TIME.)
so then dr. s proceeds to ask me if i had been on vacation…motioning to my lobster like appearance. so rather than saying “actually it is hotter than balls in here and i have been waiting for half and hour with a baby that thinks she should be napping in her crib.” i politely said “no…its just really warm in here.”
enough of my bitching…onto the appointment…thats why you are reading…right?
the little bean is growing like a weed…which i knew from the fact that she literally was in her 12 month footed pj’s for 5 seconds.
as of today she is…
- 20 lbs and 10 oz (75%)
- 29.5 inches tall (97%)
- head circumference of 44 cm (50%)
in all her awesome almost 9 month status she is…
- crawling…occasionally at lightning speed..usually after sammy. because she LOVES him in a possibly unhealthy way…and he doesn’t know what to make of it…so he runs away….or tries to at least.
- eats like a professional….pointer finger to thumb…seriously the cutest thing EVAR.
- standing up in her crib…awesome…but at 2:30 am…not so much.
- has 2 teefers…friggin cute…and i think a third on the top is on its way…things are looking puffy up there.
- says “da da deee” ALL the time. (go figure…i carried her for 9 months…labored for 40 hours and spend every waking moment with her and she says “da da dee” first. nice. no really so happy for chris…it makes his day!)
- plays on her own pretty well for the most part.
- naps like a champ most days.
- is the most INCREDIBLY AWESOME little person in our lives…yet she does not know it yet. xoxo
now onto my SOS. so apparently ella has a bit of a flat head. something i asked the dr. about at 6 months. she said it was mild…and that all her other features line up just fine. so fast forward 3 months later…her head is flat-er. GREAT! it is flat-er…but her features are still fine. and for us to correct it would be purely for cosmetic reasons. not because she NEEDS it.
so she gave me a number for a plastic sugeon…who will meet with us…and most likely he would recommend a helmet. now i am a little angry and upset for several reasons.
- i slept her on her back…as recommended. so now she has a flat head. (do i win mom of the year?)
- the dr. noticed it at 6 months and said it was mild…not to worry.
- but had she said go talk to this guy and he said get a helmet…i would have been more likely to torture my child at 6 months vs. 9 months….they have to wear those things for like 23 hours a DAY! the idea…turns my stomach….i do not see any of that going over well.
so there is her head…best i could do under pressure to get evidence. (i am letting her play with my calculator…she was SOOO HAPPY.)
would you do a helmet? she said most likely he will recommend one…but it would be for cosmetic reasons only. i do not want her to be 15 and hating me because i DID NOT fix her poor little flat head when she was 9 months old. ya know what i mean? but she will prob have hair to cover it up….right? arrrgh!
open to any and all comments…even from you secret readers…yeah i know about you…i don’t bite…you can say hello.
my oldest son had to wear a helmet. the day they told me he needed one i broke down and cried like a baby! i felt like the worst mom ever and blamed myself…. but called the number they gave me and my husband and my cute tiny baby went to the appointment. they made a mold of his head and the next time we went in (i think it was a week later) Peyton was wearing a helmet 23 hours a day…. the only time we took it off was for bathtime and some playing. it was the best hour of my day because i got to see my baby’s head. i thought the first night sleeping in his helmet would be a nightmare, but it wasnt. it was perfect. it didnt faze him at all. me on the other hand…. i cried and cried. apparently it’s harder on the parents than it is on the baby. that is what we were told, which i didnt believe until Peyton was actually wearing his. he did great, he was a happy baby, and only had to wear it about 8 weeks. which to me felt like FOREVER. but now that i look back on it, it was nothing. his head is perfectly round and so cute! if you go WAY back on my blog, i blogged about it a little. there are even pictures of him hamming it up in his helmet. im glad we did it for him…. even though our stupid insurance WOULD NOT pay for any of it.
there was only one time someone said something rude to me about my son…. and it was an ADULT. she looked right at him then looked at me and said ‘what’s wrong with your baby?’. i wanted to smack her! i said NOTHING, he’s fine and walked away…. and of course wanted to cry again. but all in all it was a good decision for us. Peyton is a healthy happy boy, (he’s 4 now) his head just had a bump from where they pulled him out of me. nice huh? which also made the other side look flat. i thought he was perfect, but the doctors made him more so. i still have his helmet. i love it now and will never throw it away.
Mandy
8 weeks!!!! omg. i do want to cry…but i know this is a small little thing…she is perfectly healthy…so whats a helmet?!?! i am going to search your blog right now.
i wish harper would eat veggies. because ella? is almost 2 inches taller than H. sigh. GO ELLA GO!
i have no advice on the helmet. although i’d be mad, too. the older they get the less likely they are to deal well with one.
I think her head is very cute just how it is. But I would be upset about the doc putting it off as mild and not keeping a up on it until now. I follow another blog http://nbjenni.blogspot.com/ and one of her girls was in a helmet for a while. Maybe she could shed some light? Good luck.
hi lena!!!!!! thank you for commenting!!! i tried to comment on your blog but the comments do not seem to work…you daughter is soooo friggin’ cute!!! i will have to check out that blog for sure!!!
awww, ellers! she is a big, healthy biscuit! she would totally dwarf poppy (other than in head size, cause poppy apparently has a giant balloon head…)
i’m exactly the same way about the need to look put-together for doctor appointments! i remember well my prenatal ones – they were always after work because i worked full-time, monday through friday so it was the only way to fit them in. i used to RUSH home after working all day so i could shower and change into something cute, then HAUL ASS to the obstetrics clinic. well of course i was always flustered and several times they had to re-take my blood pressure since it was high due to my dumb pregnant ass rushing around like a bat out of hell trying to look presentable! i’m still that way with p’s appointments, but luckily i’m a sahm now so i have more time to get ready…
shoot lady, i don’t really know what to say about the helmet thing! that’s such a tough call! ): i can totally see both sides – on the one hand babies are super resilient and if you did choose to do a couple of months with it, ella would most likely never know the difference (as your above commenter pointed out.) but on the other hand it might totally stress you out and drive you bonkers, and her head might not even look that different in the long run (since your average girl doesn’t sport a buzz-cut!) i honestly don’t know what i’d choose to do, especially since it’s just cosmetic and not technically medically necessary. drats! where are the easy answers when it comes to mothering??!
whatever you choose to go with, definitely be assured you’ve got a bunch of mama friends havin’ your back – you’re a wonderful mom to beautiful ella, and whatever your decision is it will be out of love for her, which is what really matters.
great post lady! good luck!! xo.
First of all Ella is gorgeous and if she doesn’t have a perfectly round head as a teenager/adult/whatever it will not be a problem, cosmetically. She will simply grow long luscious locks and make that little crinkly face at everyone and they will never notice.
I would call the plastic surgeon and I would go for an appointment and I would see what they recommend and get all of the information about what their recommended course of action entails, and what alternatives you have (if any). Can you wait a few months and revisit, etc. In my opinion, knowing what your options are is always the best way to go. You commit to nothing but receiving all of the information that you need in order to make a fully informed decision about what is best for your daughter. Not what’s best for how flat the back of her head it or what’s best for her self esteem as a 14 year old (because it is going to suck. sorry. there’s no way around it. remember 14? exactly. Was your head flat? I’m thinking you would have mentioned that.)
I actually think that the back of my head is a little flat. But no one has ever said anything to me, even when I had super short hair.
I would go, I would meet, I would ask, I would research, I would learn I would discuss as parents and THEN I would make a decision with my husband. You don’t have to decide today. but you can educate your self more about your options.
Hang in there hon, we are here for you!
my nephew had to wear a helmet for the same reasons as ella. austin was much older, perhaps a year & a half??? he did really well. for him it was not just cosmetic reasons though… the md’s were afraid that when his brain grew, it might push up to his forehead. i think this is much more common than we realize… thanks for sharing, it is important for everyone to learn about these things!
austin looked super cute in it, but the hour of not having it on what pure pleasure. ella will be just great with it, i am sure!