Preemie 101 - Head Shaping

One of the side effects from lying all of those weeks in the NICU is a condition called scaphocephaly (a form of uneven head shape). Scaphocephaly - describes a head which is long and narrow from front to back (scapho = boat), this is the commonest in premature babies...

The womb is a weightless environment so there is no pressure on one particular area. When babies are forced out of the womb early, and into a bed, their heads are exposed to pressure they wouldn't normally experience. Their heads are still growing really fast, but when they are laying on the sides of their head all of the time (in our case because the boys were on the ventilators to help them breath), their heads can grow into a long, narrow shape. (You know how when pumpkins grow, they get flat on whatever side touches the ground? It is kind of the same for a baby's head.)

Experts at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in New York estimate one in 60 babies develop plagiocephaly (a flattened head, which is not exactly the same as what I am talking about, but the statistic shows that a misshapen head is rather common), usually as the unintended consequence of the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation that infants sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS.

An uneven head shape is caused by the baby's head moulding into a certain shape, due to the position the baby was lying in, inside the womb. Moulding in the womb is more likely in multiple pregnancies. In premature babies moulding occurs due to the weight of their still soft head having to lie on a mattress when it is still suited only to the watery cushioning of the womb. http://www.countyosteopaths.co.uk/uneven_head_shape_in_babies.htm

So why am I telling you all of this?

Jason has been diagnosed with scaphocephaly. We always knew that his head was more narrow than Shawn's, but all of our efforts to get his head to round out on its own haven't completely fixed the problem. It is better, and there has been much discussion on how narrow his head would naturally be because I have a narrow head, but we do believe that there are still residuals from his NICU experience at play.

So, now we have to move on to a more aggressive treatment to round out Jason's head. That treatment is a helmet. Jason will wear his helmet 23 hours a day for 3-6 months. (Can we all pray for the 3 months?)

All treatments, whether it be repositioning (which we tried) or even a helmet, involve harnessing the most rapid period of head growth between birth and 18 months. During this time all efforts are made to remove obstacles to correct head growth and to encourage the skull bones that are flattened where growth had previously been stifled to “catch up”.

It has been a rough transition for him. He doesn't like it. We don't really like it. But, we intend to give Jason the chance for the prettiest shaped head in all America! So, if you see our little guy in his new attire, you'll now know why.

I do plan on decorating Jason's helmet after all of the initial fittings are done. If anyone has a sticker or two that they think will help jazz up his helmet, you know where to find us! (I don't think they could have made the thing any uglier, do you?)