The Big 5!

Mia hit 5 months old and Ellie is excited that Mia is 5 just like her! ;) She is continuing to develop right on par with her age. She is now 12 lbs 1 oz and is in the 15th percentile for weight. making her about the size of Ellie at this age. She is eating solids 1-2 times a day as well as her milk to try and keep her on the scale. She loves the fruits and sweet potatoes, but hates squash. She is very happy and giggle and smiles all the time. She loves watching her sisters and also loves to sleep. This month she will be starting physical therapy. At our 4 month appointment our doctor noticed that her left side of her head was starting to flatten to the point that her ear was shifted on the left to not be even with the one on the right. We have noticed for a while that she favors her left side when sitting, sleeping and playing. At 3 months we talked to the doctor about trying to keep her off that side and we have worked really hard at always having her up right when she is awake and putting barriers on her left side while she is in the car seat or swing to keep her from laying on that side. She has started to comply with the barriers instead of wriggling a way through to stay on her left. However, after a month there was no change in her head shape. It did not get worse, but there was not vast improvement. Our doctor recommended us to a specialist, which we went to last week and Mia has been diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly and torticollis. Basically in the last 2-3 months she was in the womb she wiggled her way down in my pelvis to prepare for delivery and got comfortable. Her head then pressed on my pelvis making her neck muscles on the right side stiff making her favor her left side. This has lead to a flattening of her head on the left side. In the big picture this is a very small condition and can be corrected in 2-3 months time in 95% of cases. What does this mean for our Mia? She will need to go to physical therapy for the next 2-3 months. She will go for the next 3 weeks every week and then go every other week to work on stretching her muscles in her neck on the right side and retrain her in favoring that side as equally as her left. We will do our exercises at home all week and most likely she will get a craniocap, basically a helmet, to wear for 23 hours a day for the next 2-3 months. We are taking the next two weeks to work on her therapy and see if we notice a change in her head and if not she will be fitted for her helmet. Prayers for her would be greatly appreciated. The doctors and therapists have been amazing and are a huge praise in this! The specialist even told me that the pediatrician we chose upon recommendations from those at church is the best in the twin cities and is a huge blessing to us. They have assured us that in no way is this having an effect on her brain and that she is completely normal developmentally for her age. It is simply a cosmetic issue. She is at the perfect age to correct this diagnosis. In no time, we are encouraged, that she will be completely healthy and we are extremely thankful that this has been the only serious health concern in our girls' lives. The next couple of months will pose challenges with schedules, exercises and appointments, but Ben and I want the best for Mia and will do whatever it takes to get her that.

She is the sweetest thing! She has also gotten to that magic age where she is beginning to love being with her Daddy. If she follows in her sisters' footsteps, in one more month Daddy is going to be the hero around here for her!