What's up DOC?: Week 1

So you know those babies with the weird helmets? The ones you think, "I hope my kid never has to wear one of those uncomfortable, socially awkward things!" Yeah, I have one of those kids.

First time with the DOC band. Not so sure about it!

When I was in labor, Brayden's umbilical cord was too short. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I hadn't! Anyway, he kinda got stuck and his heart rate dropped. So the doctor had to use a vacuum to help get him out. This created a "cone shape" to his head, which for most babies, goes down on its own. But not for Brayden. Long story short, it was recommended that he wear a DOC band ("dynamic orthotic cranioplasty") in order to modify his head shape. I had some doubts, knowing that there was still a chance his head shape would resolve itself as he grew. But there was a chance it wouldn't. And as Jaime convinced me, "The ladies will thank us later." So in the spirit of giving our son a normal head, we embarked on the DOC band journey!


We are getting services through Cranial Technologies, the leading provider in treating head deformities (www.cranialtech.com). We were told that he would likely wear it for about 8 weeks, which is a short amount of time for a long-term investment. And we were told it would just take a couple days for him to get used to the band. Well, it's been 1 1/2 weeks and it's already felt like FOREEEEVER! We got it on a Thursday and were concerned and confused about the design of it (not what we expected). So he wore it minimally but we didn't have him sleep in it. On Friday, we went back and got good clarification about all the engineering purposes of the band -- which we should have asked about the   day before -- but were too consumed with the hygiene and care of the band instead. But Brayden was  NOT happy and had a difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep in it. It was awful that night. I mean, who can blame him? I wouldn't want to sleep with a helmet on! Jaime ended up essentially holding him or sleeping next to him on the couch the whole night, letting me sleep to recover from a sinus infection (and mommy burnout). I just woke to nurse him. Bless his heart (Jaime's and Brayden's)... 


Furthermore, for the first two days, you are supposed to do "skin check breaks" every 3-4 hours to make sure there aren't any glaring red spots for more than one hour. If there are, you are supposed to remove the band and call Cranial Tech in the morning. Well, with our luck, there were a couple spots that remained red beyond an hour on Saturday. Jaime, in his professional physical therapist opinion, didn't think they were a big deal (because they faded to light pink) and wanted to keep Brayden in the helmet to get him used to it. I, as the rigid "rule follower," wanted to be more conservative and keep it off, like we were told. I was worried that leaving it on would lead to skin damage or something. And to be honest, I just felt for the poor little guy! He was still trying to get used to this shell on his head and having poor sleep with it on. As his momma, I wanted to prevent any kind of discomfort or harm to my son. So over the weekend (while Cranial Tech was closed and unavailable), we compromised. He had it on during the day, to get used to it. And whenever he slept, we kept it off. In general, he just seemed miserable in it. There were moments when I just wanted to RIP the thing right off, stroke his little head, and give up.


But as usual during times of hopelessness, God broke through and blessed us with some "wins." We resolved the red spots issue, and he gradually figured out how to sleep with it while lying on his tummy. But nights this last week were really tough. He was waking up every couple hours -- just like newborn days. Again, there were moments when I wanted to just rip it off so we could all sleep! However last night -- after begging God for a break -- he only woke up twice!!! This was deemed a successful night, and we're hoping for another one tonight. I know it'll all be worth it. There's already noticeable change to his head shape, after just one week!  


So our family has embraced the DOC band and even decorated it with some cute stickers -- just to brighten up the process. I'll keep you updated along the way. And after this is all done, the ladies better thank us!