A Journey Must Begin Somewhere.

Caitlyns journey started before she was born.

It started in my womb where, from what the Dr said prior to her birth, she was not surrounded by very much amniotic fluid.

That in turn resulted in squished accomodation for the duration of her stay and led to her being born with minor Taplies of one foot and Torticollis in her neck causing her to favour looking one way.

The Talipes was noticed straight away and we worked on physio to help correct and strengthen the foot. But it wasnt until Caitlyn's 5 week Physio check up that the Physio noticed her inclination to look mostly to her right. That brought about finding ways to encourage Caitlyn to look to her left.

At her 2 month well check with our GP she noticed that the right side of her head was beginning to flatten and suggested sleep positioning and said we would see how she had progressed in another month.

At about 3 1/2 months there had been no significant improvement and Caitlyns right ear had become misaligned due to the contsant pressure on that side of her head as well as her cheek being more prominant on that side of her face. Our Dr diagnosed her with Plagiocephaly. The problems with the facial assymetry were directly related to the Plagiocephaly.

 

Our Dr (bless her heart, she is incredible) referred us on to the specialists and told me that Caitlyn would probably need to wear a helmet. And after deciding to go privately due to the back up in the public system we booked our first appointment with our specialist.

The above photo shows the Plagiocephaly somewhat.

We drove the hour down to Brisbane the day before and stayed at my inlaws home so that we would be in time for our early appoinment the next day and that our 2 year old, Mr William, had a babysitter.

Oh how nervous i was!!! But the people at the clinic were wonderful.  My father-in-law drove me and Miss C in, as hubby was not able to take time off work.

We met with the Dr, he measured, felt and made calculations......Caitlyn had a 1cm discrepancy between the two sides of her head. I was mortified. This measurement still only placed her into the moderate category and they recommended the helmet.

I didnt hesitate in that regard, i knew this is what was right for us.  So in the same appointment we had Caitlyn casted for her new headwear.

She fussed a little, as Caitlyn is a child who does not enjoy being fussed over. I gave her her dummy and she promptly fell asleep. I was gobsmacked!! The Dr said that due to the warming effect of the plaster cast it often sent the little ones to sleep. WOW. This photo was taken moments after she had woken up, so she is still resting her head on her shoulder. lol.

We then got to pick two preferences for the colour/pattern of her helmet. We were then handed all manner of information to read up on and sent on our way to be back in two weeks for the fitting. Caitlyn would be 2 days shy of turning 5 months old the day she got her helmet.

Here is a pic of Caitlyn the week prior to getting her helmet, to me this photo really makes the prominance of the right side of her face stand out.

Miss C the week before her helmet

My Cheeky, funny little girl

The Little Miss & I

 

So thats where it all began...Ive still so much to say but feel its best to break it down into smaller posts, otherwise this will become a rambling mess!!! I look forward to recording this journey, for us, for Caitlyn and for those of you either working through a similar journey or just for those who want to understand better. xx