(The photos above are not my children.)

Madam Poopsalot has plagiocephaly. Muffin had plagiocephaly too. Both noticed within a couple of weeks after birth. What exactly is plagiocephaly, you ask?

plagiocephaly (plā´jēōsef´lē),
n a condition characterized by an asymmetrical skull with flat spots. Temporomandibular joint disorder, as well as auditory and visual disturbances, may result if left untreated. If diagnosed during infancy, the condition can be treated with cranial orthotics.

Basically, it’s a crooked head. Both Madam Poopsalot and Muffin’s plagiocephaly happened in utero. I guess that’s just the way I make my babies. Mommy is sorry, my sweet babies. However, if we have to have a “problem”, this is a good one to have and I am very grateful for that.

Madam Poopsalot is now 4 months old and we have not been able to resolve her crookedness. It is harder to resolve plagiocephaly that occurred in utero. So, despite our best efforts at crazy amounts of tummy-time, our little MP is going to be getting ‘banded’.

Our insurance will likely pay this time (they didn’t for Muffin even though his plagiocephaly was moderate to severe and he was 3 standard deviations from normal). We banded him anyways and are very glad that we did. He was only 3.75 months old when we did it so he only had to wear the band for about 7 weeks, as we were able to benefit from a few growth spurts due to his young age. Back then, the decision was a bit agonizing but in the end what clinched it for me was reading stories of adults who live with plagiocephaly and how it has negatively impacted their lives. Issues ranging from severe self-consciousness, to chronic headaches, to vision problems, to not being able to wear eye glasses because the ears are so uneven. It really solidified my feelings that we had to do this for him. I didn’t want Muffin coming to me 10 years from now, upset asking us why we didn’t fix his head when we had the chance (you can’t do anything after they are 2 years old). I didn’t want him to come to me and ask me why I didn’t help him when I could have and why bike helmets won’t fit him, or why sunglasses (or eye glasses) can’t seem to reach his other ear. I didn’t want him to have vision problems, or jaw problems. And I certainly didn’t want him to be so self-conscious about his asymmetrical face that it affected his interactions with the world. He may be self-conscious about other things when he’s older, but it won’t be for something that I could have fixed for him. How could I say to him, “Pumpkin, your head is asymmetrical. We could have fixed it when you were a baby, but we just didn’t want you to have to wear a helmet 23.5 hours a day for 6-10 weeks. Also, it was $3500.00, so we passed. Get over it.”

No, we could not do that to him. So, we got him the Doc Band and insurance (Blue Shield) didn’t cover it. I wrote a super-tight and awesome 20 page appeal but it was denied. Essentially, they just didn’t cover it at all no matter how bad the asymmetry was. Our insurance this time will cover it. Aetna, you are my hero. We are an HMO now though, so our medical group has to approve it first. We will do it even if they decide not to cover it, of course. Now, I have to wait for a week or so to hear whether or not they will approve it. Each week that goes by, we loose precious growth time and the treatment outcome decreases, while the length of time having to wear the band increases. So, we’ll wait for them to approve it…but only for a couple of weeks. I don’t want this to be a long drawn-out process. It can’t be. I don’t want my kid’s face to end up on the side of her head while we go through the Deny & Appeal Dance.

A couple of photos of Muffin’s casting process. Very traumatic and now they do it digitally. Thank God!

And here he is with his band. He wore it for 7 weeks. Sure, we got stares, but worst of all was the silence. Up until that point, people would approach him and talk to him and smile at him (he was a pretty cute baby and I’m not at all biased). However, after he got his band people would look away and not make eye contact and not talk to him. That for me was the worst.

I like wine and I like chocolate. I also like to be able to fit into my clothes. What’s a girl to do?! Well, I’ve heard that keeping a food intake journal can help. If I have to admit to eating it by writing it down, I’m far less slightly less likely to put that tablespoon of nutella in my mouth. So, I recently went on a mission to find a good calorie counter website and came across MyPlate by LiveStrong. It’s awesome! The basic membership is free and includes access to their calorie counter and you can even keep an account that will track your weight loss, both in pounds and inches. It will also track your workouts and calories burned, and also provides a nifty pie chart of your daily intake of carbs, protein and fat. Now, only if it had a built in lie detector.

The formula for successful weight loss is Do More, Eat Less. To do more, just get your butt moving but how do you eat less – that’s the hardest part! Portion control is what it’s all about and the Measure Up Bowl will help you do it. I need one of these as I have recently taken to serving myself out of measuring cups! Loosing the baby weight is not easy to do and portion control is hard for an-always-hungry-never-satiated nursing mother. Now only if this bowl came with the superpower of not allowing it to be filled with second or third helpings.

Have you heard of this?! I was reading one of my mags and came across mention of The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin, best selling author. She wrote The Happiness Project, which is an account of the year that she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. You can find her blog here. What a great blog and such a great idea! I am so excited to try it and I’m going to commit to take the yearlong Happiness Challenge for 2010. I’m starting in one month late, so I’ve got to catch up! January was energy month and the resolutions were to “toss and organize”; “under-react to a problem”; “tackle a nagging task”. So I’m going to do these all today to catch up! I’m sure there will be ample opportunity to do each thing today, especially the “under-react to a problem” (no shortage of “problems” with a 12 week old and an almost 3 year old).

I’ll let you know how I fare and if each thing really does make me “happier”! So, why is this post about the Happiness Project illustrated with these super cute shoes? Do you even have to ask?! Cute shoes make me and my husband happy. What a team! These are one pair of my new shoes Hot Guy bought me for Christmas. More on those later.

Previously, when this first came to light several months ago, I had been sitting on the fence but after extensive research into the H1N1 virus and vaccine, ultimately what I thought was an agonizing decision, really wasn’t. There is so much fear-mongering about the vaccine from unscientific and/or government conspiracy sources. And if one more person quotes Dr. Mercola I’m going to FREAK! He’s on QuackWatch and he’s been warned by the FDA 3 times for his marketing practices of nutritional supplements.

1. H1N1 seems to be hitting pregnant women especially hard. Particularly those in their 3rd trimester. Pregnancy lowers the immune system to protect the baby and this can make the flu very dangerous for this group. This is very scary and I feel I must protect myself and my child.

2. If I get the vaccine while still pregnant then I will be able to pass some of the immunity on to my baby, who will be born in the height of flu season and will be too young to get immunized (children under 6 months of age cannot receive the flu vaccine).

3. I will go from one high-risk group to another after the baby is born (those parents and caregivers of children under 6 months of age). So, to protect my baby and my toddler, it would be wise to get the whole family immunized.

4. The H1N1 vaccine is made just like the seasonal flu vaccine – same ingredients (except for the dead virus strain) and the same process. The regular seasonal flu vaccine has a very good safety record and I have been getting it for 9 years (even while pregnant), so I believe the scientific claims that the H1N1 will be just as safe.

Here is a great article debunking vaccine myths (not just flu vaccine). Vaccines are one of the greatest advancements in medical history. They save lives. It makes me very angry that people who don’t have science on their side are spreading falsehoods and making people fearful of what could protect them and those around them.

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-06-03

Now only if this vaccine would be available!!!! It has proven very elusive here in San Diego. It’s already almost the end of October and there are none to be found. My OB, GP and pediatrician’s offices don’t expect them in until early November. I’m very annoyed with the wait considering the virus is very active already. Hopefully it will indeed come in November or even sooner and there will be enough for myself, my toddler and my husband.

http://www.motherisk.org/women/morningSickness.jsp