Today we took the boys to Children's Hospital in Boston to meet with Dr. Gary Rogers, a leading specialist in Craniofacial Anomalies. The boys have some head flattening...so our appointment today was to determine whether or not they would need "helmets" to help correct their condition.
Both boys have a form of torticollis, which is congenital tightening of the neck muscles that affects their range of head motion. They are currently in physical therapy and doing great! Obviously, the boys were in some cramped quarters in my belly. They were kind of stuck in one position which led to the muscles tightening. The head flattening also began at this point as they could not change positions.
This is not "typical" head flattening due to sleeping on their backs; however, is common with twins due to the tight quarters they shared before birth. It is important to treat the flattening now and ensure that the boys develop a normal round head. Which is why we went to the best!
So...in order to have perfectly round little noggins...my little men will be wearing corrective helmets 22 hours a day for 8 weeks. The boys won't feel a thing and from what we understand they adapt quickly to wearing them. People may wonder what the heck their wearing, but hey...we figure as the boys are already big...most people will just assume that they are early draft picks for the Pats! =)
Here are some pictures from today's fitting...it was NOT fun. They were very sad and both my mom and I had a hard time seeing them so upset. But luckily, they were able to scan their heads using a laser imaging machine rather than the usual method of making an actual *cast* of their heads using plaster. YAY technology!! The boys should have them within the next two weeks, so we'll post photos once we have them.
Both boys have a form of torticollis, which is congenital tightening of the neck muscles that affects their range of head motion. They are currently in physical therapy and doing great! Obviously, the boys were in some cramped quarters in my belly. They were kind of stuck in one position which led to the muscles tightening. The head flattening also began at this point as they could not change positions.
This is not "typical" head flattening due to sleeping on their backs; however, is common with twins due to the tight quarters they shared before birth. It is important to treat the flattening now and ensure that the boys develop a normal round head. Which is why we went to the best!
So...in order to have perfectly round little noggins...my little men will be wearing corrective helmets 22 hours a day for 8 weeks. The boys won't feel a thing and from what we understand they adapt quickly to wearing them. People may wonder what the heck their wearing, but hey...we figure as the boys are already big...most people will just assume that they are early draft picks for the Pats! =)
Here are some pictures from today's fitting...it was NOT fun. They were very sad and both my mom and I had a hard time seeing them so upset. But luckily, they were able to scan their heads using a laser imaging machine rather than the usual method of making an actual *cast* of their heads using plaster. YAY technology!! The boys should have them within the next two weeks, so we'll post photos once we have them.
1 comment:
Poor babies!! They are so big and adorable!!!!!!!!!!
Melis
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