Already losing my touch

DaddyFantastic is now better at soothing Lincoln than I am, for the most part. 

I've been back to work for 2 weeks. It has been about like I expected it to be, based on being in a very similar situation last time I returned from maternity leave. Things are starting to make SOME sense a this point, so that is good. I am trying to take it all in stride, and not take anything too personally. 

I took Lincoln to Cranial Technologies based on a lot of internet research I did on Lincoln's head issue (plagiocephaly). It was a nice experience, and it was a free consultation. Based on their measurements, Lincoln has what they would categorize as a "moderate-to-severe" case of it. They did recommend a helmet and contacted my insurance. Not surprisingly, my HMO does not cover it as Cranial Technologies is out-of-network. The cost without insurance is $3800, and there was a high chance that he would need a second one once he outgrew the first, bringing the grand total to $7600. 

I saw my pediatrician again after this. She has a son who went through a lot of very serious medical problems at a very young newborn age, who had a case of plagiocephaly worse than Linc's. She said he got rid of it with very aggressive repositioning and no helmet. She is not against helmets, but she felt her son had been through so much with his surgeries that she couldn't bear any more medical interventions. She wants to see Linc again at 4 months and then treat him if necessary. 4 months is really the minimum age for starting treatment according to most. 

The provider that is in-network is SCOPe orthotics, makers of the STARband. They have an office at the children's hospital where they do a TON of this, so we have a consultation there on Wednesday.

It seems anecdotally, people have the best results with Cranial Tech for this condition. However, the only BAD experiences I have read about with SCOPe were from locations with orthotists with very little experience fitting cranial helmets. That's presumably not a problem at the location we will be visiting, but I have a list of questions I got from one of the plagiocephaly online groups I found that should give me a better sense of things. My doctor said if we feel weird about it at all, she would help us try to get the insurance to cover the one from Cranial Tech. 

So, I feel good about things. The STARband takes a bit longer than a DOC band (from Cranial Technologies) in many cases, but not a whole lot in the younger babies. The younger the child is, the easier they are to treat, since their heads are growing so fast and are so easily shapable. In either brand helmet, we should be looking at a relatively short treatment time, if we need it (which I am pretty sure we will). 

DaddyFantastic is doing a phenomenal job. Lincoln seems to be adjusting really well, and doesn't seem to be having any issues with me being gone. Which is sort of sad, but I am happy he is happy. I don't want him to be miserable without me, or anything. 

That's about all that has been happening around here. The week before I went back to work, we made a jaunt to Las Vegas because my sister went into preterm labor, but it stopped and she is fine now. We are all hoping she has no more incidents for the rest of her pregnancy! Our niece/cousin Clara also just turned 2, so a big shout-out goes to little Clary.