2 week Appointment

I kept waiting for Baby Girl's head to round out, like they always tell you it will. I noticed that she never laid with her head straight back. She always laid with her head to the side. Hum, odd but really not that big of a deal. I am a pretty OCD mother. I know that and most of the time can acknowledge that fact. I watch and analyze everything ad nauseum. Just ask my husband, it drives him CRAZY! :)

I had Scott keep the other girls home while I took Baby Girl to the Dr.'s office for her check up. I was meeting with the PA because I was late for an earlier appointment with the Dr. (the snow helped with that). He gave Baby Girl the thumbs up on everything. I nervously asked him about her head. I was worried because it looked long and narrow compared to most babies heads. He felt around on her head, laughed and said "If we shaved 100 adult heads and you looked down on them, you would see all sizes and shapes. There is no need to worry". Okay, that made me feel much better but I still had that nagging feeling.

A few days had passed and I started to notice a ridge on her head. It ran from the middle of her head to the back. I just made a mental note and tried not to worry. Remember when I said I was OCD. Yeah, this is what I mean. One night I sat down at the computer and got on the Babycenter website. I was a member of the December 2010 birth board where I would write with other mothers who delivered babies that month. I came across a post written that had the words "Symptoms of Craniosynostosis". I didn't know what it meant but I clicked on the title. A wonderful woman had written about early detection of Craniosysnostosis.

Wikipedia defines:

Craniosynostosis, “Cranio" refers to Cranium: The upper portion of the skull. "Syn" to together, “ostosis” to the genesis of bone.

Craniosynostosis is a condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in an infant skull prematurely fuses by ossification,[1] thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull.[2] Because the skull cannot expand perpendicular to the fused suture, it compensates by growing more in the direction perpendicular to the open sutures.[2] The resulting growth pattern provides the necessary space for the growing brain, but results in an abnormal head shape and sometimes abnormal facial features.[2] In cases in which the compensation does not effectively provide enough space for the growing brain, craniosynostosis results in increased intracranial pressure leading possibly to visual impairment or an impairment of mental development combined with a significant reduction in IQ.[3]

Craniosynostosis is part of a syndrome in 15 to 40% of the patients, but it usually occurs as an isolated condition.[4][5]



One of the symptoms is a ridge on the skull. When I read this I lost it. I knew this was what she had. Because I'm very aware that I overreact about things I tried to stay calm as I googled as much as I could on the subject. Then I took what information I had to Scott. He could tell I was worried and read what information I had on the subject. That's when he agreed that we should call the Dr.