What We Did Wednesday & Positional Plagiocephaly Part 1.5

Yesterday, Palmer had her appointment at Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary to see the Craniofacial specialist regarding her Positional Plagiocephaly, so Palmer, my mom, and I made our way up there.

The doctor told me basically what I had expected her to, and very similar information to what the physiotherapist, the Lethbridge Orthotics helmet guy, and what my research had already told me. Again, she did the grading scale, nad out of 15, Palmer scored a 5. She told me that she has 2 criteria for helmeting a child.

1. a score of 7 or more/15
2. a score of 2 or more on the grading of the severity of the flatness on the back of the head - which is what Palmer's case is.

She considered Palmer's Plagio "moderate to severe" on the flatness on the back of her head and said Palmer really shows no other significant symptoms: there is no real facial asymmetry in the forehead, cheeks or eyes, there is no neck involvement, and there is minor ear displacement (but she said most people have this anyways). 

Our plan now is to wait it out for a few weeks. Because Palmer's adjusted age is 5 months right now, we have an extra month to see if it will start to fix itself. We are lucky that Palmer has taken a liking to sleeping on her stomach - putting no pressure on the back of her head. So, the doctor wants to see us again in 6 weeks to reassess Palmer's head and I think we will make a decision from there. 

Waiting for the doctor at Alberta Children's Hospital

After our appointment, we went downtown to meet Aunty Candice for lunch and I got a quick, much needed haircut. Then the 3 of us headed over to Ikea. We got a bookshelf for Palmer's playroom and a new coffee table. Then headed back home.

I had run out yesterday evening to the store, and on my way back, a HUGE storm hit. It was mostly blue skies when I left the house, and on my way back home, the thunder and lightening started. When I got to the end of University Drive, the rain started and within seconds, I couldn't see out the windows from the rain. It cleared briefly - just enough time for me to get a little further down the street and the hail and tornado-like winds started. It was like millions of golfballs hitting the truck, with me inside. I couldn't see anything or even hear myself think! It was so loud!!!  Then, within minutes, it all blew over and it was blue skies again! We got lucky this time! There were houses down the street with their roof ripped off, trees uprooted, trailers moved, and house had their gas line ripped off. Crazy how much damage happened in that short amount of time!!!

The skies just minutes before the storm hit

This is the lake in front of our house, covering the sidewalk and part of our front lawn!