Maverick Becomes a Gladiator

For those of you who don't know the story of Maverick's precious head, here it is: Maverick was born with torticollis, which meant his neck muscles were bunched up on the left side. He didn't have full mobility in his neck, so he never turned his head while he slept. Pediatricians recommend babies sleep on their backs now, and because of the torticollis, Mav's head became very flat on the back. He has severe brachycephaly and mild positional plagiocephaly on his head. He has been doing physical therapy for the past several months to fix the torticollis and strengthen the right side of his body. He is doing great, and now has about 85% mobility. After a LONG battle with orthotics and insurance companies, we finally put Maverick in a cranial remolding band, or a fitted prosthetic helmet. Thank you to Hanger O&P in Oklahoma City for your great care! The helmet will hopefully guide Maverick's head growth to the back and round it out for a more normal head shape. He will wear it until he outgrows it, probably for 3-4 months. I hope to have it off by his birthday. I drive him to OKC every few weeks for an adjustment, which is hard on us both. Let's all pray for a growth spurt! We also are SO grateful to Jon and Gayle (Maverick's Great-Grandparents) who paid for the part of the helmet that insurance wouldn't cover! Thank you so much!

Maverick got his helmet on July 21st and wore it for longer periods each day for the first week. Then, he started wearing it 23 hours a day (only taking it off for bath time and a quick head scratch). We were worried about how he would adjust, especially in the Oklahoma heat! Grandpa Bill was nice enough to trade cars with me because the air conditioning on my car barely works. However, Maverick has adjusted wonderfully!! He found out very quickly that the helmet makes a neat sound when he bangs his head against the wall and that it doesn't hurt now when he falls. His new nickname: Crash! Because that's what he does...all over the place, all the time. He moves a mile a minute all day long, and he loves his crash helmet! We are pretty thankful for it, too.

Maverick when they first put it on

Getting comfy with "Goose" for the car ride home