Shift Happens!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Dear Max,
Well, remember me telling you about the doctor appointment we went to before labor day? Here is the whole story. It started back at the end of March early April, when you were about 3 and 1/2 months old. I started noticing that your right ear and cheek seemed bigger than your left. I started asking your daddy and Grammie and others if they were seeing the same thing I was. They all thought I was crazy. They thought I was being obsessive. Well, when we went to the doctor for your check up I asked and he suggested we go see a specialist and find out... so we did. In May we went and they took some measurements and pictures and sure enough your right side is shifted more towards the front, due to a flat spot on your head. The shift made your features look bigger to me on the one side versus the other. In the meantime we found out that you had torticollis and started physical therapy. Torticollis is when one side of your neck is tighter than the other so it was creating a tilt. So if you can keep us with this... we have a tilt and a shift. Now, I will be honest, people never noticed. But the specialist suggested we have a helmet made for you to correct the shift and help the tilt. We thought and thought and thought about it... all summer. Some said, I can't even see it, don't do it. Some said, If it were me, better safe than sorry and that's what we opted for. I decided that if you came to me when you were 16 and said... "Mom, I want to be a male model, but they said that I have a shift and a tilt!" And I would have to think back to this mom moment that I could have fixed your shift and tilt and thought, it's no big deal. So we decided to go for it! Now I will admit one of my favorite features about you Max, is your faux hawk. What will happen to your signature hair?

Starting the process....
The first step in creating your helmet came in the form of them putting a nylon stocking over your head and taking a 3D image of you.

YIKES! You seem ok with this now... but it didn't
take long for you to freak out!


Like I was saying...Commence Freaking Out

This is a huge 3D camera...when your reading this your probably have some really fancy, new way of taking these types of images and will be laughing at the big dinosaur camera we had to use.

Then we went back into the other room and played while they looked through all the pictures trying to see if they had one that would work.

I will say that they have some pretty fun toys!

Then the news came...we didn't get a good one...we need to do it again!

Here we go again...at least Grammie is still smiling!


Oddly enough the 2nd time went a little bit
better...I don't know if you knew what to expect
or was just ready to get the nylon off your head!


Back to the waiting room to see if they
have a picture that will work...


And they did!

Max, this is you in 3D and silver
They have you turned so we are looking at
the top of your head. You can see that shift happens!

Fast forward a week and half later to today...the day we pick the helmet up!

Looking good little man!

I know I'm a strange mom... taking a family picture in the doctor's office.
I just had to document the day!

Now, Max, you will be sporting this classy little thing for about 4 months. Stay turned for some creativeness to hit the helmet. Daddy and I have already got some ideas in mind. Here is the lesson Max, sometimes you have to do things that just aren't that fun, but it's called life. That's when you stick together and you make the best of it. I've had lots of mixed emotions about you wearing a helmet, but in the end it's only for a little while and we certainly know that Shift Happens! Oh and the silver lining to all this is.... You can still sport your faux hawk! Love you Max!