And...We're Done!

We went to the orthotist today for Carter's next round of head measurements.  We have been on this journey since February 2nd.  When we first went in, Carter had a 17 mm difference between two measurements that needed to be corrected.  Here's a look at his head before we had the helmet:

Today Carter is only measuring a 9 mm difference which means his head has rounded out by 8 mm!!!  We asked about how much longer we needed to continue.  She said that at this point it is really up to us.  His head will not get any worse.  As he grows it may even continue to naturally round out through his 2nd and 3rd years.  His ears are closer to symmetrical now, so concerns about glasses fitting in the future are no longer applicable.  Also, he shouldn't have any trouble getting hats to fit either.  Our major concern about stopping too soon was whether or not his forehead would start bulging again.  When we started this process, Carter was beginning to show signs of a forehead deformity because that was the only direction his brain could find to grow.  That is no longer an issue, and since his head will stay as it is or get better then we do not have to worry about that either.  In the end, she left it up to us.  We left the clinic and talked a little bit.  We are ready to be done!!  As it gets warmer he's getting sweat rashes where the helmet touches, and when that happens we have to take it off until it gets better.  His growth spurts are likely to slow down quite a bit since he will be one next week, so that will make his progress slower.  Taking all of this into consideration we decided we were ready to call it quits.  We were ready to see our sweet baby's head without the helmet and SO ready to cuddle without all that plastic in the way!  Here's some similar shots of his "new," rounder head:

We are SO thankful for our orthotist that took us through this process.  She was fabulous, and Carter loved her!  It was nice to have extra protection on his head as he learned to crawl and pull up.  There may be extra bumps and tears now, but he's also gained a lot more strength and balance during this time so that will help a lot!  And, no matter how his head looked/looks he will always be my perfect little gift from God!

Here's a silly shot for the fun of it!