Re: Merrick Has Graduated!

[Guest guest]

okay, Merrick's before and after photos have been uploaded to the 'm'

folder. Feel free to let me know what you think.

H.

>

> Well here we are, graduation day!! I am so proud of Merrick for

being

> such a champ through all of this and helping us to work towards a

> round little head and resolved tort. It couldn't have been easy—

> dealing with the stretches, the month of repo, the accelerated

tummy

> time and other gross motor work, and of course the helmet. So, for

> those who like empirical data…here are our numbers:

>

> At four months when we decided to band, Merrick had 11mm cranial

> vault asymmetry, 5mm mid-face asymmetry and 8 mm skull-base

> asymmetry. We ended with 3mm Cranial Vault, 2mm Mid-Face and 3mm

> skull-base….so that means we are Normal Normal Normal!!! For those

> who like to go by sight—we are extremely pleased and as soon as CT

> emails me the photos, I will post them.

>

> A second band was not recommended for us, because we would only be

> going for `perfection' and not many of us are, are we ? Also, as

we

> all know, they can't push in anything that has grown out already,

so

> there is that grown out side on the left that is what it is.

>

> This has been a crazy journey—from when the pediatrician first

> discovered all of this at 3-months to graduating from the band at 6-

> months. I have learned a lot—and not just about plagio. I guess

these

> things have a way of making us stronger. I learned early on that

the

> only thing holding us back from `correcting' the plagio was my own

> guilt. Once I let go of that, it was full speed ahead. I see people

> arrive on this board every day and I can sense the guilt. My advice

> would be to embrace it, but to let it go, guilt doesn't help us

> heal. We all love our children very much and we would never

> purposely try to do anything to hurt them. We only hold ourselves

> and our children back when we live in that space.

>

> I have met some amazing friends on this board. I could not have

> gotten through all of this with sanity if it wasn't for everyone

> here. The decorating tips helped so much that only one paint job

was

> needed over the eight weeks! The stinky head/helmet tips helped us

to

> get through with minimum stink. And the honesty from everyone

helped

> me to realize that I wasn't alone in my thoughts. So, a big thank

you

> to everyone. I will let you know when I can post pics. And, I will

> stick around to try to help anyone who needs it….email any time!

>

> One last note—we are so close to `graduating' from PT as well,

> Merrick has a 10% tilt that he still falls into intermittently, so

we

> are still working on strength exercises…he will get there .

>

> H.

> Merrick—6-months, DOC Band Graduate 1/8/09!!!!!!!

>