Shortly after M was born I noticed she had a preference for one side, meaning she liked to sleep facing that way, lay facing that way, and eat facing that way. She can go the other way just fine, but really likes that side best. When I brought it up to the pedi at her 2 month well check, he said that most babies are born with some "preference" because of the way there were in utero. He checked her range of motion in her neck (she does have full range) and said she was fine. As the weeks and months passed I knew it something more than that. Something in my gut told me it just wasn't right...that this was more than just a preference.
He did emphasize that it is mild, because she does have a full range of motion and can voluntarily turn her head the other direction without a problem. He described the problem to me as try and think if you had a pulled muscles on one part of your leg, when you go to walk, your going to use the side that feels better, its not that you cant use the other side, its just that that one side feels better so thats what your going to use first. That's how it is with the muscles in her neck. She has a right tilt, meaning her head is tilted slightly to the right and she prefers to look left.
To fix the issue she will start with some physical therapy to help strengthen and stretch that muscle out so she will become more comfortable on that side. They will teach us some simple stretches to do at home to help her along. The Pedi also said that tummy time for tort babies is crucial. The more the better because it forces them to strengthen their neck muscles, and lot of times in some mild cases as they start crawling it can straighten out its own. To be proactive we are going to start PT though, and I want to get started right away. Problem is that all in are area are booked out and the soonest we can get in is June 27th! Crap!
Tomorrow my mission is to try and beg and plead to get her seen sooner somewhere, that way we can at least start with some stretching at home. Funny thing is, is that I am really not that worried about it. I know it's mild, and that we are going to take care of it. I was telling some friends that if this was my first I would have been freaking out! But being a second time mom now, I am calmer and my mothering instincts are stronger now. I know my little baby will be fine.
M and her great grandfather (taken on my iphone)
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5 comments:
Did you call the Pedi center?
Hi Lisa-
My name is Kristy Sola and I found your blog through Kristen Wilson. My husband and Kristen went to the same college. Anyways I love reading your posts. I have three kids and one of them is just a month behind miss M. I had to comment cause I took my daughter to her 4 month check up on friday and she has the same thing Miss M has. I never noticed her looking in one direction more then the other until the doc brought it to my attention. Her right side of her head was kinda flat so I mentioned that and after checking her over he concluded it was probably cause of how she was postioned in my belly. He showed me how to stretch it and we've been doing it all weekend and I already notice a slight change. Anyways, I just thought it was crazy that Miss M has the same thing cause I never even heard of it until friday. Hope all is well with your beautiful family and thanks for the great blog posts.
-Kristy
We went through the this with our daughter. She had about 12 PT visits and was moving and shaking after that. Her case was mild to moderate so I wouldn't be surprised if you get by with even less. It was nerve racking in the beginning but our Physical Therapist was amazing and now at almost 19 months unless I told you, you would never ever know. If you can't get your appointment pushed up, don't freak, we went through that too and the few weeks did not make a difference at that age. I also forced her to do a lot more tummy time during the weeks, which she hated but it helped. I also would sit her in a Bumbo chair and try to make her follow toys or music or some other distraction on the side that needed the stretch. Being in the Bumbo she had to move her neck to see what was going on. Everything will fall into place!
Kristy,
Welcome :) How funny huh? I had never even heard of it either until now, but I guess it is pretty common.
Emily,
Thanks for the encouraging word! its nice to hear from those who have been through the same thing. Glad everything worked out with your little one!
Oh and Dana, yes I did. Their PT just had a baby (csection) and is on maternity leave for the next 6 weeks...go figure!
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