Torticollis...and baby girl's first crush

Torticollis is a condition that involves the neck muscles. There are several types and several reasons why people get Torticollis. A person can develop Torticollis at any time. Some people are born with it. That type of Torticollis is called Congenital Muscular Torticollis.

This is what Evangeline has. Due to her size in utero, and the fact that I have a really short torso, she was squished up. The working theory is that she spent the third trimester with her head completely bent and that caused trauma to her neck muscle. She was born with her head tilting to one side.

We thought it was so cute that she posed for us *feel free to roll your eyes here* and didn't even know her tilt was a problem until our pediatrician told us that she has this thing called Torticollis. Even knowing that she had this neck thing, we didn't have the luxury to focus on dealing with it because she had more serious and pressing issues that needed to be dealt with.

Once everything else cleared up and we had a happy baby that didn't scream her every waking hour, we could focus on her Torticollis. We had Early Intervention come evaluate her to see if she qualified for P/T because there was some concern that she had and would have future delays in Gross Motor Skills due to her condition. The reason for this concern was those stupid milestones that babies are supposed to achieve each month. I tend to not put much stock in them, as babies don't know when they are supposed to do things and there is such a wide range of age for babies to do these milestones anyway.

Milestones are great for insecure mompetitors, so they can brag about how their 2 month old is "gifted" because they roll at 2 months. Um, not "gifted", just average, sorry.

So, the EI evaluators came and put her through a battery of tests. Ultimately, they determined that she is not delayed and did not qualify for EI services. However, they did confirm a 10-15 degree head tilt and advised us to look into private P/T.

We took their advice and have had two session with a P/T that focuses on babies with Torticollis. The treatment is going to be stretching exercises and P/T for the next 3 months. Once the 3 months have passed, we will evaluate where she is and if P/T is still needed.

Her daily regimen consists of 4 stretches that are designed to stretch out the left side of her neck, where the trauma to her neck muscle occured and to strengthen the right right side of her neck, which is weaker than it should be.

Poor baby girl hates it. Unfortunately, we have to do 4 sets of 4 stretches, 10 reps each set, 20 seconds each rep. It sucks, you can see how uncomfortable she is, but it is helping. We have noticed a definite difference in her head range of motion and in her tilt. That makes her tears bearable. In a few months, her Torticollis will be a thing of the past and she is young enough that she won't remember that the same stretches that hurt her were the reason that her head is on straight.

One of the side effects of Torticollis is plagiocephaly, otherwise known as flat head. Because it is not comfortable for her to put her head in certain positions, she sleeps the same way every night and every nap. that is causing a flat spot on her head. She may need to wear a helmet to correct it. That will be determined at her appointment with the Orthotist on 2/29.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Now, something really cute has happened because of the stretches. As I said, she hates the stretches and cries through them. Alex and I had a mission to distract her, to mesmerize her, to (dare I say) make her forget that her muscles were being stretched out.

Thank you Sesame Street! Thank you youtube! We started showing her clips of Sesame Street songs and she quickly developed favorites. Elmo fascinates her and she likes any songs that involve Elmo and celebrity guests singing together. It helps her tolerate the stretches.

There is one Sesame Street guest that she adores above all others. She shakes when he pops up on the computer screen, she kicks her legs and makes cooing noises. She has developed her first crush.

Her crush is Mr. Jason Mraz. Yes, Evangeline loves every note he sings, every twang from his guitar. She will not take her eyes off of him. I am not ashamed to say that I share this crush with her. What can I say, my daughter has good taste.

Just to test it out and make sure that her crush is on him and not the song, I had her watch other youtube videos of his songs and she is in LOVE with him. It is really cute, but I think Alex is already projecting 13 years into the future when she starts getting interested in real boys.

But if Jason Mraz can get her to tolerate her exercises, he will just have to deal with her little crush.

can't look back now

The letter is in the mail. Tomorrow or the day after, my boss will recieve my letter of resignation. Immediately after putting the letter in the mailbox, a feeling of horror came over me. What did I do? I just quit a teaching job when it is impossible to get a teaching job (at least in NY). I just gave up a really nice salary. I am not tenured so I could not just extend my leave and take a year sabbatical. It was all or nothing. What the hell was I thinking?

Once that momentary panic subsided, I felt relief. I was so miserable in that job for so long. Now, I found the most important reason there is to quit a job. I am still nervous and I feel slightly unprepared for the challenges that living on one income will throw our way. But, I feel confident that we can weather the storm.

On a side note, today marks the longest stretch of time I have spent alone with my daughter. My husband usually gets home around 3:45 and we share baby duty until bedtime. During the night, my husband will get up for one feeding and I take care of the rest. However, my husband's school had parent/ teacher conferences tonight and he will not be home until 8:30 pm.

For most moms, this would only present a slight challenge. But my daughter is a special case. She has severe GERD and feeding her is a battle that takes up the overwhelming majority of my day. Sometimes a single 5 oz bottle will take 2 hours to get down her. She also has Torticollis and requires daily stretches that she despises. Oh, she also has a wicked case of colic. We are talking 5-7 hours of screaming, not crying, per day. Some days are better than others. Today was not such a day.

For days like this, Xanax is my best friend.

But even on her worst day, my daughter is amazing and I wouldn't trade her in for the quietest baby, the easiest feeder, the happiest and squishiest baby. She may be a pain in the butt, but she is my pain in the butt and I am so proud to be her mother.