WOW, so much has happened in the last month:
#1) The Pediatrician says he has Plagiocephaly and Torticollis. So, on our 2 month check up, Kade's Pediatrician noticed his head was looking a little odd. And she said we will keep an eye on it and see if it gets better or worse. Well, at the 4 month check up, it had gotten worse. So, she sent us to Cranial Technologies to have his head evaluated. So long story short, yes, he has plagiocephaly, which is "abnormal head shape". So, how did Kade get this. Well, it something that actually occurred in the womb due to his positioning and the size of my uterus. So, what is torticollis? Torticollis is a condition that causes a baby's head and neck to tilt to one side. It affects about 2 percent of newborns. The cause is unknown, but doctors suspect that when a baby is positioned in the uterus so that his head is tilted to the side and his neck is down, the blood supply to the neck is cut off. This results in some tightness in one of the two strap (or sternocleidomastoid) muscles that connect the breastbone, head, and neck, and allow a baby to turn his neck. Though the baby may look uncomfortable, this condition causes no pain. http://www.babycenter.com/0_torticollis_10912.bc So, we have some neck exercises that we do together; that he doesn't like obviously because his neck is tight. And so after being told this everything from when he was a newborn made since of why he would only eat from one breast and not the other. His neck wouldn't turn because his sternocleidomastoid muscle was so tight. Since then though he eats from both sides just fine and as you can see gets plenty of food! So, to correct the issue he has to wear a helmet that was made just for his head. (It's pretty cool the way they make the helmet: they do a Photo Study on his head and then take the 360 degree picture of his little melon head and project it into the computer to form a 3-D replica of his head and then create his helmet!) Anyway, he will have to wear it between 6-12 weeks. He doesn't even realize it's on since he is still so little. But it is good that he is still so little because his head is able to be corrected. And because he is so young still that is why he only has to wear his helmet from 6-12 weeks. He has to wear it 23 hours out of the day; the other hour is only for hygiene. We go to the Cranial Dr. every week for them to readjust his helmet to fit his growing head. I love how clean this Dr.'s office is; I'm very impressed! Another thing, we are so grateful for our Pediatrician. They are amazing! However, I am not happy with our insurance because they will not cover his medical equipment. So, I am appealing that decision and am going to have several letters -one from the Pediatrician, Chiropractor, my Child Development Teacher, and one from Kades's mother- sent to the insurance appeal's office asking them to reconsider. So, if anyone has any good tips on what to include in my letter or how to get them to approve the cost; then that would be wonderful!
Happy Easter!
Mr. Smiles
And then we got Kade's helmet Painted....
Brent, Drew, & Rocky
Grandpa Gardner
Great Grandma Gardner
Great Grandma Betty
#4) Got a really good deal on Bulk Diapers. So, I ordered from Diapers.com and bought Pampers (my Favorite:) for $.19 a piece! I got a ton of them to stock up; I was completely out! (Kade is now in size 3! Crazy! He is a big boy; he weighs 17 pounds) Anyway, they have a referral program; so if you order from diapers.com and your order is over $49, you get free shipping and you enter the promo code: PNKP2357, then you will also get $10 off your order. I was very impressed with the service because I got his diapers within 36 hours of my ordering them!!!! It was amazing; so many diapers, cheap, free shipping, and quick delivery! Needless to say, I will definitely be using them again!
#5) Rocky, Kade, and I went to see where the new Phoenix Temple will be for Family Home Evening. It has been announced that it will be somewhere near 51st & Pinnacle Peak. So, we went out there and took pictures, so that when Kade is big he will have some picture of what it looked like before there was a Temple of the Lord there. We had a good time!
#6) Kade has started eating Baby Cereal. When we got back from Utah Kade's eating habits were all messed up and he was wanting to eat more than normal and so we introduced rice cereal. He really likes his high chair; it's the Fisher-Price Space Saver and I love it! Since then he has had Barley & Oats. He doesn't poop as often, so I don't know if I should be concerned about that or what; it takes about 2 days for him to poop; is that normal? He likes the rice and oatmeal, much more than the barley. He is doing much better eating from the spoon. He is such a good boy; we have so much fun with him.
#1) The Pediatrician says he has Plagiocephaly and Torticollis. So, on our 2 month check up, Kade's Pediatrician noticed his head was looking a little odd. And she said we will keep an eye on it and see if it gets better or worse. Well, at the 4 month check up, it had gotten worse. So, she sent us to Cranial Technologies to have his head evaluated. So long story short, yes, he has plagiocephaly, which is "abnormal head shape". So, how did Kade get this. Well, it something that actually occurred in the womb due to his positioning and the size of my uterus. So, what is torticollis? Torticollis is a condition that causes a baby's head and neck to tilt to one side. It affects about 2 percent of newborns. The cause is unknown, but doctors suspect that when a baby is positioned in the uterus so that his head is tilted to the side and his neck is down, the blood supply to the neck is cut off. This results in some tightness in one of the two strap (or sternocleidomastoid) muscles that connect the breastbone, head, and neck, and allow a baby to turn his neck. Though the baby may look uncomfortable, this condition causes no pain. http://www.babycenter.com/0_torticollis_10912.bc So, we have some neck exercises that we do together; that he doesn't like obviously because his neck is tight. And so after being told this everything from when he was a newborn made since of why he would only eat from one breast and not the other. His neck wouldn't turn because his sternocleidomastoid muscle was so tight. Since then though he eats from both sides just fine and as you can see gets plenty of food! So, to correct the issue he has to wear a helmet that was made just for his head. (It's pretty cool the way they make the helmet: they do a Photo Study on his head and then take the 360 degree picture of his little melon head and project it into the computer to form a 3-D replica of his head and then create his helmet!) Anyway, he will have to wear it between 6-12 weeks. He doesn't even realize it's on since he is still so little. But it is good that he is still so little because his head is able to be corrected. And because he is so young still that is why he only has to wear his helmet from 6-12 weeks. He has to wear it 23 hours out of the day; the other hour is only for hygiene. We go to the Cranial Dr. every week for them to readjust his helmet to fit his growing head. I love how clean this Dr.'s office is; I'm very impressed! Another thing, we are so grateful for our Pediatrician. They are amazing! However, I am not happy with our insurance because they will not cover his medical equipment. So, I am appealing that decision and am going to have several letters -one from the Pediatrician, Chiropractor, my Child Development Teacher, and one from Kades's mother- sent to the insurance appeal's office asking them to reconsider. So, if anyone has any good tips on what to include in my letter or how to get them to approve the cost; then that would be wonderful!
Kade helping Mommy do laundry
Happy Easter!
Mr. Smiles
And then we got Kade's helmet Painted....
#2) We took a trip up to Utah to see Rocky's Family. We were able to see Grandma & Grandpa Gardner. We also were able to see Grandma Betty and she was able to see her Grand baby, Kade. We also saw Rocky's two best friends - Andrew & Brent. They went skiing together with Rocky's dad and had a good time.
~~~4 Generation Picture of The Gardners~~~
Brent, Drew, & Rocky
Grandpa Gardner
Great Grandma Gardner
Great Grandma Betty
#3) Rocky's brother, Beau got his mission call! to Ukraine!!! He is going to be learning to speak Russian. He reports on June 3, 2009! We are way excited for him.
#4) Got a really good deal on Bulk Diapers. So, I ordered from Diapers.com and bought Pampers (my Favorite:) for $.19 a piece! I got a ton of them to stock up; I was completely out! (Kade is now in size 3! Crazy! He is a big boy; he weighs 17 pounds) Anyway, they have a referral program; so if you order from diapers.com and your order is over $49, you get free shipping and you enter the promo code: PNKP2357, then you will also get $10 off your order. I was very impressed with the service because I got his diapers within 36 hours of my ordering them!!!! It was amazing; so many diapers, cheap, free shipping, and quick delivery! Needless to say, I will definitely be using them again!
#5) Rocky, Kade, and I went to see where the new Phoenix Temple will be for Family Home Evening. It has been announced that it will be somewhere near 51st & Pinnacle Peak. So, we went out there and took pictures, so that when Kade is big he will have some picture of what it looked like before there was a Temple of the Lord there. We had a good time!
#6) Kade has started eating Baby Cereal. When we got back from Utah Kade's eating habits were all messed up and he was wanting to eat more than normal and so we introduced rice cereal. He really likes his high chair; it's the Fisher-Price Space Saver and I love it! Since then he has had Barley & Oats. He doesn't poop as often, so I don't know if I should be concerned about that or what; it takes about 2 days for him to poop; is that normal? He likes the rice and oatmeal, much more than the barley. He is doing much better eating from the spoon. He is such a good boy; we have so much fun with him.
I think Kade looks ready for "Blast off" with his helmet & harness & scared face.
Kade The Laugh Head
12 comments:
Kade's helmet is SO CUTE!!! Where did you get it painted? He is such a stud.
I love the painted helmet, Cute idea! Good luck with your appeal, I hope it all works out. I did work for insurance company for a while, good idea to get notes from dr's, make sure they state that it is medically necessary. A Lot of times the reason those things aren't covered is dumb insurances consider them cosmetic. If they reject the appeal, don't be afraid to appeal again, sometimes it takes a couple times to reach the top. Good luck! Hope it all works out!!
The eating/pooping thing is normal. It takes their systems a little while to adjust. If he doesn't poop after a week, then it is a big concern.
Good Luck with the appeal. Keep on them about it. My husband had the same issue after he busted his ankle and needed a bone stimulator. They wouldn't pay for it and after a lot of fussing with it they got it to be covered. There is no logical reason in the world why Kade's helmet shouldn"t be covered by them. Best of Luck! Sorry for the long comment :)
Kade is such a sweetie! I've seen little kids with the helmets at my son's rehabilitation therapy office (Ben has speech therapy) and none of the kiddos look as cute as your son! Probably has to do with the paint job! ;) I cannot believe Beau is old enough for a mission! Crazy how old I'm feeling right now.
he is so cute amanda!! i love his little helmet!
Kade is so HANDSOME!!! Can he marry Karidee? Gosh, he is so cute! Sorry you have to appeal your insurance. That's crazy they won't cover the medical supplies. Have his dr explain in her letter that it is medically necessary. Hope they cover it!
Hey guys, I asked my doctor cousin where he would start with your whole insurance issue and he says do what you're doing. Writing letters and having the baby's doctors write letters. If I find any more useful info, I'll pass it along. Cami
His little helmet is so cute!! He is so sweet! I have done two appeals so far with Nixons insurance, and let me tell you its hard. But we just found out last week that they have reversed there appeal. What I did is get all the doctors Nixon has ever seen to write something. And I pretty much wrote the appeal as like an essay and showed tons of studies. Then they decided that it was medically necessary for Nixon. Have you tried the CRS clinic at St. Joes hospital. Ask your doctor if he as an application he should know about it. Once you get in CRS clinic will pay for everything revovling around his special little case. Such as all the specialists appointments and for new x-rays and they should cover the helmet 100%. Let me know if you want to know any other type of information about it. I could see if I could find out more. I know the medical board of director there because I had to deal with her so many times.
~shari
smiller9238@hotmail.com
Dont worry about the pooping. His body is just trying to get used to something new. Not only that all the starchy grains make the poo more hard. Try mixing a little pit of baby food pears, prunes or apples with the grains and it should loosen things up a bit. Prunes work so great! I just get the tiny little beah nut jar of pureed prunes when my little one is a little backed up and then he is fine. haha I know to much info. But hey it works great.
~Shari
Hey Gardners! It sounds like you have been very busy. I am sorry to hear about all the health issues with little cute Kade. Don't worry though, only the best kids get to wear helmets! My neice Ashlyn also had to wear one after she was born and now she is doing great! Did Rocky come up with the idea to paint the 49ers on it? That looks so cool! Well, we hope to see you soon. Ben graduates in 4 weeks and then were heading back West. We can't wait to get closer to family. Hope you have a great week!
What a flipping cute little kid. LOVE the helmet! You guys need to move up here pronto. Now, now now!!!!!---Andrew Cengiz
It was great to see you guys. Thanks for putting some time aside in your busy schedule to see us. We should be down there later this year. We'll keep you posted.
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