Helmet time!

It took a few days for Maggie to get used to the helmut (or "band" as they call it). Besides smelling horrendous (poor thing sweats profusely in the thing) it's really not that bad. She has to wear it 23 hours a day, the 24th hour we can give her a bath and wash the inside of the helmut out.

I've had a few curious people brave enough to ask me what's up with the helmut - so I guess I'll explain it here, too. Some parts of her head are flat from a combination of not having fluid and being pressed up against me, and also being positioned the same way in the NICU everyday. The reason it is open on the right side of her head is to let that "flat" part fill in while keeping the left side put, since that part bulges a little. It's the same thing in the back of her head. We will go in every week or two and they'll shave out the inside of the helmut to keep up with her growth. Hopefully she'll only have to wear it 10-12 weeks, maybe more, depending on how diligent we are at keeping it on.

I bought some stickers to decorate it but I'm not as creative as some other moms who paint, decoupage, or stencil stuff onto it. We'll see...she already looks so cute in it - but I definitely need to jazz it up a bit!

The only thing difficult is getting her clothes on and off over her head. Last night was not my best mothering moment (you could say it was downright cruel) because it was late- I was exhausted and she was fussy - and I was trying to change her out of a onesie she had spit up on. It was dark in the room and I tried to do it too quickly. I thought the onesie was stuck on her helmut or something because I couldn't slip it off very easily. I kept tugging, harder and harder, thinking it just had a small neck opening. Finally it pulled off with such a force that it slapped me in the face as I heard a terrible ripping sound followed by uncontrollable shrieking. Um, yes, the reason she doesn't have a ng tube in this picture is because her mother ripped it out of her while impatiently removing her onesie. (I guess I didnt't consider the tube could be what was caught- duh.)

I stood still in shock as the tube dangled from my hand last night, too afraid to turn the light on to see what damage I had caused. When I did, I realized the tearing sound was the tape I ripped off her cheek along with the tube, which is completely raw right now. I felt so bad and was so worried all night long that I had hurt her or her stomach. But she is fine ( thank you God for protecting her from her incompetent mother). But I just thought we'd leave the tube out for today just to give the poor baby a break...


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