Ridges....

While still in the hospital the nurses all remarked on Landon's "breech shaped head". His head was elongated from front to back, which actually showed up before on his ultrasounds. We never thought twice about it as we were assured it was just the shape of his head. Landon was born with a bump running from ear to ear across the top of his skull and had no soft spot. This can be normal in the beginning. Babies skulls are not fused early on, this helps their heads to squish to make it through the birth canal. Landon was breech and VERY squished while in utero and therefore his skull bones a.k.a. sutures overlapped.
This is not an issue in the first few days, as it usually disappears. We never thought it was an issue or even knew it could be an issue, we just thought that's how his head was shaped.


At Landon's 2 week check up, the pediatrician noticed the bump on the back of his skull.

 He remarked that it was of concern. He then went on to explain that sometimes the skull bones will fuse too early, causing no room for the brain to grow and expand. It's called  Craniosynostosis. I asked what that means for Landon, what do they do for that? He then answered "you don't want to know." My heart sank. Landon's skull would need to be operated on, it would have to be cut open to allow for brain growth. He went on to say, that he has only seen that happen once, so not worry about it now. Our pediatrition was on vacation that week, so he had us come back after 2 weeks so she could evaluate it again. He also mentioned I should notice a big difference in the shape of his head by then.
I had NO idea walking into that appointment that there could be somehting wrong. Everyone remarked on that breech shaped head and how that was a normal shape. I never realized, it was  normal, but only in the first few days of life.
I was devastated, I began researching the condition as soon as I got home. I was a basket case as I read through all the information. The next two weeks were brutal. I compared his head shape to that of other babies with this condition. My heart broke into a million pieces as I realized the shapes of the heads I was seeing rolling across the screen were Landon's exact head shape.
As the next two weeks went by I was very discouraged to see no change in Landon's head shape.
The day of his follow up appointment had finally arrived.
Landon's pediatrician sent us for x-rays of his head right away. The paper we brought to radioligy said "probable skull fusion". I kept it together as we layed our sweet little baby's body on that large x-ray table. We had to be strong for our precious Landon. We went back to the office to find out results...
My fears were confirmed...
Landon's skull is in the beginning stages of fusion at his lambdoid suture, hence the lump on the back of his head. I was a little releived to find out the rest of the sutures were not fusing at this point.
Now we wait... we will be meeting with a specialist at Dartmouth hospital in Lebonon NH. Our pediatrician said in some cases the babies don't need surgery and only have to wear a helmet for a while... Oh how I hope this is Landon!
In the mean time we wait... pray... and love our little guy to the fullest. I didn't want to put him down before this news... now I REALLY don't want to put little Landon down!!
We will continue to keep everyone posted...
Keep us in your prayers!