4 month well check up

Anderson being weighed by the nurse.

Jake's length being measured.

Today the boys had their 4 month check up. Here are their stats:

Anderson 15lbs. and 25 1/4 inches

Jake 15 lbs. 4 oz. 25 inches

Our little guys are doing great. The dr. is pleased with their developmental milestones, weight gain and growth. We are very lucky that the boys have been very healthy thus far. No colds, viruses or flu.

We took Jake to see the cranio/facial specialist last week to see if a cranial remolding orthosis (helmet) would be necessary and it will be. We also had her look at Anderson because we suspected that he might need correction as well and it turns out he does. Many people have been asking us lots of questions regarding the "helmets" they will wear and hopefully this will clear things up.....

Because the boys were twins and this was my first pregnancy (no prior uterine strecthing) the boys experienced a restricted uterine enviornment. Basically it means they were both pretty squished inside of me. There wasn't much room to move around and because of that their heads did not form perfectly round. Since Jake was on the bottom he also developed tortocolis. Tortocolis is a tight neck muscle. He was only able to turn his head one way in utero so his muscle on the opposite side is tight. That is why we take him to physical therapy, they do the proper exercises with him to stretch the muscle.

To correct the assymetry and flat spots on their cranium the boys have been fitted for a cranial remolding orthosis (helmet). We could do nothing and take a wait and see approach but the dr.'s have told us that the orthosis produces a 50% better result than doing nothing. Its a no brainer for us. They will wear the orthosis (helmet) 23 of 24 hours a day for 4-6 months. The helmet has nothing to do with their brain development or their intellectual abilities, it is merely a device to help give them a more round head. It is a temporary and minor problem in the big scheme of things. They will be sportin their new baby blue helmets in the next 3 weeks.