Perfect

I can handle a lot of things.

Two job losses. I can take it.

Personal illness. No problem.

Mean notes. That's fine.

But I found something I don't handle well. And that is something happening to my children.

Now Lauren has had a speech delay and that has been very upsetting to me. She is also immature. But I love the little imp and she is making tons of progress. She totally stresses me out, but she is doing great.

But Eden. She's not doing as well.

I first noticed a problem when she was first born. She had a flat spot on the top of her head. Strange, I thought. I've never seen that before. I'm assuming that will go away with time or at worse, she'll need a helmet. I really hope she doesn't need a helmet.

Then at three weeks I noticed a knot in her neck at the collarbone. The doctor looked at it and said it was probably a lymph node.

I had him reexamine it again at five weeks. He looked a little more concerned, but said we would keep an eye on it.

When I went to California I noticed (and my dad noticed) her head listed to the left all the time. And this made me nervous as well.

When I got home, I played Dr. Kari and looked up when could possibly be wrong with her head or neck. And I had the answer. She has a condition called Torticollis which is where one side of her neck is strong that the other for whatever reason. In her case the muscle is actually shorter. The knot in her muscle in her neck is actually a symptom.

The fix is easy (ish). You do physical therapy several times a day to lengthen and strengthen the weaker side.

I went to the doctor and mentioned Torticollis. And yes, she has it. And we are going to do at-home physical therapy. Matt and I each do the exercises several times a day with her.

I also pointed out her (still) clogged tear ducts. And he said they usually clear up. Just keep massaging the area a few times a day.

Then we started talking about flat spots on her head. She has developed a flat spot on the side of her head because of the Torticollis. We are trying to keep her off that side because it can fix itself without needing a helmet.

The flat spot on the top her head though. That one could be a major issue. He said if it doesn't get better he will have to refer us the a doctor at Primary Children's. I asked him if he was the one that does helmets and he said no. He told me if she has unilateral coronal synostosis. She will need surgery on her skull because the skull has fused early. After looking at pictures, if she has this she will become deformed if we do not have the surgery.

I have been a bit hysterical for a few days. Ask Matt. It hasn't been pretty.

But to be perfectly honest it could be something else. When I was pregnant with her, Eden didn't move a lot. She stayed head down the entire time. She only moved to stretch her legs and to spin a little on her head. And when I saw her I assumed the flat spot on the top of her head was from that. There was even a little hair missing in that spot.

So we are praying that both flat spots and the clogged tear duct fix themselves. And the Torticollis is soon a thing of the past as well.

And those previous thoughts about not needing a helmet suddenly doesn't seem like such a bad option.

But really other than those few things, she is a perfect baby. And I love her to pieces.