Check Out These Melons!

You've no doubt seen these oddly shaped bands wrapped around Maddy's and Izzy's heads over the past several weeks.  Most parents of preemie multiples know them well, as do many other parents who followed the "Back to Sleep" plan.  These, my friends, are Cranial Bands.  From circular to trapezoidal, no head is too asymmetrical for these skull-shapers.

When we mix together the fact that we had three times the amount of regularly scheduled babies in Meg's baby on top of the fact that Maddy and Izzy slept and played on their backs for a really long time, we were bound to end up with a flat spot or two.

Izzy's head is relatively symmetrical from a left-to-right perspective, but it's definitely flatter on the back of the head and seems to make her head look a little wider.  The entire right half of Maddy's skull has crept forward.  So, on her forehead, she has a little bump on the right-hand side, while on the back, her right side is pushed a little forward.  If you were to stick a finger in each of her ears and look down on her head from the top, you'd notice that the finger on the right side of her head would be a little more forward.

We found out quickly that insurance doesn't pay for these, as they consider them cosmetic.  So, it was up to us as to whether or not we wanted our gals to have oddly-shaped noggins for the rest of their life, as you only have the ability to change the way the skull is shaped until about 18 months of age.  We figured that if we didn't pay now to fix it, we'd pay out the you know where for custom sports helmets later.  How do I know they'll play sports?  Just a hunch.

So, what do you do with two styrofoam-filled, hard-plastic head wrappers?  You pretty 'em up!

Nothing over the top here.  Just some satin-finished acrylic paint, some stickers, and some Mod-Podge, which works great as a sealant!  I didn't put a primer coat on, just two coats of the acrylic paint.  We (kinda) waited for them to dry all of the way, then added the letters and stickers.  After they dried overnight, we applied about five layers of Mod-Podge.  Honestly, I think these things would hold up in an NFL game.

Izzy's Helmet Masterpiece

The Mod-Podge hadn't fully finished drying around the letters


We almost pulled the long stickers off because they just weren't staying on well


The acrylic paint worked well on the fabric velcro strap


They started taking way too long to make, so we pretty much decorated them the same, just different colors.  Izzy got pink and Maddy got purple.

Maddy's Work of Art



Maddy ended up with "Mommy's Little Princess" and Izzy won the lottery with the "Daddy's Little Princess" sticker.





Before you even look at the next several photos, realize that there is almost no way to make your baby look good in one of these things.  Paint and stickers will help detract from the fact that your baby is where a piece of hard white plastic around their head, but there's nothing that can be done from the occasional cave man forehead it causes when it pushes down your forehead to the bridge of your nose, or how wide it can make your head appear from just about every angle.

While I was taking my first photo, Sophie, not wanting to get left out of the fun, decided to stick her hand on the front of my lens to ensure she was somehow mentioned in this blog post.



WARNING:  Your kid's head will look larger than it is in real life.  Proceed with caution and know that this sentence will only last several months.  In our case, hopefully, about three!

Maddy and Izzy, when you're older and looking at these, please forgive us.  We weren't trying to humiliate you.  You're probably thanking us right now.







On the bright side, they do provide some extra protection when you get lazy and accidentally fall backwards and bonk your head, or when your sister intentionally pulls you or pushes you over just because you happen to be in her way.