Nolan was born on a Tuesday morning in March of 2023. During the 9 months of pregnancy, there were zero indications of him having Craniosynostosis. I noticed pretty soon after birth that his head was misshaped, but I was told he would “grow into it”.
After raising concerns to our pediatrician at 3 weeks old, we were referred to Children’s in Dallas to meet with our Plastic and Craniofacial surgeon. He confirmed the news for us that our baby in fact did have all sutures in his skull prematurely closed and explained to us what exactly that meant. Since we were able to catch it early, we were a candidate for the endoscopic procedure.
At 17 weeks old, Nolan had surgery. He did exceptionally well, was in the ICU one night for just for precautions, as he did receive a blood transfusion, and then one night on the regular floor before we were discharged.
We began helmet therapy exactly 11 days after surgery and he was in his helmet for 10 months. He finished helmet therapy in May 2024 and has been living a normal healthy life ever since. We follow up in May of this year, and fingers crossed that appointment goes well, our surgeon recommended we follow up every 2 years after that.
I have included pictures of Nolan throughout this journey and will forever be amazed at how resilient he has been and forever grateful to the Plastics and Cranio team at Children’s here in Dallas.
