December 2002- Welcome Hannah

After nine or so months of just *knowing* we were having a Baby Jack, Hannah Rose entered the world at 7lbs 8ozs, just one day after her due date. I was ecstatic like most moms--not to mention the immediate relief of not having her feet jammed under my right ribs any longer!

The doctor said Hannah looked great, had a couple stork bites that would fade in time, a crooked head that would fix itself within a couple weeks, and a couple folded ears that may or may not completely "pop" back up. We happily took our perfect baby home and I didn't think twice about those things.

Looking back now, I know that Hannah's plagio began inutero and I had signs of it way back when I was 16 weeks pregnant. That was my first ultrasound, where the tech was unable to get an accurate head circumference because Hannah was "much too low." The second try a month later, despite them having me empty my bladder and elevate my butt up on pillows, had the exact same outcome. Soon after that I began having preterm labor contractions and early dilation and was put on modified bed rest.

I'm just over five feet tall, and Hannah was really wedged funny, so inutero constraint is the obvious culprit to her odd shaped head. Here is a picture of her right after birth where you can see how she has kind of a lima bean shaped head, and also a picture taken at Christmas the following year after the completion of two of her three helmets where you can still see a slight overall slant: