Some Bad News

In April, Dave and I noticed a slight ridge forming down the center of Moses' forehead, from hairline to nose. Initially, we thought it was part of the growing process, but by 6 months, it only seemed more pronounced. I researched causes and wasn't happy with what I found so I mentioned it to his pediatrician, Dr. Gray, at his 6 month appointment. Dr. Gray said one of Moses' sutures could be closing early, and we should keep an eye on it.
Well, me and my mom-sized worry couldn't play the waiting game so two weeks later, Dr. Gray checked it out thoroughly and found that his anterior fontanel had closed significantly more since he visit two weeks before. With this news, Dr. Gray scheduled a CT Scan to check out his sutures.
On June 19th, 2007, Moses, Gran (Sally), and I went to Covenant Hospital for the scan. Moses did really well considering he hadn't been allowed to eat for the six hours prior in case sedation was needed: he slept through the whole scan without a sedative.
On Monday, July 9th, Dr. Gray's office called with the results, Craniosynostosis. Moses' Metopic Suture is completely closed. Typically, a child's sutures remain open for the first several years to accommodate brain growth. When a suture closes early, it can sometimes cause developmental delays, disfigurement, or brain damage. Sometimes the closures are only cosmetic and never cause any real damage, but other times, surgery is necessary to open the suture. We're hoping the latter isn't the case with Moses. His case seems very mild in comparison to others we've read about online. He hasn't shown any developmental delays or other symptoms to cause alarm, only the ridging.
He has his next appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Telfeian, on August 6th. Dr. Telfeian will evaluate him, and then we'll know more about our next step. Obviously, we are willing to do anything to help our little boy's wellbeing. We are optimistic about the outcome of all this, but we ask for your prayers as we continue this journey.
Craniosynostosis is most often a fluke occurrence, and it is fairly common--1 in 2,000 kids--so we feel reassured by that. It's also good that we caught it early.