Life with a Butterfly

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I would pray please don’t let her have a birth defect – no cleft lip, no knocked knees, not toed out (like her dad), no huge birthmarks (like I have a couple), etc. And she was born absolutely flawless with one freckle underneath her hair. During this time, I would catch myself staring at babies wearing helmets wondering what is wrong with him or her? How can I prevent a flat head? Tummy time, rolling, propping on one side, etc. can help.

But boy, does life have a funny way of teaching you not to judge others.

My second daughter was born with a head deformity. The on-call pediatrician thought she’d grow out of it in a month or two. Fast forward an additional four months, and it was even more prominent with a baseball cut in half glued to the left side of her head above her ear. Thankfully, our family physician wrote the referrals I asked for, and she had to be checked by a neurosurgeon before he decided to try a helmet first because she was only 6 months old.

It was a process driving two hours from home for weekly appointments, dealing with insurance hoops we had to jump through (FYI Tricare won’t cover it – South Dakota Medicaid will but has lots of rules), physical therapy through Birth to Three, and now dealing with sore spots. AND OH THAT SMELL! Yes, her head and the helmet both stink! (And my husband has a sensitive nose).

We’re navigating this journey in hopes that it can be corrected. My personal goal is that she will be comfortable wearing a cowboy hat when she’s older. One of the cool features of STARBAND is they let you choose the print on the helmet. With more than twenty options, I chose the one with butterflies.

God, please provide comfort to people with serious life-or-death health issues. Provide healing hands from professionals that can help people in similar or more drastic situations. Thank you for allowing this helmet to help my butterfly. And thank you for my girls being home with me on the ranch. Amen

Thank God today for the blessings we tend to take for granted.