We Made the Local Paper!!!

Just a quick one before I go out - Our lovely neigbour caught me as I came back from the shops this morning and showed me the Fins article in the paper!! I totally forgot it was due out today when I woke up this morning!!!
Great article - although I should mention that the article states Finny had an operation - he didnt, they mould a helmet from a special foam head they make from scaninng him into a computer - no operations involved!!

Anyway must Dash - were off to Sevenoaks soon for Finnys first check up!!
Hx

Is that a Raffle I hear?

Well some we have some exciting news going on, details are still being confirmed - I should know definatley in the next few days so I will start giving out more infomation then, BUT we will be holding a Raffle with all our profits going the Headstart!!
I have contacted some people and have had such an overwhelming response of support - even from those people who are unable to doante prizes!
However heres a sneaky peak who have already offeredsome prizes!!!! Im hoping to be able to get a few more before we hold the raffle!!

Blog Updates!

So I have been very busy the last few days as well as it being my Birthday yesterday - I'm getting old now!! I am rearranging the blog slightly, I realise one of my very first blog post and one of the most important for the site has really disappeared as its at the very beginning - so if you look under the banner we now have some tabs! I have tabbed a new - What is Plagiocephaly page with lots of details about symptoms, risks, prevention and treatment so anybody that would like more information can now click that easily.
I will also be making some other tabs to go up there when I get time. These are going to include an about us section which will be brief and a contacts page and most definitely when I do my research the different types of infant carriers there are out there and where you can purchase them from. I have been in contact with two different ladies who make and sell wraps/carriers and they have been so brilliant - There wraps are pretty darn Brilliant too go check them out at Amawrap and Joy and Joe. Wraps and Carriers are a great way to get your baby from laying down an putting pressure on their soft little heads so they are a great preventative measure against Plagiocephaly - on top of that there's no better way to Bond with your little one than to have them nuzzled up against you!

Hx

Photobox Photobook Review

A4 PHOTOBOOK REVIEW

So I thought I could use my blog to review and test products - to give you guys a helping hand if your considering using a service or buying a product!!

Today I will review our gorgeous A4 photobook that I ordered as a very special fathers day present for Chris.

We kept saying that we we were going to print out all our beautiful baby pictures that we had taken of Finny since he was born, but life just kept getting in the way - So I thought what a perfect present - a Photobook!

So to my Horror, there was a thousand and one sites offering their services and I just didn't know where to start. I tried a couple but I found even the logging in process was very confusing. I had heard of photobox and family and friends have used their picture printing services - so I thought I would give them a go. I have to say I found the website easy to navigate, I was able to find the section of the site i wanted straight away and I was offered my options clearly and concisely. Although at this point I was still a bit unsure whether the construction of the book was going to be easy. However I was more than happy to give it a go when a special offer popped up to save 50%!! This is one of the things I really like about this site is the amount of special offers that are always available. If they don't correspond to what you want I can guarantee, wait a few days and something will pop up!!

So onto the construction - Easy peesy, I had complete control over the whole book. There were templates that you can use and also customise or you can completely make your own. I chose to start off with the Baby boy template (obviously) Very cute with lots of browns, whites and Blues and spots, stripes and Stars along with lots of little matching graphics.

 

Uploading my pictures was simple and clear - and they even have simple faces to let you know if the size you want your photo is ok to go with the resolution of your picture. If you don't get all the fancy talk - basically if you upload a picture and you want it to fit the whole page and the image isn't good enough, you get a sad red face. A green smiley face lets you know all is good and a orange unemotional face - lets you know the image isn't the best but will be ok if your happy with that - if not delete it and get another.

There are many options about layouts from full sized A4 photos to up to 12 images if that's what you want and again you just select the layout for that page and add your pictures. If your not happy its so easy to go back and alter it.

You also have the options to add text to your pages - which I took advantage off and put in a few fathers day poems!

 

The colour schemes are pre selected ie text colour and background colours but these can easily be changed to suit.

So having a baby to look after and trying to hide what I am doing it took me a couple of days before I was happy with my final selections. It was simple to save and I was able to log back in a find my book with Ease. The preview is great and lets you see what you have created.

So I paid and was able to add my promotion code without having to hunt for the promo slot which can be really frustrating on some sites and 50% was taken off. I received all my confirmation details, estimating delivery just before fathers day.

To my surprise, I received the photobook before the time stated which for me is a bonus as I hate waiting around for things and makes a change from the usual lateness of the posties!!

I was desperate to have a peek of my book and when I opened the package I was not disappointed. The hard cover is beautiful and shiny and protects all the pages well, the book has been put together and you can see the quality just from looking at it. The photos are gorgeous and the images have come out beautifully - non of this uploading a picture only for it to print too light or dark - completely different to the image you had agreed!

All in all this book is just fantastic, we have comments about it all the time and its a keepsake for our little boy that is going to last forever . I would highly recommend photobox to anyone who is considering purchasing a photobook - we will definitely be using them again!

Get your Photobooks here with Photobox 

I have put together a general leaflet to raise awareness about plagiocephaly and our plight to raise the money for Finnys helmet. Please feel free to pass it around to friends and families. If you have the means do print it off and put it in your windows and noticeboards so as many people get to know about the condition as possible!! Thanks :)

The Helmet has arrived!

So on Friday Nanny, Fin and Myself took a drive up to the sevenoaks clinic to have Fins helmet fitted!!

I was feeling quite stressed about everything in the days leading up to appointment. Especially wondering if we were making the right decision. Question were going around my mind like: what if he hates it and spends the next 4 months or so in complete distress? what if its really uncomfortable? what if hes allergic? what if it doesn't work? does he really need it? My mind was a minefield of negativity - looking back though I think its just the unknown. This treatment is in Finnys best interest and I know we are doing the right thing. I think if his Plagiocephaly wasn't quite so Severe and there had been greater improvement with the Cranial Osteopathy then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have needed the helmet. However he has had all this treatment and he still has an asymmetry of 18mm. Maybe it would have improved slightly - but do i think it would have improved enough for Fin not to worry about it when he was older? No, I definitely think the improvement would have been minimal considering his age also. So for us I am happy our choice was the right one.

So back to the clinic - Again Steve and Corrin were there to greet us and again they were really lovely. The appointment was surprisingly quick! They had his helmet waiting - very cute!! Popped it on Finnys head, he didn't really seem that bothered - although he did find the Velcro and manage to undo it - luckily they come with a clip that's stops little hands doing this the rest of the time. So the helmet fitted - it just needed to be trimmed slightly and smoothed down which took only a few minutes. I had a go at putting it on and taking it off. We had the weaning process explained (to build up to the 23hrs a day). Helmet care explained. Our questions were answered fully and we even got a mould of the expected outcome of Finnys head shape!! I have to admit - it looks amazing, I guess I'm a little sceptical that his head will be that round - but these guys are the experts, so I really am hoping. Most people have hair, teeth and curls to show there children when they are all grown up - we have a head!! They build up the model with plaster cast on the flatter areas and mould the helmet to this - so they have said we can break off the plaster cast to show him what his head was like. I'm not sure I really like it how it is right now.

So the last few days we have been weaning Finny into his helmet. He had it on for an hour Friday. Saturday he had it on an hour off and hour on and we left him helmet free to nap and sleep. Sunday we moved to two hours on and hour off and helmet free during naps and sleep. Today he is having 4 hours on 1 hour off and he has just settled for his nap wearing the helmet and being his usual good self he has settled almost straight away. He really does not seem to mind it that much at all - the only downside is all the sweat, but were giving him a little more water and hes just in a vest. Hopefully his body will adapt and the sweat should reduce!!

So what does Finny say....He says yay for the helmet!!

Buggython!

We have our first event organised!! Please check out the details below - if you live in the area and want to join us feel free!!