Coura is locked and loaded with her new head gear. After much deliberation and waiting for natural improvement, we decided to move forward with the recommended DOC Band to help correct her moderate plagiocephaly (flat side of the head) that she’s had since birth. While it’s primarily a cosmetic decision that impacts her head shape, facial and ear symmetry, it boiled down to this: I don’t want her to be a 15-year-old high school girl and have one more reason to “hate” me.

Speaking of wishing she had a helmet….

In the middle of a crowded piazza in Little Italy, San Diego, Maisley took off running and was nearing a main street. My sister took off after her and then I instinctively did so too. I was wearing Coura facing forward in the carrier and I tripped on my flowy pants, falling hard onto the concrete. I fell mainly on my side and caught myself with my arm, but Coura hit her head on the ground. Every well meaning lookie-loo in town was by our side within seconds. She was okay, thank God, minus a little bruise. It was terrifying, but one of those “could have been a lot worse” moments. 

There’s always that one moment, that one thing that happened to you as a kid that your mom always talks about. “I will never forget that one time we lost you in JC Penney’s. I was worried sick!”

What will theirs be? What visible and invisible scars will become our stories?

Coura: for the record, I think your head is perfect. I think you are perfect. The real reason we got you the helmet is so that you would be indestructible to older sisters, hardwood floors and clumsy moms.