Poor J - it is one thing after another the past two days.

I mentioned in another thread that we just moved and got established with a new pediatrician practice - we had our first appointment with a nurse practitioner yesterday.

J has always had a head at or above the 99th percentile since birth. There is a family history of large heads on both sides. His prior pediatrician did head checks for the first few months to rule out hydrocephalus, but he stayed on the same growth curve (just above the top line) so they said he was fine. At his 18 month appointment, he'd moved up slightly on his own curve but not enough to cause alarm. His fontanelle was also still very open, which the doctor said was uncommon but not unheard of. He basically said the circumference and the open fontanelle were things to note and recheck at the 2 year well visit.

Well, yesterday's head check with the new pediatrician didn't go smoothly. At 21 months, his head measured 21.5 inches, which looks like it's way off the curve. They called our old pediatrician and said that the latest measurement is plotting too high up above his already high curve to be comfortable, so we have to take him in for a CT scan next week to rule out hydrocephalus or some other "growth" that could be causing this. His fontanelle is still definitely open, to a degree that she doesn't think it will entirely close by age 2.

The nurse and doctor both said that they don't think there's anything physically or developmentally wrong - he's 98th percentile for weight and 80th for height (he dropped slightly in height % but that's not a concern) so he's a big kid all around, not just his head. He is ahead or on track for all physical and verbal milestones. But they want to rule out any causes other than family history of huge heads.

I'm kind of sick about this. I'm pregnant so I can't go in with him for the scan, though my husband can. He's going to be very scared, and he hates being immobilized. I really hope there's nothing wrong - and I really, really don't think there is, so I'm sad he has to go through this. I guess I have a few questions: If your only somewhat verbal LO has had a CT scan or scans, how did you prepare them? How did the experience go? Could they bring something like a blankie into "the machine" with them? And finally - anyone's LO have a head measuring that large? He doesn't look abnormal to me, but I couldn't believe how high above the curve that measurement was.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant, hormonal, worried, and just fed up with everything right now. Thanks for letting me vent/share/ask questions/get this off my chest