Steven and I found out we were expecting the day before Mother's Day. We were so excited! We had our first ultrasound at 8 weeks, and it was the most amazing thing to see our little baby on the screen and hear the heartbeat. At 20 weeks, we had our anatomy scan and found out IT'S A BOY! Everything was normal on the scan. Fast forward to 39 weeks, and baby boy decided to turn breech at the last minute. My doctor scheduled a c-section for the next day, and all my plans for a natural birth went out the window.
Birth
We arrived at the hospital for the c-section on a chilly, sunny morning. The procedure went well, although they had a little trouble getting our little boy's head out and the cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Finding that out made me glad he had been breech and forced a c-section. At 1:01 PM on January 8, 2015 our beautiful Graeme Theodore came into the world. At 17 inches and 6 pounds, 15.6 ounces, he was a little on the small side, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. However, our pediatrician came to the hospital to check on Graeme and told us that he was concerned about Graeme's proportions - particularly his large head size and short length. He mentioned the possibility of dwarfism. After a few tears, I brushed it aside as a swollen head from the problems they encountered getting him out during the c-section and the fact that he was 1-2 weeks early. Our baby boy looked perfect to me.
Diagnosis
We went to the pediatrician for our first appointment a week after Graeme was born. His measurements continued to be disproportionate. By his one month appointment, his head was in the 95th percentile, while his weight and and length were in the 5th percentile. The pediatrician was less concerned by Graeme's appearance, but still encouraged us to schedule an appointment with a geneticist to be sure everything was okay. When Graeme was 7 weeks old, we met with the geneticist and got skeletal x-rays. This confirmed the pediatrician's initial concern of dwarfism - Graeme was officially diagnosed with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. Initially, we shed a few tears worrying over Graeme's future - what struggles would he encounter due to his height, would he have trouble making friends, would people point and make fun of him? However, we soon realized that things could be worse. After all, our baby boy may be little, but he is healthy and full of personality! And it's like they always say - it's the little things in life that matter the most.
No comments:
Post a Comment