Re: Did your MDS baby arrive on time?

January 4, 2006

Leanne:

Thanks for your email! My daughter Karlee arrived at 34 weeks, but I

don't think it was early for her, she weighed in at 8lbs and 9 oz. Quite the

heavy weight! LOL! We love her dearly and now she is tiny like my husband's

grandmother.

TTYS!

Beets

In a message dated 1/4/2006 10:13:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,

lwoehlke@... writes:

Hi all,

I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Paige, who has

been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard that kids with DS sometimes

arrive early. Do kids with MDS also arrive early? Just want to make sure

we're prepared.

Many thanks!

Leanne

January 4, 2006

Opps, I meant 36 weeks! Sorry!

Beets

January 4, 2006

Hi Leanne,

My son Brannon was born a month early. He was healthy and weighed 6lbs and

so many oz ( I forgot lol so long ago) I had a normal delivery with no

problems and he was just fine. The doctors didn't know he had MDS when he

was born because he showed no signs of anything wrong until he was almost 2

yrs old because he was behind on sitting up, crawling and not even walking.

Then we had to perform a blood test and found out his results. He's 5 yrs

old now (turning 6 in April) and has had physical therapy most of his life

until now. He can fun, jump, walk, skip etc with no problem. Sometimes I

can't even catch up with him. :0) My daughter Gabby who doesn't have

mds/ds came out a month early as well. I had no problems with her delivery

either. So I guess it varies on the child and the mother.

a and

Brannon 5 mds and Gabby 3

VA, USA

-- Did your MDS baby arrive on time?

Hi all,

I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Paige, who has

been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard that kids with DS

sometimes arrive early. Do kids with MDS also arrive early? Just want to

make sure we're prepared.

Many thanks!

Leanne

January 4, 2006

No my MDS child did not arrive early and without help would not have arrived

on time either. Not for lack of wishing either - I wanted her out! She was

big and heavy! DS and MDS children are more like other children than you

think. However your other children were born, that is most

likely how this child will be born -> Neither of my children were going to

come out on thier own.

Good luck with your last 6 weeks of pregnancy!

Darlene

>

> Hi all,

>

> I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Paige, who

> has been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard that kids with DS

> sometimes arrive early. Do kids with MDS also arrive early? Just want to

> make sure we're prepared.

>

> Many thanks!

>

> Leanne

>

January 4, 2006

Leanne,

My son Tyler was born 5 weeks early. My other 2 were born on time.

He was healthy and weighed 5lbs 12oz. Just like a's son

Brannon, the doctors didn't know he had MDS when he was born because

he showed no signs. He was sitting by the times he was 7 months old

and crawling around 8 months old. He walked holding on to things at

a year old and started to walk alone at 16 months old. I had started

to think that there was something different about Tyler at a year old

but could not put my finger on it. Soon after he started to walk he

broke his leg in the crib and did not cry. At that point I asked the

doctor if Tyler might have DS or if he had autism. It took almost 6

months to get my insurance at the time to pay for the testing. We

had to have his doctor, the school doctor write a letter to the HMO

they need the testing done to rule out DS. Then it took another 3

months before we got an appointment because he was already born and

he was also the only genetic doctor that was in the HMO. We had the

blood test done and it took 6 weeks to get the results. He's 9 yrs

old now and is in public school in special ed classes. He is reading

and doing math and loving school. He even has a " girlfriend " in

class. He is about a 2½ to 3 years behind but he is starting to

catch up. In some things he is only 1 year behind. The teacher

thinks that he is behind because he could not hear from 2 to 3 years

old and keeps having ear trouble. He has gotten tube 3 times. He

goes to the ENT two times a year for a hearing test and goes back on

the 24th. If he still has some hearing loss he will get a hearing

aid, but his hearing has been getting better each time he goes.

Debbie

Mom to Troy (11 dyslexia) Tyler (9 MDTS) and Shane (2 years and 10

months today)

>

> Hi all,

>

> I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter,

Paige, who has been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard

that kids with DS sometimes arrive early. Do kids with MDS also

arrive early? Just want to make sure we're prepared.

>

> Many thanks!

>

> Leanne

>

January 4, 2006

In a message dated 1/4/2006 10:13:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

lwoehlke@... writes:

I have heard that kids with DS sometimes arrive early. Do kids with MDS

also arrive early?

Hi Leanne

I suppose mds babies can come early but my daughter arrived 3 days past her

due date.

ann

January 4, 2006

Hi leann, my daughter was born a day before her due date..actually

we had to set it up because she was not budging...and had a normal

pregnancy and a great delivery..she was diagnosed at 2 days because

of her heart defect..(av canal) she is thriving and meeting

her " milestones " per her PT/OT...good luck on your next couple of

weeks....enjoy them....

gina limon, mother of layla 15weeks....

>

> Hi all,

>

> I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter,

Paige, who has been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard

that kids with DS sometimes arrive early. Do kids with MDS also

arrive early? Just want to make sure we're prepared.

>

> Many thanks!

>

> Leanne

>

January 4, 2006

My daugter was induced at 38 weeks and six days because I had to

deliver at a city hospital 1 1/2 hours away and I have a history of fast labors.

I

had to deliver there due to prenatal diagnosis of a heart defect. Our

community hospital does not have a NICU. She weighed in at 6lbs 5 oz. ( My

smallest

baby by far! ) We did not know about her MDS at birth. In fact I had a amnio

(because of the heart defect) and it was normal. They did further genetic

testing

at seven weeks due to low tone and feeding problems. The result MDS 25% They

said the amnio was negative because they must have tested a normal skin cell.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. and (MDS)

January 4, 2006

Christi arrived right on her due date (Christmas!) and - she was a VBAC

(after 2 C-sections).

Judie, mom to Christi 27, and others

January 4, 2006

Hi--

Our son with MDS was born a week early and with ease (well, actually with

pain, but with normal pain) as was his sister without MDS. At 7 pounds 3 oz. he

weighed slightly more than her and has stayed about a pound ahead of her at

each checkup--although both are fairly petite. Anton will be one year old on

January 19th and is doing great. He was diagnosed soon after birth because of

the telltale creases on one hand and one foot and mild DS features--the

diagnosis of MDS was confirmed by a bloodtest several weeks later. At his age

and

stage now people meeting him don't generally know he has DS--although we

often tell them. Although he is slightly behind his typical sister in gross

motor

skills, at 11 months he is pulling up to standing, crawling with ease, and

we guess he'll probably be cruising by his birthday. His fine motor and self

feeding skills are excellent, although teaching him to drink from a cup has

been more challenging than it was for his sister. He is extremely

communicative--says " mama " and " dada " discriminately, says " up " when he wants

out of his

crib, " ah boo " which is a variation of the game peekaboo that we play, " ha "

and " hey " with a hand wave for " hi, " " bababa " for " banana " " duh duh duh " for

his " Forester " (his sister) and " baby " for other babies. He has also said

" bubba " for " bubble " and " tuta " for " turtle. " He points at interesting objects

and

people and seems to want to know their names. He initiates many games with

us, particularly with me when I'm nursing him.

Despite three slight holes in his heart, one which has closed on it's own,

two which appear to be closing, Anton has been an extremely healthy child so

far.

Bottom line--he's very engaged, social, fun, a joy. He seems very bright to

me and to others--(even to those who don't know he has DS). I do think I see

signs of signals getting crossed in his brain--just little things, like not

knowing how to prioritize the steps of crawling when he was first learning, of

having to stop and work at things like this in a way that his sister didn't.

I think his muscle tone is slightly weaker than that of typical kids, but

it's hard to tell because he has a lot of energy and seems really motivated to

move and do things, so at this point he is reasonably strong and, again, on

track developmentally. He has had physical therapy once a week and

occupational therapy every other week since he was six months old. He has been

seeing a

speech therapist (really just to work on making sure his jaw strength stays

on track and to develop proper feeding skills so that his tongue is placed

correctly for speech) slightly less than every other week since he was six

months old. I've been living very much in the moment with him because it's

such a

pleasant place to be, but when my husband and I do think about his future,

we're optimistic that he'll find his place in the world, perhaps with a lot of

extra help from us and his sister, perhaps with a little.

We have not bothered to have diagnostic testing done beyond the initial

blood test, but it looks like Anton's cells are about 50/50. We were told

though

that they're not positive the percentage matters, at least not as much as

where the cells with the extra chromosome are located in the body?

Anyway, I wish you the best with your baby. I think MDS is confusing in the

abstract because there's such a wide variety of manifestations, but when you

have your baby you'll probably find yourself less confused, more drawn into

your particular baby's personality, needs, accomplishments, challenges,

etc.--as with any baby. And the Down syndrome community in most areas is strong

enough to provide help with extra challenges and questions you might have and

this list serve is wonderful, very, very supportive and informative.

--, mom to Anton 11 months MDS, Forester 3 1/2 years.

January 4, 2006

My daughter was born near her due date at 7 lbs. 6 oz.

Charlotte Siegmund

Did your MDS baby arrive on time?

Hi all,

I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Paige, who has

been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard that kids with DS sometimes

arrive early. Do kids with MDS also arrive early? Just want to make sure we're

prepared.

Many thanks!

Leanne

January 5, 2006

Hello Leanne, my son was born 4 days before his due date at 6lb

8oz. My labor and delivery were both normal and he has no physical

characteristics and so far no health problems. We found out about his mds

at 17 weeks via amnio and still haven't received the chromosome test

results, he was born 3 months ago. I just received a copy of his medical

records from the hospital which says the test results will be sent back to

the physician, now I'm trying to find out which physician that is, as the

results have not been sent to our pediatrician yet. No news is good news,

but I still want to know what the % is. Good luck, do not worry, I think

you will be surprised at how beautiful your baby is going to be!

Tracey

January 5, 2006

Mahrya was born 2 weeks early, so that is really considered on time. She

weighed in at 7 and a half pounds and was 20 inches, totally healthy and nursed

like a trooper right away. She is 9 now, believes herself to be a princess (she

is the youngest of 6, and is treated as a princess by all) and still continuse

to be very healthy. Hope all goes well with your new little one, let us know

when the precious bundle gets here!

Luanne

leanne woehlke wrote:

Hi all,

I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Paige, who has

been diagnosed, via amnio, with MDS. I have heard that kids with DS sometimes

arrive early. Do kids with MDS also arrive early? Just want to make sure we're

prepared.

Many thanks!

Leanne

January 5, 2006

Hi Leanne,

Three at of my four children arrived early. arrived the earliest.

Not due to MDs, my body goes into preterm labor at 20 weeks and does not

stop. was born 4 1/2 weeks early and was 7lbs 9 oz and 20 inches