Re: here I am

[Guest guest]

Thanks . Are you shooting for 3 also? We may as well start our own

private club, eh? haha

s.

Re: here I am

ee,

I am in tears reading your post. I remember that exact feeling when baby #2 had

clubfoot as well. I know that feeling in the pit of your stomach... I JUST WANT

ONE baby without a damn cast on. I wish I could be there for you. Really if

there is anything I can do, please, please let me know.

www.pediatric-orthopedic-foundation.org

Our mission: " To provide support and assistance through education and financial

assistance to families and their children who have orthopedic disabilities or

orthopedic birth defects. "

[Guest guest]

Oh, it's no big deal anymore (other than the paranoia of him falling down and

bumping his head). After the surgery to correct his skull, it really stopped

being an issue. WE're just monitoring the kidney, but with all the cf stuff then

the skull surgery, I just don;t know if I want to chance it. It's just so weird.

Noone in either family has had either of these defects as far back as anyone can

remember. Cranio statistics are the exact same as cf too. 1:4 girls to boys... 1

in 1000 live births... Usually, when you have more than one congenital deformity

they start talking sydromes... It just really freaked me out... and talk about

bad luck (with the exception that we don't think he's at all syndromic). The

big fish really is the clubfeet, but the surgery (cosmetic) to correct his poor

little head was pretty scary and far more dangerous than cf. During the surgery

he lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. I couldn't provide the blood

because he got some funky antigen from his

dad and even though we have the same blood type , I have antibodies against his

antigen...weird, I know. My dad couldn't donate because he was scared to give

him blood because of his history with drugs and women... Anyway, he was only in

the hospital for 4 days, but it felt like years and his poor little head and

face swelled up like a balloon. It was so sad... he was so miserable, but he

still tried to smile and be sweet....It was the worst. Anyway... the two most

common congenital deformities and no previous family history to speak of... I

can't help but wonder what if next time is worse? KWIM?Thanks for letting me

share your soap box for a moment... Now back to you... Really, I like what

said... That's too cute. You have such a great attitude! I hope if we do

decide to have another and anything is wrong and can cope half as well... I

guess we all do what we must though , right?

number23 wrote: I'm sorry Faith, you really do have

bigger fish to fry than just club foot, I didn't realize that. I can see that

making the choice much harder. And it's OK, we can make this email about you

s.

Re: here I am

Everything I just wrote simply disappeared.... Anyway, to be short, since

I'm now short on time. I know, ee.... I mean my rational mind knows. It's

just Gabe was born with two idiopathic, congenital defects (he also had

prematurely fused sutures in his skull) along with some minor hydronephrosis. I

guess I'm just paranoid that I have bad genes... (Craniosynostosis has the exact

same statistics as clubfoot) I was so shell-shocked when he was born --- I

didn't know about his skull although it was , in hindsight, pretty apparent in

U/S. Now, I'm terrified all the time about safety stuff and Gabe... I so want to

chill out and let him be a normal kid... Which he pretty much is now -- despite

a few gaping holes in his skull(which are supposed to fill back in by the time

he's two). Anyway, I just don't know if I KNEW either of these two things would

affect my next child if I'd have the personal strength to decide to do it all

over again. But I didn't mean to turn this into a " me "

email anyway:) I just wanted to tell you that you are very brave and strong. If

any child was goign to be born with clubfeet anywhere in the world --- this one

has gotten very lucky having you for a mom.

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