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mommy2nicholas Member
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Last Visit: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 59 Location: West Michigan - USA
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Posted: September 20 2006, 11:13 PM Post subject: Hello from the New Kid in Town....
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Hello -
My name is Gwen. My husband, John, and I have been married for 8 years. We have an 11 month old son, Nicholas, who was born at 36 weeks. When he was born, we were told that he was perfectly healthy. We started to suspect something wasn’t right around four weeks later and we were still at the hospital. J/K. We started finding out about Nicholas’ issues the morning following his birth...but we were there for 5 weeks.
Before we left the hospital, Nicholas had been diagnosed with Down syndrome (confirmed - Trisomy 21), AV Canal, post urethral valve, chronic renal failure/hydro-nephrosis and hyperthyroidism. He had also had three surgeries. At one week of age he had stints put in his kidneys to allow his urinary tract some much needed rest. At about 2 ½ weeks of age he had the blockage below his bladder removed. Then just after his 4 week birthday, he had a nissen and G-tube done. To this day, he is solely tube fed. He lost the desire to take a pacifier a few weeks after we were home....and just shortly after he started gagging and retching. The gaging and retching continues to this day without and idea of the cause or a cure.
On March 14, 2006, his heart was repaired, which got us another 2 week stay in the hospital. Once we got home things started to look up, or so we though. The Thursday before Easter, he started getting little red spots on his forehead. It looked like they he’d rubbed it on something or it was rubbed too hard. By the following Monday, they were all over his face, on his forearms and on his shins. We happed to have an appointment that day and we were referred to an hematologist/oncologist...ASAP. They never did find the reason for the spots, or petechaie, but the doctor did find immature cells in his blood. So he continues to monitor him closely.
While rocking Nicholas to sleep on July 5th, I noticed that he was having a slight jerking problem. We called one of his specialists and were instructed to take him to the ER. They were waiting for us when we got there. They took his vitals, drew blood and ordered a CAT scan. Everything came back normal. The specialist wanted to make sure and ordered an EEG. It was done 2 days later. That evening we found out that Nicholas was having seizures, Infantile Spasms, and was put on medication at that time. As of July 27th, he is seizure free.
Nicholas is a very happy baby. Usually content and loves to snuggle. He’s newest tricks are rolling and reaching for things. He is getting ready to cut his third tooth too. We have OT and PT from our county school district that come into our home for an hour each once a week and we also go to the hospital for OT/PT and Speech every other week. He is thriving beyond expectations for having the issues he does. He is just about 22lbs and reaching 29 inches. He is the love of our lives...and every one else’s he has been in contact with.
We are very excited to have found this forum. We are hoping to find some great information.
Thanks for taking the time to read our story,
Gwen
PS - I would have added a picture, but can't get it to work.
_________________ Gwen - DH of 8 yrs, John. Mommy to Nicholas 10/11/05 Love of my life!DX w/ DS, AV Canal and chronic renal failure at birth. G -tube & nissen (fundo) since 11/10/05. Blood issues and seizure disorder (DX w/ Infantile Spasms 7/7- SF since 7/27)
Last edited by mommy2nicholas on September 20 2006, 11:30 PM; edited 1 time in total |
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momtofourgirls Senior Member
Joined: 04 May 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 941 Location: Southern California
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mommy2nicholas Member
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Last Visit: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 59 Location: West Michigan - USA
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Posted: September 20 2006, 11:35 PM Post subject: Hello!
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Yeah, I made it....several hours of typing...and 3 tries. I kept having to log back in and would loose what I wrote. This time I got smart and put it on WP first.
The other kicked me out too. I didn't appeal. I was shocked that they would do it to begin with. I sent them 2 emails. One befor and one after finding my mistake. I told them that they didn't need to reinstate me. I could have understood if it was unrelated....oh well..
Thanks again for telling me about this forum. I think this is exactly what we were looking for!
Gwen
_________________ Gwen - DH of 8 yrs, John. Mommy to Nicholas 10/11/05 Love of my life!DX w/ DS, AV Canal and chronic renal failure at birth. G -tube & nissen (fundo) since 11/10/05. Blood issues and seizure disorder (DX w/ Infantile Spasms 7/7- SF since 7/27)
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JenBrock'sMom Super Member
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 3272 Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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Posted: September 21 2006, 12:56 PM Post subject:
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Welcome Gwen, Nicholas and family - thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like you have quite the fighter on your hands. I'm Jen mom to brock who is about 14 months. We live in Iowa. There are several families on here who have dealt with all of the health issues your Nicholas has gone through. Can't wait to see your photos.
_________________ JenBrock'sMom & wife to Jay
Brock 7/28/05
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pookeymom Senior Member
Joined: 13 May 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 538 Location: DuBois, PA
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Posted: September 21 2006, 1:07 PM Post subject:
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Welcome to DownSyn! I have 11 month old identical twin boys with DS. Hope to hear more about your son soon! Glad things have calmed down a bit for you.
_________________ Stacy
Mom to Tristin (9), Camille (5), Elijah (3), Caleb and Isaac (1)
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mom2alex Member
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 74 Location: Maryland
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Posted: September 21 2006, 2:30 PM Post subject:
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Hi and welcome...I am a recent joiner as well, but this seems like a great group.
Hope to hear more about you and your family..
_________________ Nicol - Mom to Alex (15)
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iluvmacy Senior Member
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 530 Location: Minnesota
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Posted: September 21 2006, 2:57 PM Post subject:
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Hello and welcome! You'll love it here, there are lots of parents here who have been thru many different ordeals. We try to help each other out and support everyone.
Can't wait to see pictures!
_________________ ~Alyssa~ Mom to Macy-d.o.b.5/11/05
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Gloria&Samantha New Member
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Last Visit: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 21 Location: El Monte CA
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Posted: September 21 2006, 5:05 PM Post subject:
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Welcome Gwen and Nicholas. You will love it here it is so helpful. My name is Gloria and mommy to Samantha who is just the same age and same birthday as Nicholas.
_________________ Samantha Victoria * 10-11-2005
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twyceborn Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 560 Location: MS, USA
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Posted: September 21 2006, 5:24 PM Post subject:
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Gwen, welcome to DownSyn!!! Can't wait to see pictures. Glad you have joined.
_________________ Kim and Justin (08/15/95)
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jrahn Member
Joined: 18 May 2006
Last Visit: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 43 Location: Illinois
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Posted: September 21 2006, 5:57 PM Post subject:
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Hi Gwen & Nicholas:
Welcome!!! You will find a plethora of information from the ladies here on Down Syn. I don't post that much ( I don't have anything to add as my child is stuck in ICU), but I love to learn about everyone's families and children. I'm also new here. I can row in the same boat with you about health issues.....sigh. My baby came home for a 2 week vacation from the hospital after she was born only to end up back in the hospital and has been there a month! She had to have palliative surgery (bidirectional glenn) put in as she has ToF and AV Canal. She was born the 8th of August, her name is Murphy.
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Grandma to Olivia Senior Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 755
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Posted: September 22 2006, 4:30 PM Post subject:
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Welcome! I'm so glad that you joined us. I'm sorry that your little guy has had so many health issues, but am happy to hear he is doing so well now!
I am grandmother to Olivia, who is 3 years old, and such a joy to our family!
_________________ Cindy
Olivia's Grandma
Bitter are the tears of a child: Sweeten them. Deep are the thoughts of a child: Quiet them. Sharp is the grief of a child: Take it from him. Soft is the heart of a child: Do not harden it. - Pamela Glenconner
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Maysonsmama Senior Member
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 987 Location: Ely, Iowa
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Posted: September 22 2006, 11:36 PM Post subject:
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welcome. glad to hear your baby is doing better and is seizure free!!! he is so cute. i wanna love those cheeks of his!!!
_________________ Amy mama to:
Jayden-7/94
Rylee-10/97
Mayson-2/06 DS
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Tigger Super Member
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 1564 Location: NSW, Australia
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Posted: September 23 2006, 5:51 AM Post subject:
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Hi Gwen and welcome to Downsyn. I am so glad you have found us because you are definitely not alone here!!! Lots of our kids have health issues, most have had heart surgery and quite a few are or have been tube fed. My little Talitha has been tube fed since birth. We recently went from a nasogastric tube to a g-tube which is so much better. She had terrible gagging problems until she was around 5 months but being on a respirator for 9 days after her heart surgery seemed to get rid of the sensitivity in her throat. We never knew a cause for the gagging.
Sounds like Nicholas is doing great in spite of his issues. Talitha is struggling to get to 13 pounds but I am sure we can get there now we have the g-tube and are pumping her feeds overnight. I am looking forward to seeing lots of pics of Nicholas and getting to know you better.
_________________ Karyn
Mum to Nikki (19 Jul 89), Stefanie (3 Sep 96), Joel [18 June 98] and Talitha (DS) (18 Nov 05) AVSD/PDA repaired 23 March 06
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:14
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Carson's Mom Super Member
Joined: 16 Dec 2005
Last Visit: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 1892 Location: Bossier City, LA
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Posted: September 23 2006, 8:18 PM Post subject:
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Welcome! I am glad you found us here. I think you will love all of the information around here, but also the support from others going through similar experiences. I am looking forward to learning more about you and your family.
Kayla
_________________ ,
Kayla, Callan(5), Kenna (3), Carson 1 yr,
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kellyrimmer Super Member
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Last Visit: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 2093 Location: Atwood, TN
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Posted: September 24 2006, 11:43 PM Post subject:
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Hello and welcome. Nicholas is such a cutie pie!!!!
_________________ Kelly Rimmer
Mom to
Paige 11-12-92
Aaron 06-16-99
Alexis 08-19-05 (DS)
Baby #4 11-04-06
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