0 – 1 Year
My pregnancy with Aime was totally different to my first child’s, I didn’t gain half the weight, feel as sick or hardly felt her move. Things were pretty good up to my 20 week scan when it was discovered that Aime had Hydronephrosis of the kidneys. I was then referred to see a consultant at the main hospital.
For the remainder of the pregnancy I was monitored very closely. Aime’s kidneys seemed to be growing in size but all else seemed normal. At 28 weeks I was told to take things easy and not stay in a car for too long as there was a chance I could go into labour early.
Thankfully I carried Aime to full term and she was born on the 27th November 2005. I had a normal delivery and Aime weighed 6lbs 10ozs and had a good apgar scoring.
At her 24 hour baby check they decided to prescribe Trimethoprim in case of urine infections. The doctors wanted to wait until Aime had a renal scan done to see how her kidneys were doing. It was during the 24 hour check that they also noticed that she had a webbed neck and her nipples were spaced further apart than normal. Also both of Aime’s arms were in a bent upright position, so a test for Turner’s Syndrome was performed.
During the next three days in hospital I was unable to breast feed Aime as she wasn’t interested in breast or bottle so we ended up syringe feeding her for the remainder of the time we were in hospital.
For the next 10 days my midwife visited to check on the both of us. Aime was still having trouble feeding and had started to loose weight. She hardly every slept or make any noise. I expressed my concerns but my midwife told me not to worry, this was quite normal and everything would be fine.
At 3 weeks old Aime went onto bottles and finally started to gain some weight, all be it very slowly. We received her Turner’s Syndrome results back and was told it was all clear. Her renal scans showed that her right kidney was practically back to normal and the left had started to diminish in size. They felt that the Trimethoprim could be stopped however if she started having urine infections then she would have to be put back on it. The renal scans would continue as a precaution.
Over the next few months everything seemed to be going okay. Aime gained weight, albeit very slowly and all new renal scans showed no bladder reflux or duplex kidneys. Aime had her vaccinations as recommended and thankfully had no side effects. She also started to make sounds and smiled when talked to.
By 8 months my concerns were growing. Aime wasn’t rolling over and she couldn’t even support herself sitting unaided. I know my first daughter was quick in all her milestones and I knew every child was different but I still felt something was wrong. My health visitor didn’t seem too bothered so I took her to see the family chiropractor. It was the best thing we could have done. My chiropractor told me Aime’s spine was twisted in 2 places, and that was possibly the reason she wasn’t able to sit very well and always wanted to be in a standing position. She also felt that Aime must be in pain even though she wasn’t showing it, so she advised us to take her to our doctor and see what he had to say. We did this and unfortunately because she hadn’t reached 9 months he felt he couldn’t do anything and it’s only after the 9 month mark that they could start to look into things. I wasn’t happy about this and found a private doctor willing to see her. On examination from this doctor, he felt Aime had some frontal bossing. She was brachycephalic, had hypertelorism, the possibility of macroglossia and large protuberant lips, developmental delay and dysmorphism. He referred us back to our local hospital to see a community paediatrician. Whilst waiting for this appointment Aime continued to see the chiropractor and had even started to sit unsupported for short periods of time along with started to eat some pureed food. Progress was being made which was great to see however small it was.