Post by katiesmom on Jan 10, 2008 21:27:01 GMT -5
Howdy! I wanted to introduce myself: my name is Deane, I am Mom to delightful and funny Katie Grace (6 years old) and wife to wonderful and absent-minded Matt.
I have lurked here off-and-on over the past few years as time allowed, but I thought I'd just go ahead and jump in now.
Our story (I'll try to be brief) is: we had complications throughout our pregnancy and we knew that Katie would have either Down's or Turner's syndrome. We declined the amnio, but were monitored closely by ultrasounds 3 x per week. They told us that she had a heart problem "not compatible with life" and pressured us to abort. We refused and as it turned out she had NO heart problems whatsoever.
They ended up having to take her early at 34 weeks via c-section. She weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz. and was 13 inches long. She spent 8 weeks in the NICU, had surgery for duodenal atresia and tethered spinal cord. When she was 3 years old we went in to Boston for the AAI screening and they found that she had a broken vertebrae in her neck...the damage was old and had scarred over. They think it happened en eutero or through handling in the NICU. She ended up having bone graft and spinal fusion surgery and spent three months in a Halo brace. Whew! My girl is one tough cookie!
Now for the fun stuff! Kate-the-Great loves The Wiggles, Vanilla Wafers, story time at the library, going to dance class and being in dance recitals, going to church and AWANA club (a kid's club at church), turning her favorite stories into plays and acting them out, anything Little House on the Prairie related, playing dress-ups, telling really lame knock-knock jokes, and her Groovy Girls dolls.
Katie spent three years in the great local preschool, but when we saw what our small-town kindergarten had to offer, we decided to homeschool Katie this year. I still take her to the school for OT and ST and library time. Kate's fine motor skills are her real area of challenge so it's been great to be able to tailor her schooling around her inability to write and to be able to work on other things that are less frustrating for her.
Well, sorry this is so long, but if you've read this far then you can be rewarded by some pics of Kate-the-Great!
Looking forward to getting to know you all,
Deane
I have lurked here off-and-on over the past few years as time allowed, but I thought I'd just go ahead and jump in now.
Our story (I'll try to be brief) is: we had complications throughout our pregnancy and we knew that Katie would have either Down's or Turner's syndrome. We declined the amnio, but were monitored closely by ultrasounds 3 x per week. They told us that she had a heart problem "not compatible with life" and pressured us to abort. We refused and as it turned out she had NO heart problems whatsoever.
They ended up having to take her early at 34 weeks via c-section. She weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz. and was 13 inches long. She spent 8 weeks in the NICU, had surgery for duodenal atresia and tethered spinal cord. When she was 3 years old we went in to Boston for the AAI screening and they found that she had a broken vertebrae in her neck...the damage was old and had scarred over. They think it happened en eutero or through handling in the NICU. She ended up having bone graft and spinal fusion surgery and spent three months in a Halo brace. Whew! My girl is one tough cookie!
Now for the fun stuff! Kate-the-Great loves The Wiggles, Vanilla Wafers, story time at the library, going to dance class and being in dance recitals, going to church and AWANA club (a kid's club at church), turning her favorite stories into plays and acting them out, anything Little House on the Prairie related, playing dress-ups, telling really lame knock-knock jokes, and her Groovy Girls dolls.
Katie spent three years in the great local preschool, but when we saw what our small-town kindergarten had to offer, we decided to homeschool Katie this year. I still take her to the school for OT and ST and library time. Kate's fine motor skills are her real area of challenge so it's been great to be able to tailor her schooling around her inability to write and to be able to work on other things that are less frustrating for her.
Well, sorry this is so long, but if you've read this far then you can be rewarded by some pics of Kate-the-Great!
Looking forward to getting to know you all,
Deane