We've been a little quiet

….but we are ok! It's only because I have been attempting to juggle a fair few plates, and quite frankly I have dropped quite a lot! So after 3 months of radio silence, I thought an update was LONG overdue.

Happy New Year first and foremost!

G had the most wonderful Christmas - lots of family time, lots of food, lots of films, and lots of time off school. I think the latter was the highlight for her, but come January 6th the structure and routine of school was much needed (even though she may not have been able to comprehend that).

November and December gave G a respite from appointments, which again was another highlight.

What's coming up?

In the next few weeks we have an appointment with G's paediatrician to look at her growth and general wellbeing. For us, we'll be most interested in the growth as it had slowed down last time, and as a result her daily dosage of growth hormone was increased.

She is also due an eye test next week, and it's almost certain that she will need a new prescription (the only part she's excited about is picking new frames!). During the last test the optician informed us that her prescription needed to change a fair bit but that her eyes weren't coping with it during the tests. So it was going to be done in 2 stages over 6 months and stage 2 therefore is next week. Not necessarily Turner Syndrome related, more mummy and daddy related. Given that 3 of us wear glasses, little H is also keen to get in on the act. He pinches G's glasses at every given opportunity. He has his very own eye test the week after next.

G TURNS 7...now it's not quite round the corner, but she is counting down the days and given my recent form I am unlikely to blog again between now and March! High heels, a stainless steel water bottle and 'something Vtech' are on the list.

In April we have a heart scan in Oxford, and a hearing test to check if her hearing has declined. But they are far enough into the future that she isn't panicking about them. She now has a calendar to keep a check of important dates - her request.

We have been awaiting an appointment with regards to G possibly sitting on the Autistic Spectrum. After an initial referral made by school 10 months ago, we are still waiting. It's ok though, it's not desperate, it won't change anything. We know that G has many traits of ASD, however it would be good at some point to have the input of a professional so that we can put any additional support in place if and when it is required.

More imminent is half term, which of course she is counting down to because as she tells us most days - she doesn't like school. She may not like it, but she's doing great, and is especially excelling at reading. Our girl can devour books, and still loves nothing more than her bedtime stories and snuggles with us all  <3

I am sure that I have missed a SHED load off of the above, but my memory is not what it once was. Most importantly G is happy and healthy (only a few germs over the holidays, not an ear infection in sight). She adores her little brother  and she continues to make us super proud parents.

Who knew?

We're always learning, and I LOVE that about life. Every day really is a school day! So today's post is dedicated to things that I have learnt since my last blog, including some amazing things from our time at the annual Turner Syndrome conference earlier this month.

My most recent revelation came towards the end of  24 hour stint in hospital for G.
WHO KNEW THAT TONSIL INFLAMMATION COULD PRESENT AS SIMILAR SYMPTOMS TO APPENDICITIS?! After being in such severe pain that at times she was unable to walk, the urgent care Dr sent us straight to A&E with suspected appendicitis. That accompanied with a fever, nausea and pain in a very specific location, appendicitis seemed the most logical option.
Only it wasn't.
Inflamed tonsils (which did not hurt G one iota) was suggested as the root cause, and that was that. We returned home earlier today :)

WHO KNEW THAT G WOULD MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO SIX AND A HALF YEARS OLD WITHOUT AN OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL ADMISSION?! The amount of times we frequented the urgent care centre, and the pediatric assessment unit, it's a wonder how we haven't been admitted before. That  said I'm awfully glad we hadn't...The screaming which accompanied the insertion and removal of the cannula was quite something, and the bed I slept on pulled down out of a cupboard.  I spent the entire night waiting to be catapulted back in-comedy style!

WHO KNEW THAT IN HER REVIEW WITH THE SCHOOL FAMILY SUPPORT WORKER, G WOULD TALK OF HER LOVE OF SCHOOL AND REEL OFF A LIST OF FRIENDS?! Don't get me wrong, from our perspective it can still be really tricky getting her to school. But this half term really hasn't been that bad at all (with a fantastic parents evening too). Well done G <3

WHO KNEW THAT THE PREVALENCE OF A BICUSPID AORTA VALVE IS AROUND 1 IN 300 OF THE GENERAL POPULATION, YET IT IS AROUND 30% IN TURNER SYNDROME?! We had an incredibly informative talk from Professor Bernard Keavney at the conference this year. G's biuspid aortic valve is currently monitored on a yearly basis, and currently presents no concerns. However, due to the potential risk it could pose, we have picked up some more medic style cards which the Turner Syndrome Support Society kindly produce free of charge. These can then be handed to an emergency services worker in the event that G should present with chest pains or shortness of breath.

WHO KNEW THAT LITTLE G WOULD PERFORM THE WHOLE OF THE JUNIOR DANCE IN THE SATURDAY NIGHT SHOW AT CONFERENCE?! Every year we have willed her on on, we've cheered, we've supported, but the anxiety has been too overwhelming for her. This year she did it! I could have cried (I think I did!). We were so proud of our beautiful little miracle.

WHO KNEW THAT FAILING AT SOMETHING COULD ACTUALLY NOT BE FAILURE AT ALL?! This one's for me (and probably lots of you too).....I failed at something that I considered quite BIG last week, a teaching job interview. Only I realised that I didn't fail, it just wasn't right for me. I knew it wasn't right, I had an instinct, but I needed to check. So actually I succeeded in getting one step closer to knowing what does and doesn't work for me, my health and my family.

In other news:

- Our recent Ear, Nose and Throat appointment was a time of great anxiety for G. Generally, at each appointment she has a hearing test and then we find out whether grommets are imminent. Thankfully, yet again we have been told that she is safe for another 6 months.

-As always, the Turner Syndrome conference was a pure delight. The wisdom, the education, the support, the squeals of delight from the girls who have been counting down to seeing their besties, the Saturday night show - no words <3
Honestly if the love and support that is given/shared/shown by the TS family had a red aura around it, then the conference venue would have been visible from space!

- We have a film night on Friday, G literally cannot wait. She now loves a good film, I mean she'll generally watch the same film twenty billionty times, but we can't complain. I'm opting for Beauty and the Beast, not sure if that's top of Daddy's list though...

Celebrate our beauties!!

21st June 2019....Turner Syndrome Awareness Day


THURSDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 2012...The day our life flip turned upside down (and not in a fresh prince of Bel Air kind of way!). The day we received the diagnosis that our unborn baby had MONOSOMY X ~ Turner Syndrome. Support was limited, Google was a scarefest, and all that stuck in our minds was that our baby was most likely to die. 

Fast forward nearly 7 years, and oh my we have the MOST incredible girl: fiery, funny, loving, stubborn, athletic, caring, cake-monster, vocab beyond her years, and sporting the most beautiful curly bonce. We couldn't be any luckier, and thank God for giving such a gift to us as a family. 

~

So, you all know how passionate we are about Turner Syndrome/our little G/our Turner Syndrome family....pretty please just do one thing for us over the next 24 hours - refresh yourselves on what Turner Syndrome is and perhaps share your knowledge with someone you know!

Much love xx

P.S. Our little G is doing amazingly well - an ENT appointment tomorrow to make a decision on grommets, and then 4 remaining weeks at school in Year 1 ! How time flies. 

~

Watch this, pretty please <3  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXAR5nqXDkQ


BACK TO AN OLD POST FROM 2012...

Our Turner Syndrome Q & A

Was it something that we 'did' ? Almost instantly we found out the answer to this was no, it was pure fluke or whatever you wish to call it.

How many pregnancies does it affect? Around 1 in 2500.

Will it happen to us again? The chances are extremely slim.

Will our child be able to live a 'normal' life? Many people with Turner Syndrome go on to live a happy and fulfilled life. They will face some challenges that others don't, but to what extent will depend.

If the pregnancy makes it past half way are the chances of survival better? There are no statistics to support this. In fact, no statistics other than 98/99% end in miscarriage or stillbirth, seemed to exist. That one keeps haunting me. 

How many people in the uk have Turner Syndrome? Around 10,000

So you may be wondering what Turner Syndrome is, or involves. We won't go in to great detail here as many pages (such as NHS and TSSSuk) will have much better info. For us the key info is:

• Our baby is a GIRL- yay!
• She is missing one of the sex chromosomes, so only has 1 x in pair 23
• She will have growth problems, without treatment most girls are between 4ft 4 and 4ft 10 at full height (though as her daddy is a shortie-no one will guess!)
• She will need hormone treatment, possibly injections, possibly for much of childhood and teen years
• She will have fertility issues
• Heart problems are a potentially major complication during pregnancy, and possibly after

There is a list longer than my arm of other potential problems -speech, ears, maths, spatial, social...... HOWEVER these are only potential problems, and could also affect Joe Bloggs.