*removed due to being stalked!*

[Ju_bubbs]

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[BrandiCanucks]

My oldest daughter has microcephaly. Microcephaly is a symptom of over 200 different conditions and has varying degrees of severity. It can also start before or right at birth, or develop within the first three years of a child's life. That was my daughter's case. She was born with a normal head circumference which slowed by 8 weeks old, and by 5 months old, she was microcephalic.

At 4 years old, her head circumference is 44.3cm, the equivilant of a 14 month old, and is -3.7 standard deviations below normal.

She does have seizures, hers is complex partial epilepsy, but there are many kids who do not have seizures at all and other kids who have hundreds of grand mal everyday, to the point of status epilepticus. There is also something called relative microcephaly, where a child's head circumference is just small and there is no developmental delay. These cases usually happen when both parents are also microcephalic.

Some children die before or shortly after birth while others live long lives. We have some babies in our support group who lived only a few days and other families whose children just celebrated their 23rd birthdays.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Thank you so much, that makes so much more sense than anything on google!! Sorry that your little girl suffers with it x

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Google is not your friend when it comes to this stuff. When she was first diagnosed, I googled and all I found was that it was a death sentence. I didn't sleep for months thinking that if I slept, she wouldn't wake up the next morning. I know much more now and because Google is so evil, I made her website so that people can see that it is not a death sentence, but something anyone and everyone can LIVE with.

www.zoemeszaros.com

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Wow, thats a really good idea! I'll definately have a proper look through it later, once I've got LO settled in bed and I have some time!
She is absolutely beautiful btw, gorgeous eyes!!

 

[whoops]

My daughter is just over 5 months and has microcephaly. So far, her development is completely on schedule, and the only other thing of note is that she has high muscle tone. It may be a case that she has developmental delays in the future, but it may just be that she has a small head - we won't know until it happens. She was born with microcephaly - her head is growing but on a much lower curve than is standard.

Agree with Brandi that Google is not your friend - I scared the crap out of myself on some of the sites.