Special Needs Baby
When Aiya was a few days old we were told by her doctors that she had spasticity in all four limbs which meant she would most probably never walk or have full mobility of her arms. I’m pleased say my determined little girl is exceeding the doctor’s expectations with her current physical ability. Aiya… Continue reading Physical Development
People often ask me “what do you do all day?” and “do you miss working?” The answer to the latter is no, if circumstances were different maybe I would, but for me time is precious and doing things around my family is key. I do miss getting dressed for work and the social interaction that… Continue reading Being Mum
Although 16th March 2016 was one of the best days of my life, the whole day remains a blur and I have snippets of memories of what happened. I realise now that I didn’t remember what time Aiya was born, I had to look it up. I don’t remember dropping my son at nursery that… Continue reading March 16th 2016
I’m convinced Aiya has said her first word, it’s not mummy or daddy, but “mam mam” referring to food. Since we’ve had the high chair my little chunk has loved eating and it is a much more enjoyable experience for both of us. Rather than struggling with her on my lap I can now sing… Continue reading Language Acquisition
Aiya is now 18 months old and everyday we’re grateful that she is making great progress and doing so well against the original diagnosis we were given. Aiya’s communication skills have really come along over the past 3 months, she is now babbling away and has learnt that when she makes a ‘wah wah’ sound by… Continue reading Development Journal (18 months)
Due to Aiya’s size and muscle tone we have struggled to find a high chair appropriate for feeding through the usual retail means. After some debate with the local authority's Occupational Therapy service, we were able to ensure that Aiya received a specialist chair for her needs. I won’t stand on my soap box for… Continue reading We have a high chair!
As most parents know, teething can be one of the worst stages a child goes through in terms of sleepless nights and requiring pain management. In my experience with my son this was quite a short term issue (relatively speaking) and once he had his first 4 teeth by the age of 1, the rest… Continue reading Teething and Sleeping
It has been an emotional few weeks and it’s been difficult to write against a backdrop of mixed emotions as we have been given more clarity on what Aiya’s future may look like, good and bad. Aiya’s condition is Microcephalic Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type 1 (MOPD Type 1) and there have only ever been 30… Continue reading Microcephalic Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type 1
I had never heard of the term Microcephaly before we had our first ultrasound scan at 21 weeks and it wasn't until a few weeks later that the term became embedded into my psyche. Around the time we were dealing with the news that our unborn child’s brain was not developing as expected, the media… Continue reading Microcephaly (22 weeks + 1 day)
All babies develop at different rates and I have fully embraced this truth with Aiya. I don’t worry about what she’s supposed to be doing for her age as I did with my first, constantly referring to my copy of ‘What To Expect - The First Year’ to check if my little boy was where… Continue reading Development Journal
Project Aiya 