My name is Donna Wells and I am Duncan's mom. This page will hopefully relay information and our personal story of Duncan's birth and the unexpected plunge we took into an unknown world of Achondroplasia and dwarfism. I will also have information on a medical condition called Hashimoto's disease which I was diagnosed as having six months after the birth of my son. It is my hope that if you, too, have been unexpectedly plunged into either of these two worlds and have been having difficulty finding personal stories that this site will be of help and comfort to you.
If you've already looked at Duncan's Fabulous Photos Page then you know that he was born in April of 1998. We never dreamed that there could possibly be any problem with the baby until his birthday. The pregnancy had been almost textbook perfect and I felt wonderful. We were so happy that our first child would be arriving soon and Don's 12-year-old son, Chris was ecstatic that he was going to have a brother. I worked as a Secretary/Receptionist until three weeks before my due date with few problems. Duncan was due to be born on April 7, 1998 and we couldn't wait.
April 7th came and went without any sign that Duncan was even considering making an enterance into the world. April 11th and he was five days overdue and I was absolutely miserable. We tried everything to get him to come. We went to the park and walked until I thought my legs were going to fall off. We went to the mall and did the same thing. My mother-in-law, who is an avid Houston Aeros Hockey fan even took us to a game so I would be forced to climb up and down the stadium stairs all evening. No Duncan! I was getting huge and desperate.
On April 14th I went to my doctor to see what the hold up was. He said that he would induce if the baby didn't decide to come on his own by April 21st. That seemed like an eternity to me. He also sent me for a high level ultrasound on April 15th to see if the baby's environment was still safe and he was getting everything he needed. They would also take body measurements again to make sure he was still growing properly as he had been at the five month ultrasound. I just wanted the baby to hurry up and come. He was kicking like crazy so I knew he was fine. I wasn't worried about anything.
Duncan decided to get things rolling on his own at 1:00 am on April 16th. We
were
The doctor said I wasn't dialating so he was starting a potosin drip to speed things up. He said we would have a baby before the morning was out. Our first clue was when my doctor told us that the baby's long bones in his arms and legs were just a little shorter than normal so he was going to have a neonatologist present for the delivery. He said not to worry because he thought it was just that my family were all so very tall and my husbands family were all so very short. We were going for natural labor - no drugs, just breathing. I made it through the first eleven hours that way. At 12:30 pm I gave in and let them give me a couple of pain shots. I have no idea what the medicine was because I was still busy breathing. At 7:00 pm I agreed to an epidural because I couldn't breathe anymore. I was so exhausted that I went to sleep almost immediately.
I awoke when a nurse rushed in and yanked the covers off of me. "What's wrong?"
I asked. "The baby's in fetal distress. You're going in for an emergency
Caesarian." They literally threw the scrubs at my husband and best friend who
was my secondary coach. It was now a little after 8:30 pm. At 8:49 pm my
beautiful son entered into the world. The doctor's response to me was one of
absolute surprise. She said, "My God, Donna! No wonder you couldn't deliver
him. Your boy's got a
The doctor had the neonatologist present for the delivery. As my husband stood by and watched our new son being examined, she turned to him and flatly stated, "We're not sure what's wrong with him but we think it's non-lethal." My husband almost fainted. All he heard was "lethal". I was told nothing.
Duncan was immediately placed on oxygen because he was having difficulting breathing. We had planned on rooming in with the baby so we had a private room but now my son would have to stay in the nursery. I would not be allowed to hold him until they could determine what was wrong. I was told that they would be taking me through the nursery from recovery to see my baby and not to be alarmed by the oxygen tent, iv's, feeding tube and monitor electrodes that were hooked up to his little body. They said that it was because he was having just a little difficulty breathing because of the C-Section. I was too groggy to ask any questions. I was allowed a five minute look and was taken to my room - without my baby.
Don got me settled and went back to the nursery to check on the baby. He met the neonatologist there. She told him that they had taken X-Rays of Duncan and they thought he might have something called Achondroplasia. He had never heard of any such thing. She told him that the baby was a dwarf. She also told my husband that the baby would have normal intelligence but his body would be very different and that there were special precautions that had to be taken. Duncan would be transferred to Texas Children's Hospital immediately by ambulance because he couldn't coordinate his suck, swallow, breathe reflex and was having difficulty breathing on his own. Don was now left with the task of telling me what they thought might be wrong with our baby and that they still didn't know if he would live.
Copyright © 1998 Donna Wells
All images appearing on this website are the copyright property of Donna Wells and may not be copied, reproduced or distributed without the express consent of Donna Wells. Copyright 1998
