Our challenges with Brenna began while I was pregnant. She was not measuring to size. So we had numerous ultrasounds to ensure proper development and growth. I am only 5 feet tall so we were not surprised that she was little. She was born 10 days late and weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 18 ½ inches long. There was also some concern of mongolism, we were not told by the doctor - it was something that was written on her chart as an observation. Over the next few weeks the Doctor asked about it, but Brenna looked like my little cousin so we were not concerned.

It wasn't until she was 11 months old that I began to worry. Brenna was falling far behind in her development, she was unable to get into a sitting position by herself, she was no where near crawling and her language skills were quite far behind. We were away from home but went to see a paediatrician who immediately ordered a cat scan and chromosome tests. Needless to say I was very upset. When the results came back we were told that there was some extra material on chromosome 10 but that it was nothing to worry about. We were told that they were finding extra material all the time and they did not know what it was.

Five months later I took Brenna to our family doctor who then referred us to another paediatrician. When we met, the doctor seemed to have some knowledge of what she thought Brenna might have. We were referred for a lot of tests to rule out any health problems associated with 10q. Brenna had an ultrasound to check her kidneys, a chest x-ray to check for extra ribs, a ekg to make sure her heart was alright as well as a barium swallow. All the results came back negative. We were also referred to a geneticists, a physiotherapist as well as a speech language pathologist and Early Intervention.

The meeting with the geneticist explained what Brenna's condition is. Unfortunately, the Doctor had never encountered 10q before so the news she provided us was speculation. (I have learned more from this web site than from her.) We were told that Brenna's development would be severely limited and that her ability to function in society would be slight.

We are more than happy to prove that geneticist wrong. After 3 weeks of physiotherapy Brenna was sitting up on her own after 6 months she was walking. Now at 3 years, Brenna is using sign language and gestures to communicate, her comprehension is 100% and her vocal skills though significantly behind are quickly improving. Brenna's fine motor and gross motor skills are a little behind, but her self help, social and cognitive skills are right with her age. Brenna is now 36 inches tall and weighs only 27 pounds. She has a moderate to sever hearing loss in her right ear. Brenna is mostly potty trained; she has some accidents especially when she is too busy to take the time to go. She is a very gentle and loving little girl who seems to charm everyone she meets. Brenna is attending and loving preschool and Kindermusik.

She is a wonderful and caring big sister to 10 month old identical twin girls. Who do not have 10q.

Brenna is doing amazingly well. Brenna had her eyes done last year. People used to comment on how tired she looked. We decided to go ahead with the petosis surgery and I find that she does not look so tired anymore. I am very happy with the results.

She is now in school and is doing great. She goes to a private school for special needs kids where she receives weekly speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. Her class has 9 children 1 teacher and 2 aides. She loves it and it makes me so happy to see the confidence she has gained.