Aaron was born angry and grumpy and definitely looked like a pissed off old man. His only happy place was nursing...13 months of it. Once he got a little bigger and weened, he grew into this smiley faced, sweet little man.
To go back to when he was born...he was 8lbs. 12oz. which was a far cry from my two previous babies of 6lb 9 oz and 6lb 7oz. I was amazed at how big he was and loved his chubbiness. When he was delivered, normally the doctor will put the baby on the mom and then cut the cord. Aaron's umbilical cord was short and fat and wasn't long enough to place him still attached onto my belly. They has to cut it holding him near my leg. Because of the short, fat umbilical cord, he has a small herniated belly button. Here he is with his cute cheerio belly button. Nothing major to need to repair...but gave us the option if we chose to later.
Now on to when he is 3 years old. We decided to start all our children at the dentist when they are 3. Just worked well for us. So Aaron went to the dentist with his 2 older siblings for his first checkup. Luckily we know our children's dentist personally, so made what we found out a little easier. When Aaron's teeth were coming in as a baby we noticed that one of his teeth was coming in as two teeth (or a twin tooth - like the tooth split into two). So my general concern for when he had his first appointment was finding out if these twin teeth would effect his permanent teeth. He said not likely, but they would know more when they did the x-rays. X-rays taken and we come to find out that Aaron is missing a majority of his permanent teeth. Pretty much all his top front teeth and a few bottom front teeth. Won't know about the molars until later when he is bigger. I was shocked, but cool...just how I react. For me, there is always something positive to see. His doctor thought he knew what the condition was, but that we needed to go back to our doctor with the dental x-rays and go through some genetic testing. So we went to his pediatrician and made our way to a Genetic Counselor and did some testing. Come to find that umbilical cord/belly button, teeth and eyes were all connected to a rare genetic condition that Aaron seems to have (they didn't have a specific test for his condition because it is so rare, but that what he has falls into it's parameters). He was diagnosed with Reiger's Syndrome and luckily has only a few of the characteristics. After we met with the Genetic Counselor we also met with an eye doctor...because as part of Reiger's, they generally have some eye abnormalities. We met with the eye doctor and Aaron has the eye abnormality in one eye as well as early onset of glaucoma...which is stable with drops. Aaron's pupil in his left eye does not sit center and is not round like yours or mine. His sits at about 4 o'clock on his eye and is teardrop shaped (see pic below). With Reiger's, it is generally caught at birth because of the eye abnormality, but Aaron has such dark eyes...basically black, no one saw it. You have to shine a bright light in his eyes to see it. He wears glasses to strengthen his brain (not so much his eye), because if he favors his good eye, he has the chance of losing his vision in his left eye. So with the glasses, he has to wear a patch on his good eye for 4 hours every day to strengthen his brain to use that eye normally. He hates his patch, but tolerates it. He is such a good boy! He is always awesome at the eye doctor (which we have to go see every 3-4 months) to check his pressures and take pics of his optic nerves.
Right now is the easy part...just general maintenance. I am not looking forward to when he gets to the age of losing teeth and doesn't lose them. How sad he will be. I will need to think of something grand for him. We have to keep his baby teeth strong and healthy because they will be the foundation for caps later on. In hindsight...he will have a mouth full of perfect teeth when he is an adult. But I feel for all the dental work in his future. The goal is to keep all his teeth strong and to keep his vision permanent. I want him to drive a car one day. If glasses and eye drops are all he has to worry about as adult, then I will be happy.
He's a precious boy and I love him dearly. He will be 5 in June and about to start kindergarten and soccer this fall. So many new things for him this year that I am overly excited for him. If you have ever met Aaron, he is truly a boy that marches to his own drum...a true character!
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