Dwarfism Awareness - worldly futures

If left in his country our sweet little guy would NOT have 

gone to school,

had a family,

had a future.

THe saddest part is that this would have been his future at best

Kingdom of the Little People, China

and at worst a beggar except the CHinese discriminate against the dwarfs so much they don't even throw money in their buckets.

Instead the little people we saw hide in the corners as swarms of people pass by never placing anything in their baskets - and it is heartbreaking!

This lady (in yellow) was like looking at our Fei grown up.

Dwarfism Awareness - kids 3

I absolutely LOVE this little guy 

He is 10 years old 

He has normal curved legs caused by dwarfism - which may or may not have to be corrected.

BUT he needs a family more.

Best part he is in Guandong province meaning he would be the perfect second child 

(no additional time!)

This 10 year old handsome boy is from China, and has achondroplasia. He is described as being obedient, active, optimistic and cooperative. He has friends that he goes to school with, and likes to learn.

I believe this is a picture of him I found online but can NOT guarantee it is him.

Dwarfism Awareness - sports

Dwarfism became an approved "disability" in paralympics 30 years ago

Since then many little people have participated in more and more sports including the World dwarf games held every 4 years and

DAAA games held every year during nationals

For their size our littles are extremely athletic.

In fact, Brahm is our sport kid.  This was a struggle we had to endure coming to the point of yelling at God about how fair and unfair life is.

Brahm has more heart and soul than I could ever have.

Dwarfism Awareness ~ walking

Because children with dwarfism have larger heads and torso's and shorter arms and legs

They ARE very late walkers.

In fact, it can be completely normal for a child with dwarfism to not walk until they are 2 or 3.

Brahm was 1 1/2

Tao was 2 

and Fei was over 2 but we are not sure.

Once they walk they are good to go and many of the development questions (especially with adoption) fly out the proverbial window.

Dwarfism Awareness - kids 2

Zach is born 6/4/02 - he was 1 when he was found.  He cares for himself, speaks clearly and in complete sentences.  He has been part of the Half the Sky program since 2005 (file completed in 2007)

I am shocked that this little guy is still available - he is amazing, southern province and so needs to come home!!

Dwarfism awareness - {hypotonia}

Most children with dwarfism have hypotonia or low muscle tone.  

Although Brahm looks like he is less than 6 months here is is over a year.

He had almost no core strength

I thought he was a great baby - I would set him anywhere and he would stay there

I was wrong and he was unable to get out of the sitting position.

Dwarfism Awareness - parents

It is estimates that 80% of children with dwarfism are born to parents of average height (AH).

we don't say normal height, tall, AH is the correct terminology.

This is Brahm

Daddy is 6'3" 

(and wears a size 15-16 shoe)

Dwarfism Awareness - kids 1

Oh how I love this little guy!

He is 8 years old, has only been in foster/orphanage care for 3 years.

He might need the neck surgery that FeiFei had but he also jsut might a perfect little like our Tao.

Please email me if you are interested in him!!

Dwarfism Awareness #1 ~ intelligience

When there is a month set aside to brag on our incredible littles well, you know I am going to take advantage of it!  Stay tuned for pics, facts, pics, and advocacy!!

Contrary to popular belief children with dwarfism are smart and some have VERY high IQ's

(China often places LP's in rooms with severally mentally challenged children)

Dwarfism awareness ~ size

Brahm is one of our 3 birth children.

His daddy is huge (as in 6'3" and 250 lbs (sorry honey!))

Brahm's big brother and sister are going to be big also!

As in his brother will be over 6 feet and his sister close to 6 feet LOL!

80% of children born with dwarfism

 are born to parents who are average height (AH)

which also makes me laugh because my husband is far from average height LOL!

This also means that FeiFei and Griffen's parents were also more than likely average height.

Now that our children have the gene mutation for dwarfism they will have a higher chance of having children with dwarfism, but they could also have children who are average height.

If they marry another person with dwarfism they will have 

25% chance of average height

50% chance of having a child with dwarfism

25% chance that their baby will die shortly after birth 

(due to receiving both dwarfism genes)

Also, there are varying sizes of people with dwarfism 

just like in the general population.

Because of his dad, Brahm will probably be a bigger dwarf then others with his type. 

FeiFei and Griffen may be smaller due to their Chinese genetics but we will see.

Dwarfism Awareness - Types

Did you know their are over 300 types of dwarfism!

However, the majority of all people with dwarfism have achondroplasia

This is what type of dwarfism FeiFei has.

Her arms and legs are short but her torso is actually about normal length. 

 So she is much smaller than her peers until she sits down, then she is right on level with them!!

We THINK (after so many genetic tests we have lost count) that Brahm has 

Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia

It means he is much more proportionate than FeiFei

Although his head is large from front to back.

On his growth charts, his head has always been 50% 

and his height and weight are way below 3% (the bottom line)

Also his hip and knee joints are different.

They are supposed to look like 1/2 a basketball

Brahm's are short and jagged which causes him his pain.

Griffen, well his type of dwarfism is still up in the air.

We think he looks like he has achondroplasia BUT he has his extra thumbs,

AND there is a type called EVC or six fingered dwarfism LOL!

So we will see when we get our hands on that darling little angel!

Dwarfism Awareness Month ~ never apologize

October is Dwarfism Awareness Month - 

I will be posting thoughts, information about dwarfism this month!

We WON!!  Ok I can't hardly contain myself, we won the Sunday snapshot here!!

To me this single picture reminds me so much of the face of dwarfism - tiny but mighty!

I kind have shared our story a little here, but I don't think I have shared how I felt.  I cried, in fact for months I would cry.  Everytime, I saw babies born at the same time, doing something normal I would cry.  I felt like we did something wrong to cause this.  This baby who we had 1/4 of 1% chance of getting pregnant with.  The baby who we prayed for, for years and were in the process of saving for IVF.  Our son who was a miracle in our eyes, conceived naturally against all odds.  Had I somehow caused our son to be born when God knew the heartache he would have?  What would his life be like, my poor disabled son - I say that very tongue in cheek because now I can absolutely laugh at it!

Somewhere along the way we went from protecting and sheltering him, to treating him like one of the kids.  We fell in love with his unique look, his big eyes and his happy disposition!

To us he was jsut our darling baby, but man when we went out it was a circus.  I don't fault people at all, especially when he began to walk.  I would jsut pray that we could get through the grocery store without being stopped.  But invariably, our trips would take twice as long.  I slowly learned to be an advocate and educater.  

Now imagine a perfectly miniature little boy running around amongst the shoppers.  And when I say miniature I mean miniature!  These are what he wore when he was potty trained!!

Do you recognize them?

Yep Build a Bear undies, (momma sewed the back shut LOL!)

I quickly learned who was actually interested in dwarfism, and who jsut wanted to exploit our family.  I learned that some people are jsut morons, I learned that others loved our son as he was.  BUT I also learned the biggest stab in my heart came from those that felt sorry.  The ones who profusely apologized for our son - really, he is the biggest blessing of our life!

If I could tell anyone anything - it is to NEVER apologize to a mother for her child!

Every child is beautiful, they are a gift from God and they are made in His image.  Please, I beg you to look at any child and find one beautiful thing about them.