Hemihypertrophy

Talin has a condition called hemihypertrophy. It's where one side of the body is larger than the other. It's something that happened when he was growing inside me, and it's not genetic. In his case, it only appears to be the legs and a little in his tummy. In some people the face can also become misproportionate (sp?)(which I hope and pray doesn't happen!) His right leg will always be slightly larger than the left, but they will both continue to grow at the same pace. So it's not like the right leg will continue growing and the left will stop. This often can cause back problems and can be corrected by surgery if need be. In some cases the spine doesn't develop correctly or there are hip problems, but his spine and hips are good! The nurse reassured us that Talin's case is mild, which is wonderful to hear. However, Hemihypertrophy can also cause tumors. It's very rare though and only happens in 2-5% of kids who have it. We just have to take him in every 3 months to get ultrasounds until he is 7 or 8 years old, just to make sure no tumor is developing. He had X-Rays and an ultrasound done today...no sight of a tumor! Yay! He was so cute at the doctors and smiled at all the nurses. He didn't like the X-Rays though and cried and cried. It made me so sad. When they did the ultrasound he kept squirming around (he is very active and never holds still), so the technician gave us some cherry syrup to put on his binki and he LOVED that. It calmed him right down. He loves sweets, just like his mommy haha. He is still so adorable and happy as can be. This is just a minor little thing he will have to deal with throughout his life, and hopefully it doesn't worsen over time!