Does anyone know anything about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

[QuickTour]

Around 18 days after conception and with no idea I was pregnant I got really drunk. Prossecco, red wine, brandy.

Once I found out I was pregnant I didn't touch another drop.

My daughter is clever, sociable and behaves normally. She does not have an indistinct philitrum or a thin upper lip. She is nearly 2 and has been walking since 10 months, knows her alphabet, sings several songs word perfectly, is chatty and speaks in pretty near full sentences.

She does however have epicanthal folds, drooping eye lids, a flat mid face, an underbite and a heart defect - all of which are symptomatic.

The wisdom appears to be that facial features always imply brain damage and come at the far end of the spectrum but I have no worries whatsoever about her development. Do they not really know? I've been looking for signs of this since the day I found out I was having her with abject terror. And I don't know if I should do anything about it.

I've read absolutely everything I can find on the internet so I'm hoping really for someone who has some knowledge of it first hand - what should I do?

You must try to stop being so obsessed with this, although it must be difficult I agree.

Many, many people are out on the lash before they realise they are pregnant, we had been trying for four years and I had no reason to believe we had suddenly been successful! I remember it was a really hot summer and I went to bbqs, sat in pub gardens, thoroughly enjoyed myself with lots of booze, then found out I was pregnant. I was horrified and told the midwife at my first appointment how worried I was. She laughed and said so many people say the same thing to her and as long as I don't continue boozing there will be no harm done.

My twin girls are 7.5 now and absolutely fine.

thanks everyone - I will try and stop obsessing. Although would say sandy that the thing is my LO is not absolutely fine - she has a range of abnormalities that are in the process of being investigated, many of which are symptomatic of FAS. There, I'm off again. Shhhhh QT

I very much doubt that her problems are linked to alchohol though. It's just highly unlikely, given that you stopped drinking when you found out you were pregnant.

I know, I know!

I bet if you had thought her symptoms related to something else and googled it, and worried about it, you could almost convince yourself of it. Wait and see what the professionals say and try to stop worrying, she sounds delightful.

she is. thanks. I really appreciate everyones input - I haven't talked to anyone about this other than my poor DH who's bored stiff with it after 2.5 years of me rambling on and on about it. this has been really cathartic.

If this is playing on your mind then ask to see a geneticist. They are very good at identifying the various syndromes, and if they have a look at your DD and say there is nothing to suggest any sort of syndrome then hopefully that would set your mind at rest.

Good, that is what Mumsnet is here for.

None of that bitchy crap

OK QT, I just looked at an FAS my DS has loads of those features including
simian creases,
finger abnormalities,
co-joined toes,
sternum rib cage abnormalities,(and other joint abnormalities)
Hypotonia
heart defect/murmur
failure to thrive
developmental delay
organ dysfunction (well possibly, has metabolic dsorder)
facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones,
poor coordination/fine motor skills
poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups
lack of imagination or curiosity
learning difficulties,
including poor memory,
inability to understand concepts such as time and money,
poor language comprehension,
poor problem-solving skills
behavioral problems, including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety

I know he doesn't have FAS as a drop didn't pass my lips until 29 weeks, when he was all but cooked!

Please stop punishing yourself.

And SO many of these symptoms are so vague, and quite a lot of them are not even 'symptoms' at all, just differences. The over-medicalisation of healthy diversity is a very bad thing: the fact that so much of it is coupled with mother-blaming suggests that it's far more about social control than public health.

Jeez, there is no end to the things one can learn on mumsnet. I have learned two things here:
1- a thin top lip is an indication of FAS. Interesting. I have no top lip and now know I can blame this on my wino mother. Oh what fun this will be next time she tells me I've scared my children for allowing them to watch ten moniutes of children's television. Can't wait!
2- According to Marmaduke, expensive wine does not give one a hangover. Really? I must be a cheap drinker cause I always get great big hangover.

scarred, not scared.

gosh marmaduke - that must be a struggle to deal with day to day. I wish you all the best.

And thank you for pointing out just how blinkered I've been.

True AN, I promise! we were at a swanky hotel (just outside bath with a particularly long drive) drinking the most spectacularly expensive wine at a (ver' ver' rich) friends birthday party. I genuinely cannot remember getting back to our (cheap) B&B but the next day - right as rain!

So, SGB, Are you suggesting that there is nothing wrong with my DS and his 'condition' is just healthy diversity? Really?

Then I invite you to come and walk in my shoes...perhaps I am just imagining it all

QT and that is the adridged version of items relevant to FAS symptoms!

I'm not being a competitve martyr but wanted you to see that some of these can be 'normal' eg simian creases occur in 1-2% of the NT population.

abridged

ha ha marmaduke - I saw no competition - just compasssionate sharing. thanks

You stopped drinking when you found out you were pregnant and before you were supplying her. Stop worrying!

Lot of symptoms cross different conditions - just watch House! - the problem is you have got an idea in your head and you can't see now that there could be another perfectly good explanation for it.

I don't think that's was SGB meant Marmaduke. More that if you had drunk during your pregnancy you might now be labelling your son's symptoms as FAS and blaming yourself - clearly unduely!

Has your dd had any genetic testing? As other posters have said the 'symptoms' she has CAN indicate loads of different conditions - which given that she is NT seem highly morelikely than FAS.
what is even highly more likely though is that she has nothing - or if there is some underlying genetic condition it is so minor it hasn';t been discovered yet!

Evolution occurs becuase each generation experiences VERY minor changes genetically, so in a way we should expect our children to be sligthoy different sometimes.

Ds had/has similar indicators (delayed bone age, droppy eyelids with reverse epicanthal folds, double palmar creases). We have had the gamut of testing - and guess what - he;s perfctly normal! On their own these indicators mean nothing, but together they are very unusual (maybe 0.1% of the population). But even given that his indicators are very rare, it would be much more rare if they actually were part of a syndrome. They're just the way he is!

Will you let us know how it all goes with the cardiologist?

good grief miyazaki - i'm touched! if you would like me to then of course I will.

Yeah I would (do you think it's OTT though?)

not at all!

Marmaduke: No, that wasn;t what I meant - but 'symptoms' such as 'stubbornness', 'poor memory' and 'anxiety' are such vague terms that pointing th finger at the mother of a child who forgets his/her gym kit or refuses to tidy his room, for instance, would be ridiculous. ANd those symptoms which do cause problems could be down to any number of causes. I did not mean to make light of your difficulties.