Danielle, Kris and Charles Danielle at three
On October 6, 1999, Kimberly Danielle Pigg was born to very happy and deeply relieved parents. Just one year earlier, Kris and Charles first baby girl, Charly Breanna, was stillborn. Danielle was conceived shortly afterwards, which helped to ease their pain. Their second daugher's birth was sooner than expected, but without complications.
"For the first couple of hours she was fine," Kris remembers, "then she started having trouble breathing. They put her under an oxygen hood and eventually had to run c-pap up her nose and into her lungs." She began doing much better after about a week, and Kris and Charles were able to bring their baby home.
At Danielle's two-week check-up the pediatrician sounded a faint alarm when he expressed concern about her fontaneles, telling them that if things didn't look different at two months, something would have to be done. He suspected craniosynotosis (premature closing of the suture lines).
"We didn't understand, so we just enjoyed our child to the fullest," Kris says. At two months of age they went for another check-up. The doctor scheduled Danielle for testing to rule out craniosynotosis. The tests showed that her suture lines had not closed, but there was another problem.
"Our worst fear became reality when we found out she has microcephaly," Kris remembers.
Once they had adjusted to the initial shock, Charles and Kris began parenting their special child with tremendous love and enthusiasm, and an attitude of gratefulness for their special daughter. Now, three years later, their little girl is still the light of their lives.
"She's daddy's girl," reports mom. "They laugh and play in front of the TV all evening long--I think she has enough toys to open her own toy store!" Danielle was eleven months old before she could play with a toy, and Kris says that when she finally did it was a very happy time for all of them.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to find other caregivers for Danielle because many are frightened of her special needs. That leaves it all to mom and dad and for now they are doing their best.
Another challenge is finding doctors who will treat Danielle as an individual without comparing her to typical children. Her slow weight gain, like so many of our children with microcephaly, is one of the issues that can become the focal point that detracts from other, more acute medical needs.
"We had a wonderful family doctor right here in our hometown that would listen to us and would only treat Dani for whatever we took her in for and wouldn't focus directly on her weight. Unfortunately, he left the practice, so we're looking again," Kris explains.
While at first it was difficult to watch other children meeting milestones that her own daughter may never reach, Kris says it's much easier now because she feels so much pride in Danielle's development.
"Seeing her beautiful smile and knowing that no matter what happens she will always love me unconditionally and I will never fail as a mother in her eyes," she says, gets her through the difficult days.
Written by Carolyn Murray
