From my day of conception I was extremely sick a vomited every single minute of every single day! And this carried on until the day of Jacks birth! I went for my first scan and 12 weeks and it was spotted straight away something wasn’t right.
Doctors could pinpoint exactly what was wrong because Jack would always hide his right hand. Eventually I was told he was either missing fingers or his fingers were fused on that right hand. It was now just a waiting game until he was born until I knew for sure exactly what was wrong. I was closely monitored and regularly scanned to check his progress and his growth and all seemed fine except for this hand he was still hiding! Monkey lol! So it came to the awful 3 day back to back labour and he was finally born a tiny 5lb 7 oz! And that’s when the doctors flooded in and swarmed around my tiny little boy.
It turned out Jack had ABS to his right hand and he only has a deformed and misshapen thumb and a extremely skinny little finger with absolutely nothing in between. So he has no grip in that hand at all on has a pinser movement which he struggles with very much. He was operated on when he was 1 to try and make the gap in between this fingers a bit bigger and deeper to make his hand span a bit more useful but this operation didn’t change a lot really to be honest.
Jack is now nearly 5 and he does do very well but of course there is a limit to what he can do. He will not have anymore treatment as he has no building blocks, there no knuckles or bone structure to build him anymore fingers etc. I feel very lucky to have Jack as my son and he’s an inspiration to all. He has his good days and his bad days where he struggles and gets very frustrated and gives up but all in all he’s doing very well.
I am glad I’ve found this website after all these years because I always thought ABS was rare but I’m happy to have read all these amazing stories.
We are in New Zealand. My wife and I were shocked today to hear the news at our 12 week scan that our baby will not have fingers on his left hand. This was incredibly so difficult to accept.
We would like to hear from people who can assist us by sharing their experiences
my son was born with ABS in 1996. while having my scan,a dr was bought in to explain the problem .the lower arm was a little shorter and he could have a condition that meant a high chance of a heart defect . i was offered an abortion, i went home and cried very loudly and for a long time , then got on with the pregnancy . when Aidan was born after many checks it was found he only had a hand abnormality.he is now 19 happy health and working hard i am so proud of him
I was born with only a thumb and 2 fingers on my right hand and 4 toes on rt foot. Plus Rt arm and leg are much shorter. Have a 2.5″ buildup on rt shoe. I am 72 years old now and have gotten along very well. In fact the hand pretty much makes me special. The short leg has caused problems. Could luck with Jack. My folks cut me no slack when I was little. I did chores loaded hay and all the other things people do. Jack will learn to do all kinds of things that others wont. Depending on the attitude he develops, it may be a good thing. It has been for me. Don’t make him feel any more different than he des. Others will take care of that. I had folks make fun of me and it really never bothered me. I just assumed they had not bee brought up properly. Your friend Dave
Hey Dave my son is now 13 and I never cut him slack either. He’s a lovable kid and EVERYBODY loves him. He’s my everything however, I never wanted him to feel sorry for himself and right now today he don’t let others bother him. He’s very popular and blessed might I add. I say for him its a good thing also because he’s a strong kid and for that he’s blessed.