Thumb Hypoplasia

So Austin has thumb hypoplasia.  A rare abnormality of the thumbs that occurs in 1 out of 100,000 babies where the thumbs did not form properly during the first few weeks of gestation (usually around week 5-8 of pregnancy).  There is no known cause for this, just that they didn't form properly.  And of course we always get stuck with the rare cases!

His right thumb is better than the left.  The left is what they call a "floating thumb", where the bones did not grow enough and the thumb is just hanging loose, "floating".  We saw the orthopedic surgeon last week and she said there's essentially no hope for his ever having use of his left thumb as is. Is is best treated by pollicization of the index finger, where they take the index finger and turn it into a thumb, leaving him with 3 fingers and a thumb.

It's just so unreal. I just don't understand why we couldn't have been blessed with a "normal" baby after everything we've been through.  And yet I kick myself for saying that because there are so many worse things that could have happened to him.  He will figure it out, how to use his fingers and thumbs.  He'll probably be teased a lot in school and he'll always have to approach the subject with strangers and new people he meets, but it could be a lot worse.

The only unknown for now is whether he has any other associated conditions.  About 86% of the children with hypoplastic thumb have associated abnormalities.  Fortunately we've already ruled out a heart condition, but he could have kidney or urinary issues. We got for an ultrasound of his stomach in 2 weeks to find out.

So yeah, it's scary, frustrating, and annoying, but at the end of the day it is what it is and we're going to have to deal with it.  But I think I'm done with issues now!  We've had our share, so it would be nice to be left to our devices and not have any more surprises...