On the 12th January 1989, we got a call from our social worker and her exact words were " Hallo Mrs Gibson, we´ve got a four month old Alcohol damaged baby in the childrens clinic, and if you don´t take her she´ll have to go into a childrens home on Monday" We said "Yes" straight away, and made our way to the hospital to meet our "New Arrival" The Doctor we spoke to spent almost an hour trying to persuade us not to take her as she was tube fed and his prognosis for her was very low.We ignored him! and one week later after learning how to insert her feeding tube into her stomach we took her home.The first 6 months were hell, she wouldn´t feed and screamed for 20 out of every 24 hours! Luckily Alan workes shifts so we took it in turns to sleep. Despite the dire warnings of the hospital doctor she did learn to walk and talk although much later than normal. Sinja is now 10 and the older she gets the more apparent is the brain damage. She can hardly read or write, and gets very annoyed that Ebi ( 2 years younger ) can read and write much better than she. The worst thing is that she now knows she´s "different". She asked me months ago " Mum, why was I born like this, why am I not like other kids?" She now knows the cause of her disability and it´s mainly because of her telling me "Mum, write and tell people that they´ve not to drink when they´re having a baby" that I´ve made this web site. Sinja has to deal daily with teasing because of her looks ( normally called "Granny" or "Monkey" face, her size or mainly due to her speech impediment ( 3 operations for a Cleft Palate and 1 Speech Enhancement operation) also due to FAS.We´ve had great success over the last 2 years with growth hormones and her self esteem goes up with every centimeter! Sinjas hobbies are riding, got her own pony "Felix" who she adores and has recently joined "Circus Kids" where she learns to juggle, ride one wheel bikes ect. a great way to burn off all her Hyper energy!!!!Her dream is to one day work with animals and if that´s what she wants, we´ll do our all to help make her dream come true. We adore Sinja just as she is, but she´ll never reach what should have been her full potential so please do what you can to make people aware of what Alcohol does to embryos, and maybe save another baby from this disability!
SINJA (RIGHT) 6 MONTHS THE BABY ON THE LEFT IS OVER A MONTH YOUNGER SINJA (RECHTS) 6 MONATE DAS KIND LINKS IS ÜBER EIN MONAT JUNGE
SINJA 2 SHOWING HER CHEEKINESS! SINJA 2 ZEIGT IHRE FRECHKHEIT!
SINJA TODAY STILL AS CHEEKY ! SINJA HEUTE IMMER NOCH FRECH!
Auntie Sinja with Kevin Tante Sinja mit Kevin
