WATCHING your baby grow is one of the best parts of being a parent.
Marking the different milestones is key and it's something that mum Clare Done was monitoring with her little boy Buddy.
But when the 33-year-old realised her son wasn't hitting some of his key steps, she knew something wasn't right.
Clare, who lives in Salford, Manchester, noticed Buddy was struggling to sit up by himself.
After taking him to hospital, she was devastated when medics told her that he had a cyst on his bran and a very rare chromosome abnormality.
His disorder is so rare, that doctors said he could be one of a few in the world to have the illness.
Clare said her head 'totally fell off' when Buddy was given the diagnosis, but said she's glad she spotted that something wasn't right with her boy.
“I know you get people saying, ‘Stop comparing your child to other children,’ and I get that to a certain extent, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t raise concerns," she told the Manchester Evening News.
She explained that when medics put Buddy's chromosome abnormality in the system, nothing came up.
"I asked them if he could be the only child in the world with this chromosome abnormality and they said yes.
"My head totally fell off. It was a horrible time," she added.
Buddy was also diagnosed with global developmental delay, which means that he won't develop at the same rate as other children.
This abnormality refers to when a little one's DNA or genetic material alters development before they are born.
It means that Buddy will take longer to hit milestones such as walking, talking and moving.
Now, the little boy is three-years-old and Clare said medics don't know whether the cyst on his brain caused the issue.
What is global development delay?
The term global development delay is used when a child takes longer to reach certain development milestones than other children their age.
This could include learning to walk or talk, movement skills.
It can also include learning new things and interacting with others socially and emotionally.
Charity MENCAP states: "Someone with another condition, like Down’s syndrome or Cerebral palsy, may also have Global developmental delay.
"For some people, the delay in their development will be short term and can be overcome with additional support or therapy.
"In other cases the delay may be more significant and the child will need ongoing support. This indicates they may also have a learning disability. "
But if the cyst remains untreated, doctors said Buddy could suffer with seizures in the future.
Clare said she just wishes they could find out what is wrong with her little boy.
"You worry – it's your baby. Anything to do with the brain is scary enough. There are so many chances that cysts could be cancerous, it’s horrible," she added.
At first, she said she didn't know what to do and added that she will have to 'deal with it' if he starts having seizures.
In order to prepare herself for that, she has been looking into what she would need to do if he did suffer one.
While Clare said Buddy is a 'happy. cheeky little boy', he is unable to walk properly, is easily overwhelmed and struggles to make decisions.
It's unknown whether he will ever be able to walk unaided, she added.
