BONUS READ
I wasbornonApril7,1964,inLaunceston,Tasmania.
AtthattimeTheBeatleswereridinghighonthe
BillboardHot^100 chartsandThePinkPanther, starring
PeterSellers,wasmakingpeoplelaughatthemovies.Myentryintotheworldwaswith-
outincident.Mum’scontractions
beganaroundmidnightthenight
beforeherduedate.Afteropening
Mum’sdoorandguidingherthrough
theentranceandintothetrusted
handsofthenursingstaff,Dadwas
toldeversopolitely,“We’lltakeit
fromhere,MrFulton.”
Dutifully,Dadwentbackhometo
lookaftermysiblings.Minewasan
easybirth– atleastthat’swhatMum
tellsme.Whenshesawmeforthe
firsttime,MumthoughtI wasonthe
chubbysidebutjust“gorgeous”(her
words,notmine).Heronlyconcern,
ifanything,wasthesizeofmyhead.
Perhapsitwasratherbig– certainly,
itwasbiggerthansheremembered
withherotherthreechildren.Butas
DrSauer,herobstetrician,saidnoth-
inganddidn’tappeartobeworried,
Mumdidn’tgiveit asecondthought.
Welaterlearned that Dr Sauer was
worried.ThroughoutMum’s pregnancy,
whichhadbeentextbook,hehad
notedMum’ssmallerbelly,andhad
suspectedsomethingwasn’tquite
right.Butwithoutallthewhiz-bang
technolog ywehavetoday–ultra-
sounds,amniocentesis,DNAtesting- hisconcernswouldremainnothing
morethana hunch.
It’strue;I wouldhavelookeddif-
ferenttootherbabiesontheward.
Babiesbornwithmyconditionwill
havea largerhead,amore pro-
nouncedforeheadandshorterarms
andlegs.Butnothingwassaidbyany
ofthemedicalstaff,soasfarasmy
Mumwasconcerned,I wasa perfectly
healthybabyweighing4.1kilograms.
Cradlingmeinherarmsandstar-
ingintomytinychubbyface,Mum
knewinstantlywhatshe’dcallme.
“Ian...I thinkwe’llcallyouIan,”she
whispered,smiling.
OnthedayMumbroughtmehome
PHOTO: FULTON FAMILY COLLECTION after her stint in hospital, Mark,
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