Birth Stories

April's Story

"If this child had the chance to be perfectly, quote normal, it is not something I would ever change. The down syndrome is what makes them the special children that they are"

I am the mother of 3 wonderful and beautiful daughters. 1 is 12yrs., 1 is 3yrs. and last of all, one is 20mths. I am and have been an uncontrolled epileptic of grand-mal seizures since the age of nine years. Two years ago, I went to London, Ont. to have my left frontal lobe of my brain removed. It had no membrane and was actually stuck to my skull. I continue to have grand-mal seizures, but the distance between each and every seizure is much longer.

Two weeks after my surgery, I was pregnant again. At 3 months, I discovered that I was pregnant. Of course, I was not only shocked, but also quite uptight as my previous daughter was only 11months. I was not ready for another baby, yet. Anyways, my pregnancy was top notch, other than my proteins being low. I had a c-section booked and went in to have my baby. In the process, I forgot to tell them that I was allergic to morphine, which they gave me. My arms and legs were flying all over as the surgeon continued to cut. He removed the baby girl, and took her over to the heating table where she wasn't breathing off and on. They slapped her twice to get her to suck the air in, then proceeded to tell my husband and I that she appeared to have mongolism. Within minutes, we found out was that she had down syndrome, which is a chromosone defect and begins right after conception.

I consider myself ultimately blessed, because not only were we parents special enough to concieve one of these children, but she was completely healthy, needing hardly any oxygen the first day. She is such a smart and funny little girl, but also very adorable. Consider me biast if you like, but she has the biggest blue eyes and very long eyelashes and blonde hair.

But, of all I have written, the one most important thing that I can honestly write, is that if this child had the chance to be perfectly, quote normal, it is not something I would ever change. The down syndrome is what makes them the special children that they are. They stand out in a crowd and there are many challenges that lay ahead with her and, to tell you the truth, I am looking forward to them.