It was the week of Thanksgiving 2019, and we went in for our 20 week ultrasound excited to see our baby. During the scan the tech noticed a hole in the heart, so they sent us to MFM the following day for a more in-depth scan. After the scan, they took us to a separate “comfortable” room to review the results which immediately raised our concerns. A doctor came in, introduced herself, and confirmed that there was in fact an issue with the heart, an AV canal defect, and that there were markers that caused her to think our baby might have Down Syndrome. We took the steps of further testing and waited on a call to come later in the week.
We spent the rest of the week surrounded by family, moving to adjust our expectations for what we ultimately knew in our hearts. That following Friday the genetic counselor called to confirm our baby had Trisomy 21, a form of Down Syndrome. The rest of the pregnancy was filled with doctors’ appointments, ultrasounds, anxiety, and questions. We learned a lot during this time; such as there isn’t a “spectrum” for Down Syndrome. There are no limitations!
At the 37-week appointment we were told that it was time for our baby to be delivered, and the next morning our son Ransom arrived. He spent 24 hours in the NICU for heart observation before officially joining us. Meeting our child brought so much joy and relief. He looked a lot like his dad, Edward, and, regardless of having hypotonia (low muscle tone), we were thrilled that he learned to breastfeed. We got plugged into therapies and BabyNet, but mostly just enjoyed getting to know and cuddle our baby the following 4 months.
That August we went Charleston for Ransom to have his open-heart surgery. We prayed for his heart to heal on its own, but came to trust the Lord’s plan for our us in this experience. We were amazed at how well Ransom recovered and throughout that experience felt that God had put us in the hands of an exceptional team at MUSC and our surgeon, Dr. Bradley.
Ransom is curious, loves people and putting on a show. He’s great with sounds and has real rhythm (not something he got from his Mama). He loves his sleep and teasing his dad. He is a lot of fun and very active! We are so proud of him and are amazed by how hard he works.
Since that initial diagnosis day, we have come to realized how narrow our perspective was before and how wonderful it is to have our eyes and heart broadened to something different than our original expectations. We are so thankful for the new friends and connections we’ve made in the past two years. We hope the world continues to understand how wonderful and beneficial inclusion is through the efforts of wonderful organizations like KIND.
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