West Midlands, England
When you find out you're pregnant for the 3rd time I was shocked because a month before I just gave birth to my daughter I thought nothing else of it. I was gonna love my baby no matter what. My partner wanted me to have an abortion cause it was soon but he soon changed his mind when we went to have my 1st scan (14 weeks ).
At 16 weeks I went to have the test to see if my baby was growing as it should be and no defects. I went back at 20 weeks pregnant and they told me everything was fine...even the blood test was low risk of having down's baby. I hadn't got to worry, I already had 2 healthy children so I didn't think anything of it. At 38 wks and 5days I had to have a c-section under general anesthetic to get him out. When I came around he wasn't by my side, so I asked where he was and the midwifes explained that he had to be taken to the NICU cause his oxygen was really low and his lips were blue. I was taken upstairs to get some rest but I just wanted to see my son. All I had was a photo of him. Two hours went by and a specialist came to see me and his dad and told us that they think our son had some sort of syndrome. I went straight to see him. I cried but an overwhelming love came at once. They took some blood from him to test his cells. He was also in an oxygen tent to help with his oxygen levels that where dropping in their 70's 60's. He had a tube up his nose so he could feed (I wanted to breast feed) so they let me do it that way cause he wasn't sucking properly.
About 4 days after his oxygen levels were in there 90's and he was sucking on a bottle, so they let him go home. We decided to call our little miracle Jamie Callum. When Jamie was 2 weeks old, we got a phone call saying that Jamie was down's syndrome mosaic. I wasn't expecting to hear those words but the more he explained, the more I loved him. The hospital was more shocked to hear me say "so what"? He's just like any other child. The hospital staff was expecting me to say that I don't want him. They called me a mum in a million and I was so proud to have Jamie as my son. It hasn't been easy for us. Jamie was 3mths when he was took back in to hospital with bronchitis and his oxygen was in 60's, so they kept him in cause he was not taking his food very well. He kept being sick after each meal he had. They gave me some stuff to put it into his bottle and it should calm his acid down in his stomach It did for a bit but when he should have been on solids, he wouldn't swallow. He kept choking on any sort of food so the hospital transferred us to Birminghams Children Hospital for ear, nose and throat specialist.
Jamie's consultant was a very nice man. He mad you feel welcome. He had a look at Jamie. He put a cam down his nose to have a look what's going on. He said that Jamie does have a floppy windpipe, that's what cause his funny noise's when he is breathing. If that doesn't correct itself, Jamie will have to have an operation when he is 3yrs old. The 2nd thing was the reason Jamie couldn't eat solids was his tonsils had swollen. They were too big for a boy his age. They had to get them out so he could eat solids. He was only having sma white and yogurts. When Jamie was 11mths old, children's hospital called Jamie in for his op for his tonsils. The op went well but about 3hrs after, Jamie's oxygen level dropped into the 40's, so they rushed him in to intensive care. They couldn't bring up his oxygen, so they put him to sleep and put a tube down his throat and that's how he stayed cause Jamie wasn't breathing on his own.
For a whole week I was praying he would be ok but he still didn't change. After another 2 days there was a change in him. His throat was going down so he started to breath on his own. Jamie's consultant put a tube down his pipe to have a look and when he pulled the curtains back to talk to us he was smiling. When he moved out the way, Jamie was awake and on oxygen but the best thing was he was breathing on his own. I was so relieved, I couldn't stop crying. 2 days later he was allowed home.
Today he is healthy. I cannot fill him up. He makes us all smile. He never cries unless he's tired or ill. The best thing that's ever happened to me is Jamie and his other 2 brothers and sister. They love him as much as I do and so does his dad. He is 16mths now. He's still small for his age and he cannot crawl, and he can say mama and dada and he knows when you're talking to him, but I have all the time in the world to watch him and teach him all those things. I have said, he's the best thing in my life and he keeps me going knowing I wake up to a smile every morning. When a woman said to me your life is over if you have an down's syndrome baby, I say life begins. They give you the love that nobody can give you apart from your other children. It's hard work, don't get me wrong, but for the rest of their life, they look at you and they know we are gonna love them and protect them no matter what. So don't listen to people when they talk down about down's children. They don't know what they are talking about. They are just as human as the rest of our children. Thank you all for reading my story.
About 4 days after his oxygen levels were in there 90's and he was sucking on a bottle, so they let him go home. We decided to call our little miracle Jamie Callum. When Jamie was 2 weeks old, we got a phone call saying that Jamie was down's syndrome mosaic. I wasn't expecting to hear those words but the more he explained, the more I loved him. The hospital was more shocked to hear me say "so what"? He's just like any other child. The hospital staff was expecting me to say that I don't want him. They called me a mum in a million and I was so proud to have Jamie as my son. It hasn't been easy for us. Jamie was 3mths when he was took back in to hospital with bronchitis and his oxygen was in 60's, so they kept him in cause he was not taking his food very well. He kept being sick after each meal he had. They gave me some stuff to put it into his bottle and it should calm his acid down in his stomach It did for a bit but when he should have been on solids, he wouldn't swallow. He kept choking on any sort of food so the hospital transferred us to Birminghams Children Hospital for ear, nose and throat specialist.
Jamie's consultant was a very nice man. He mad you feel welcome. He had a look at Jamie. He put a cam down his nose to have a look what's going on. He said that Jamie does have a floppy windpipe, that's what cause his funny noise's when he is breathing. If that doesn't correct itself, Jamie will have to have an operation when he is 3yrs old. The 2nd thing was the reason Jamie couldn't eat solids was his tonsils had swollen. They were too big for a boy his age. They had to get them out so he could eat solids. He was only having sma white and yogurts. When Jamie was 11mths old, children's hospital called Jamie in for his op for his tonsils. The op went well but about 3hrs after, Jamie's oxygen level dropped into the 40's, so they rushed him in to intensive care. They couldn't bring up his oxygen, so they put him to sleep and put a tube down his throat and that's how he stayed cause Jamie wasn't breathing on his own.
For a whole week I was praying he would be ok but he still didn't change. After another 2 days there was a change in him. His throat was going down so he started to breath on his own. Jamie's consultant put a tube down his pipe to have a look and when he pulled the curtains back to talk to us he was smiling. When he moved out the way, Jamie was awake and on oxygen but the best thing was he was breathing on his own. I was so relieved, I couldn't stop crying. 2 days later he was allowed home.
Today he is healthy. I cannot fill him up. He makes us all smile. He never cries unless he's tired or ill. The best thing that's ever happened to me is Jamie and his other 2 brothers and sister. They love him as much as I do and so does his dad. He is 16mths now. He's still small for his age and he cannot crawl, and he can say mama and dada and he knows when you're talking to him, but I have all the time in the world to watch him and teach him all those things. I have said, he's the best thing in my life and he keeps me going knowing I wake up to a smile every morning. When a woman said to me your life is over if you have an down's syndrome baby, I say life begins. They give you the love that nobody can give you apart from your other children. It's hard work, don't get me wrong, but for the rest of their life, they look at you and they know we are gonna love them and protect them no matter what. So don't listen to people when they talk down about down's children. They don't know what they are talking about. They are just as human as the rest of our children. Thank you all for reading my story.
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