Pre Natal Diagnosis

Maisie was born on January 4th 2021. A pregnancy scan at 20 weeks showed there was a hole in our baby’s heart and a few weeks later after another scan we were told our baby would require open heart surgery. The cardiologist also told us that there was a high chance our baby would have Down Syndrome. The rest of my pregnancy was a stressful time with feelings of anxiety, guilt and a fear of the unknown for my husband and I. I’ve realised since that having those feelings were all part of processing the diagnosis. I knew deep down that things would be ok but I really wanted someone to tell me that it would be. Perhaps if I had known a family who have a child with DS it may have eased our anxiety? Looking at accounts on Instagram eased my worry a little but I couldn’t help but think about potential health issues that babies with Down Syndrome can have, not to mention the very real prospect of caring for a baby with a heart defect which felt very scary.                                   

The truth is all any expectant parent wants is a healthy baby and when faced with health concerns it can feel frightening and uncertain. Perhaps when faced with challenges you do find a way to get through it, supporting your partner and vice versa and accepting any help along the way. Having gone through one of the hardest times of my life I can say the experience has made me a stronger person. Watching Maisie struggle with feeding and breathing in the early days and weeks(due to the hole in her heart), seeing how vulnerable she was yet at the same time showing an incredible amount of resilience had us in awe of her and we loved her all the more for it. I remember our cardiologist telling us to write off the next 6months and mentioned having a grouchy baby. She was right about the months ahead but she couldn’t have been more wrong about Maisie. Her sweet temperament shone through every single day, she rarely cried and thinking about it now, it was Maisie who got us through that difficult period.💕