Finding out your baby has Down Syndrome

In a split second, my life changed forever.

The moment I got that phone call, nothing would ever be the same.

“Hi Mrs. Green, I hate to be calling with this news but your test results came back showing that there is a high probability that the baby has Down Syndrome”. These are the words that would be replaying in my head for weeks to come. That single sentence changed my life forever.

How does it feel to get a Down Syndrome diagnosis?

It feels like your world just got flipped upside down. It feels like you just got punched in the chest. It feels like there is no oxygen left in the air. It feels like crying so hard your body can’t produce tears anymore. It feels like someone robbed you of your happiness. It feels like you don’t know anything.

Getting a Down Syndrome diagnosis feels like pure fear.

Fear is the best word I can think of to describe it.

To give a little background on me, I was a healthy, 23-year-old woman, with a 6-month-old son and my second baby on the way. We were so excited to be welcoming our second, and final baby into our family, but our excitement soon turned into fear. Fear of what the future would hold for our family.

What I thought was going to be just routine prenatal testing, turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg for the amount of testing, procedures, and doctors I would be subjected to throughout my pregnancy. I had such a simple and unproblematic pregnancy the first time, and I was naïve enough to think the second time around would be the same. Man was I wrong.

Within seconds of getting that phone call, I was doing a full nosedive into the internet trying to find any and all information I could. Of course, I found all of the worst-case scenarios and horror stories of medical issues that can come along with a Down Syndrome diagnosis, and it was all too much for me to handle at the moment.

Fear, helplessness, mourning. These are just some of the emotions I felt in the early stages of my pregnancy. I was fearful of all of the unknowns of this diagnosis and if I was cut out to be a special needs parent. I felt helpless because this was something I had no control over, and I was mourning the pregnancy journey and life I had imagined for my family.  

It wasn’t until my baby was born that my mindset changed.

In a split second, I quit focusing on all the things I thought she wouldn’t or couldn’t do and started focusing on making sure that I would do everything in my power to be her biggest advocate and to make sure she has the opportunities to do anything she puts her mind to.

I joined all the Facebook groups I could find that had to do with Down Syndrome, I signed her up for all the therapies she needed, and I never underestimated what my little girl could do. Yes, she might meet milestones later than typical kids, but that doesn’t mean she will never do it, she will just do it in her own time.

There are many phrases that are used to describe families of people with Down Syndrome, but the most popular one is “The Lucky Few”. We are called “The Lucky Few” because of the statistic that only 1 in 1000 babies are born with Down Syndrome, and we are the lucky ones that were chosen to raise and love these babies.

Being a special needs parent was never in the plan, but now I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every smile, every hug, every laugh, and every second I get to spend with my baby girl makes all the worries and fear disappear.