Katy Photographer – MJ
I was given the honor of taking Adalyn’s Valentine portraits when she was 5 months old. Her mommy had told me that she was extra special, that she also had down syndrome. She also had told me about the hole in her heart, so I had to get a special outfit for her.
Her mommy, Carrie, has written their story to share with all of you. Here is one of my favorite images of her! <3
Katy photographer
“As many first time parents, much thought, planning and intention go into having a child. Through Chad and I’s 10 years of building our relationship we often pondered the idea of one day having a child. We both put a lot of thought and consideration into what this would mean for our lives and how things would change. Having a child is the absolute biggest, most life-changing experience one could have. After much deliberation we decided it was time.
A month later it happened! Even though we “planned”, we were still beyond shocked. We were both in disbelief for the first couple days, maybe even weeks. The day after discovering the news Chad headed out to a training mission in California for a month and I headed off to Hawaii with a good friend, Erika, for a Salsa Convention. I had the time of my life! We danced, hiked, zumba’d through the week and before we knew it, we were on our way back. It was a wonderful distraction since I decided I wanted to wait until Chad’s return to see the doctor.
He returned and doctor confirmed we were in fact pregnant. During this first appointment the doctor asked if we were interested in completing an optional triple screening to potentially detect chromosomal and other various deficiencies with the baby. We opted in because we wanted to be prepared and educated if something was to arise.
A few weeks later we received the results, the day after Easter to be precise. I was 12 weeks along and it was a day we could never forget and never in a million years would we have imagined that we would be the 1 in 700 individuals to test with a 99.9% possibility of trisomy 21. Trisomy 21 is triplication of the 21st chromosome resulting in down’s syndrome.
It took a couple of days of just Chad and I internalizing the diagnosis and then we jumped right into embracing it and started really educating ourselves and trying to prepare. We started sharing the news with each individual family member in which case everyone was extremely supportive. For extended family and friends we wrote a letter and explained that we were expecting our baby girl and that we were fairly sure she would have down’s syndrome and we hoped everyone would be as willing and excited to welcome our baby Adalyn into the world as we were.
The pregnancy from that point on was scary! Everything was scary! Absolutely traumatizing. I had lots, and LOTS of ultrasounds. In fact one every other day for two weeks. They nearly took her at 22 weeks due to lack of fluid. Yes, traumatic! Long story short we had Adalyn 4 days shy of full term! That same day we discovered she had a massive hole in the center of her heart therefore, where normally there are four chambers, she has a mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. She spent 2 weeks in the NICU but from day one she was surpassing any and all expectations doctors had thought. The main objective during this time was weight gain and getting her to complete feeds in case heart surgery was imminent and the fact that she was born at 4lbs. 6 oz. They wanted to beef her up before going home and ensure she would thrive.
She is now 6 months old and heart doctors are boggled with how much progress she’s had in closing her holes in her heart all by herself, no medication! With her particular heart defect the majority need immediate surgery. Her heart doctor is now projecting surgery won’t be necessary until she’s around 1 years old. This is amazing because the larger they are the easier the surgery is for them. There’s also a chance she may not even need the surgery however our doctor said she would be his first if this is true.
With this being said, we can plan all that we want, but if you are the chosen one for an exceptional circumstance you simply re-write your plan. We couldn’t be any more happy, proud, or love our daughter anymore than we do. Adalyn having down’s syndrome has increased our awareness as well as our families. It has educated us and lastly it has opened our hearts to an entire new population of individuals that bring such a joy to life. We could never be more thankful for those three reasons alone.
So Happy World Downs Syndrome Day!! We know ours will be!!”
Here are some of the images from Adalyn’s sessions. Isn’t she beautiful?
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