It was our third baby on the way. I had miscarried two times since our second child Mattias was born. I have two boys, Andrew, who is 6, and Matty, who is 4. We all wanted a girl, the boys, my husband and I - but of course we would love a boy. Deep down we felt a girl would complete our family. I felt the pregnancy was going very similar to the times I was pregnant with my boys, so I assumed it was a boy, and accepted that. It was a bit difficult though because four of my closest friends had all just given birth to girls, and my very closest friend who also had two boys as myself, just had her first girl. I just figured as long as the baby is healthy I will be happy.
My first scan at 12 weeks came January 2nd at this scan we would try to get a date for the baby even though I knew it would be around July 1st, which is also my husband's birthday. We went in together (my husband and I) and straight away as the woman started the scan she said that there was a problem with the baby. I kept asking, "Are you sure?" I was in shock and pictured the worst-case scenarios of a child in a wheelchair, never walking or speaking, or brain damaged. I kept saying, "I cant bear this!"
My husband tried to joke with me, "At least now you will be getting the calm child you always wanted." My boys are quite normal, but very, very active boys who really challenge me - but are completely fine when they go to school and nursery.
I found this news of our baby really hard to accept. We were sent to Musgrove and then Bristol all in one day. As the day went on, they kept saying that there was a very high chance I would miscarry which upset me a lot too. I had done that two times before - I started to wonder if I would have another child at all? I am 34 years old and my mother couldn't have babies after that age.
We decided to do a test to check the DNA of the baby to see what sort of problem we would be dealing with. Three days later (which felt like an eternity) I got a phone call saying that our baby had Turners syndrome which was a relief and the best diagnosis I could hope for as far as I was concerned. But then they said she would miscarry by the 22nd week. They gave her only around 1% of surviving and said just prepare for the worst because a baby with such a severe cystic hygroma and swelling around her lungs (hydrops) would almost most definitely not make it full term. It would have to be a miracle they said. So, that is what we prayed for.
We were allowed to scan her every week after that and for awhile she was getting better! But by the 19th week she had gotten so much worse that they said that it was the end for her, that her body would give up and her heart would fail as the swelling was too much at that point. I was devastated because by now I had come to love her as my daughter and believed she would make it.
We refused to give up hope. I did all I could: alternative therapies, prayers from anyone willing, eating and resting and keeping positive. By the 23rd week her swelling started to resolve and by the 32nd week it was completely gone.
Lucianna Grace was born naturally on June 18th, only 21 minutes after my water broke. She was fit and well at birth, weighing 6 lbs. They did want to keep an eye on her heart. After two weeks they saw she had developed a coarctation of the aorta, and on July 5th they had to do a heart operation on her. It was successful and we were home four days later. She has been growing strongly ever since and is nearly 6 lbs again in weight.
She is the most adored, loved baby I think I have ever seen. She is a lovely, calm, content baby and she eats very well. We adore her and after all she has fought to be with us, we admire her. I remember when I was pregnant I told her if she survived she would not regret it and I would give her a good home. Now I just really want to keep my promise to her. We look forward to our future together with her. She is a gift from heaven!
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