I’ve always wanted a little girl. Being the only daughter in the family, I’ve endlessly wished to have a little sister when I was younger. So when I became pregnant, 8 months after giving birth to my son, in my heart, I knew that it was going to be a girl this time round. I was extremely happy and hopeful. Throughout my pregnancy, everything was going on well. I turned down the scheduled Downs Syndrome test as my husband and I felt that it was pointless since the test result would not change anything. We also had a name ready for her– Wareesha Ayra, which means ‘Happiness’ and ‘Respectable’.
However, one month before Wareesha’s due date, on National Day, I went into labour and delivered her via c-section. She was in transverse breech position which made natural delivery impossible. I was delighted when she was born but I can also never forget for the rest of my life how the feeling of elation turned into a crushing wave of uncertainty and disappointment when I was told that my baby has Trisomy 21. It was like a nightmare and I cried alot. She had jaundice, two holes in her heart, low-oxygenated blood, low muscle tone, gastrointestinal problems, just to name a few. I cried over every little thing for 3 whole days. I was in denial and didn’t want to look at her much in those three days unless I had to nurse her.
By the fourth day, I somehow snapped out of it. Everyone had been supportive. My husband read up as much as possible about Downs Syndrome and was positive. My obgyn was constantly advising me to focus on healing. My mother in law kept telling me that we’ve been given a gift and told me to be persistent in breastfeeding her. And from my readings when I first got pregnant, I already knew about the wonders of breast milk. I knew that breast milk has a unique combination of nutrients essential to a child’s health, and cannot be duplicated by any laboratory formula. It provides a number of health advantages from the moment the baby is born and continues throughout a child’s life. The longer the mother breastfeeds, the more likely her child will get the health benefits of breastfeeding. And reminding myself all these made me believe that maybe I could help Wareesha get better. I cannot change what she has, but I could give her a good start in life. Wareesha was not allowed to leave the hospital because she had low oxygen saturation level, so she had to be on respiratory support. Each day, I pushed aside the pain I was feeling and walked to the nursery every time she woke up for her feed. She couldn’t suckle well initially because of her low muscle tone, but I persevered even when my breasts were very engorged and painful. I instructed the nurses to never give her formula milk and to wake me up to nurse her if I was asleep. I talked and cooed at her each time I held her, and prayed that she would get better. After 10 days, she did get better and could occasionally be off the supplemented oxygen. After 2 weeks, we could finally bring her home.
Today, Wareesha is a 10 month old happy and healthy baby. She is still fully breastfed and hopefully till she is at least 2 years old. Wareesha currently attends an early intervention program at Rainbow Centre and is making very good progress in her development. She has not once fallen ill since she was born and I attribute her good health and development to breastmilk and positive thinking. There is nothing about her that we would want to change. She has been a joy in our family and we are so thankful to be blessed with this special child.
