It’s a funny thing you go to a 20 week pregnancy scan fearing the worst, but not really expecting it. Not registering that it is called an anomaly scan until they spot an anomaly. We were told at our first scan that they couldn’t see what they needed to and the baby was measuring small. I walked away thinking I’m a petite person, I’m probably just having a small baby, pushing to the back of my mind the panic in the sonographer’s voice and the frantic way she was scanning me.
The subsequent scans left no shadow of a doubt that there were issues. We were told that our little girl had severe microcephaly. Fetal MRI’s confirmed the doctor’s suspicions, that her brain was underdeveloped and missing the parts that our daughter would need to have basic functions like breathe on her own. I spent the next 20 weeks praying for just 5 minutes to look into my baby girl’s eyes and for her to see and feel that her mama would never give up on her.
Our little miracle Aiya beat all the odds and came into this world crying and didn’t need any more help than any other newborn. She was small weighing in at a teeny tiny 2lb 6oz and no one knew what to expect. Every time they gave us a prediction, she set them straight. They didn’t expect her to breathe, they didn’t expect her to feed on her own, they said she wouldn’t be able to see or control her limbs… the list was endless. She’s developing at her own pace and every time she does something new it reminds us of how special she is. This blog aims to chronicle our experiences to date and how we deal with the challenges that come our way. Hopefully there will be useful information that other parents can use.
Project Aiya 