The Day That Rocked Our World

I was 29 years old when I gave birth to our first daughter, Courtney. It was an uneventful pregnancy. My doctor didn't do ultrasounds so we went through that pregnancy not knowing what we were having. I had the usual blood and urine tests, as well as the Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test. The AFP test, usually performed at 15 to 18 weeks of pregnancy, was designed to look for babies with neural tube defects, such as an open spinal cord or brain. During this stage of pregnancy, the AFP levels of many women carrying babies with neural tube defects is higher than expected. The AFP test is also used to screen for Down syndrome. AFP levels tend to be lower than expected for women pregnant with a Down syndrome baby. All tests for my first pregnancy came back within normal ranges. Courtney was born on May 6, 1995. A very healthy, normal baby girl.

I was 31 years old when I gave birth to our second daughter, Cameron. The above is exactly what took place for my 2nd pregnancy. No ultrasound. All tests normal. We were well on our way to expanding our perfect family. Cameron Leigh was born at 11:31am on Monday, November 10th, 1997. Several minutes after she was born, they put her in my arms and my doctor very gently told Tony and I that Cameron had some physical characteristics that led him to believe that our newborn baby had Down syndrome. WHAT????? NOOOOO!!!! I screamed in my head. As I was holding this precious human being and blocking out whatever my doctor was saying to us, all that was going through my head was "We're going to have an ugly, stupid child."

Not very proud of that moment. I still cringe when I think back to having those thoughts. But I know that God doesn't make junk and what he gave us was better than I could have ever imagined during those first few hours after Cameron's birth.