Felix’s Story, by his mum, Paulina
Before I started to write our story, I had a look at our old pictures. An hour has just gone by. Time flies… Felix is our first – but second – child. He is our rainbow son.
Today, he is nearly 5 years old. I was very nervous during my first scan. I didn’t think about any abnormalities or anything! I just wanted to hear that my baby’s heart was beating. I was so scared that history would repeat itself, when the person scanning me looked at the monitor and didn’t say a word. With no explanation, we were taken to reception, and asked to wait for the doctor and nurse.
I still have tears in my eyes when I think about that moment. I was almost sure they were going to tell me that, like my first, my second baby was not alive. Finally, we found out, from the doctor, that we had a very high chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome. I started to cry. And I was just asking them, “But is my baby alive?” Nothing else was important.
With the passing of time I began to imagine our future life. I’m from Poland, so I felt very alone! Foreign land, no family, disabled child… It sounded really scary. Thankfully, we had very good and supportive antenatal care. I am very grateful for all the nurses and our lovely doctor. I didn’t want to have the amniocentesis, so we were not sure if our son would have or not DS. I didn’t want to know. It wouldn’t change anything anyway.
Felix was born at 37 weeks, on 21 December 2016. I knew, when I saw him for the first time, that I was that 1 in 4! My baby had Down Syndrome! The first year was very difficult. We had to learn how to care for a new baby, and how to help him to develop. He had problems with his heart, hearing and feeding and a form of epilepsy called West Syndrome.
We had numerous hospital stays and it was exhausting…Life with Down Syndrome … Is it better or worse? I don’t know! I don’t know what life is like without it, as it is just part of our life! And it always will be! We overcome difficulties day by day, and everyday we learn something new. And it is not just Down Syndrome! It is parenthood!
Today, Felix has two younger sisters and they are best teachers for him. I love to watch them playing or arguing together, and I always try to treat them in the same way. My wish is raise happy and independent kids, and thankfully that is exactly what they are.
