Marcie’s Story

Marcie’s Story

Marcie’s Story, by her mum, Holli

30th December 2018 – the day I became a nurse, a teacher, a speech and language therapist, a physiotherapist and an expert in all things Trisomy 21. And most importantly, it was the day I became a MUMMA.

Marcie was born in the water, after a very peaceful labour, with Jamie and my mum by my side. They were the absolute dream team! Nothing in the pregnancy showed any signs that Marcie would be born rocking a little ‘extra’ chromosome, and our testing came back as 1 in 456 chance. So, we hit the jackpot!

When she was first born, no one picked up on any Down syndrome characteristics (like her cute button nose, sparkly almond shaped eyes, gap in between her first and second toe – great for holding things , her single palmar crease – Marcie has on just one hand – and low muscle tone which means the snuggliest cuddles in the land.) Jamie and I were over the moon. Everything had gone perfectly! Then the following morning came, and a midwife at the birth centre called us into a room.

Our hearts sank as she told us she was ‘sorry’ and she thought our baby had Down syndrome. Cue a rollercoaster of emotions! We were transferred back to hospital for tests and 5 days later it was confirmed she indeed has Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome.)We did a lot of crying, a lot of research and an online group called found Positive About Down Syndrome. They have always been such a huge support network for us.

The more we learned about DS and the more time we spent getting to know Marcie, the more we realised that everything we had known before about DS was prejudiced, biased and outdated. We looked into Marcie’s eyes and all we saw was love.

And to be fair there’s extra there to love too! We may have some more appointments, she might take a bit longer to learn new skills but none of that matters to us, her happiness is more important than anything. And she IS the happiest, sweetest and most excited person I’ve ever met. She lights up the faces of everyone she meets and we feel so proud and so lucky to have her. I just love showing the world that there’s nothing down about Down syndrome