Billy’s Story, by his mum, Becky
Billy was born 12th November 2020. I had to go to my 12 week scan alone, due to Covid restrictions. I was extremely nervous as I had suffered 2 previous miscarriages. At the end of my scan the sonographer sat me up and said, “I’m very sorry there seem to be some abnormalities on your scan.
The baby’s nuchal fold is measuring 5.6mm.”She then sat me in a room on my own and I had to wait for a midwife to join me from Foetal Medicine. She was lovely. I consented to having a blood test, and the results came back with 1 in 5 chance for Down syndrome, but also a higher chance of Edward syndrome. We chose to have the CVS test done, which resulted in a positive result for Down syndrome.
Our baby was very much wanted and we never considered any options, other than to continue with our pregnancy. We were very fortunate, in that we had an amazing consultant throughout my pregnancy, who was always very positive. My pregnancy wasn’t the easiest. I was very anxious and worried all the way through. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks and my bump was measuring off the scale.
My C-section was booked when I was 35 weeks pregnant. Billy was born 5 weeks early weighing a whopping 8lb 4os! He spent 14 hours in special care and we were discharged when he was 5 days old. The day we were discharged from hospital, the paediatrician met us and brought us a lovely gift bag from NDSSG. This made our day and made us feel like we were already part of a special group.
I have since made some lovely friends from attending the weekly Baby and Toddler group, and chatting to them on the online messenger group we have. Billy is the most chilled out laidback baby who loves to receive lots of attention. He is now 11 months old. Billy has no underlying health conditions, and is such a little charmer! He likes to charm all the little old ladies when out and about. He’s almost the most easy going baby and sleeps through night. He also really likes his food! I am so proud to be Billy’s mummy!
