Bringing a child into this world is an absolute blessing. While everyone understands this, it is hard to even fathom when you have not experienced it firsthand. While pregnancy is a beautiful thing, many people are overwhelmed and scared when they get the news. Not everyone is ready to raise a child, but there is no stopping mother nature.
Although we have come a long way in medicine and can now know much about our children before they’re even born, nature always continues to surprise us.
Exactly what happened to these British parents, Nicola and Todd Bailey who were elated parents-to-be. The couple couldn’t wait on their beautiful twins to make their way into this world.
But, their excitement was thwarted as doctors and their loved ones reacted with sympathy upon learning that the unborn babies would be born with Down Syndrome, a phenomenon that occurs in only one in a million identical twins.
They didn’t know Harper had the chromosome disorder until she was born, 38 minutes before Quinn arrived in the world. Nicola is a 32-year-old nurse and prides herself on trying to educate people about the condition that causes a wide range of developmental delays and physical disabilities.
“Harper is Harper and Quinn is Quinn,” she said. “They are not the same so I try not to compare them, however hard that may be.”
Scans done while she was pregnant did not detect Down syndrome, the parents said.
“I did have a weird feeling as I got bigger a lot quicker than my previous pregnancy,” said Nicola, who also has a 4-year-old son named Lucas. She also felt very sick, she said
Her water broke early, at 32 weeks, and doctors were able to stop her contractions with drugs. The twins were born a week later, in February.
Thirty minutes after Harper was born, physicians told the parents they suspected she had Down syndrome. Tests later confirmed it.
“All I really remember is the doctor saying, ‘I’m sorry,”’ Nicola recalled. “But as soon as I saw them both, my heart just melted. They were both so beautiful.”
The premature babies required additional medical care and Harper, as is common in children with Down syndrome, has a hole in her heart. She will likely undergo surgery to fix the condition when she turns 6.
Nicola says the girls already have a special bond, although the still-bald Quinn appears to be envious of her sister’s mop of brown hair.
“Our family is unique and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” their mother said.
Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. Approximately one in every 700 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome, or around 6,000 births per year, according to NDSS.
According to experts, the chance of having one twin with the condition is one in a million.
Despite the fact that Harper and Quinn aren’t identical twins and Harper has Down’s syndrome, you can still see the tips of their little noses and lips are the same.
”The bond they share as twins is like nothing else and I can’t wait to continue to watch them both grow. Our family is unique and I wouldn’t change it for the world”, Nicola explains.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM
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