Oliver and Bee - Living Life With An Extra-Ordinary Chromosome

Theres something about those raw unedited images of a new mother that gets me everytime! The ones that show the beauty of a woman that has just become a mother with the look of complete and utter love for her child. The look that shows she will always protect her child and put them first. She is completely vulnerable, she wears no make up and hasnt brushed her hair! She hasnt showered or managed to brush her teeth. She is extremely exhausted, sore, swollen, battered and bruised from the journey of her babies delivery. She is filled with a kind of joy that is unexplainable. One that you cannot compare because it wouldnt even come close. The world around her completely falls away and her only focus is the life she has just created. Her struggle and stress from the chaotic journey she has just endured comes to a stop and she finds herself at peace. The fear and worry, wonder and anticipation that have filled her heart for the last 8 months slowly disappear and she finds he...

The week before Oliver was born I had been nagging doctors about forming a plan for his delivery. I was only a few days off of being 34 weeks and I wanted some idea as too how long my little boy had to struggle before the decision would be made for him to come into the world! On the Friday I met up with a few of my doctors who had finally agreed we would book in a c section! Hooray! A plan! I couldnt wait! I was told my babies chance of survival was alot higher and that he "should" be ok. We spoke about delivery being as early as the following week, possibly on the Wednesday. I would go through the weekend as normal and on Tuesday i would have a few scans and check ups to confirm nothing had changed with Olivers heart and growth and that it was safe for him to be born. We got through the weekend fine! Sunday was mothers day and i spent a lovely day with my Aunty who was visiting from Adelaide at the time! She was supposed to fly home Monday night but due to the docto...

At my 28 week growth scan, oliver was tiny, he measured in the 3rd percentile, and was basically the size of a 25 weeker. I then found out ha had severe IUGR, (intrauterine growth restriction) it is when the baby is not growing at a normal rate. During this scan they found I had developed issues with the umbilical blood flow and my baby was not getting the normal amount of blood to his little body, causing the growth restriction. Once we knew about the umbilical flow he was monitored closely to make sure he did not stop growing and that the blood flow through his umbilical cord and to his body and brain was sufficient enough to keep him in my belly. In cases like mine the blood flow through the cord was called "intermittent" this meant the flow would stop and start, stop and start instead of constantly flowing forward. The risk was that the flow would also reverse and start taking blood from Oliver, which would mean immediate delivery. Along with all of this Olivers lit...

I found out about Olivers Heart defect at my 15 week scan, I knew he had something wrong but because he was still so small it wasnt until around 21 weeks that I got an actual diagnosis on what was wrong with Olivers heart. Once we recieved a diagnosis for his heart it was then decided he would be delivered in melbourne. This completely outweighed Olivers possibility of having down syndrome and my focus was on his heart and if my baby would be ok. Oliver has whats called an unbalanced AVSD (atrioventricular septal defect) and he would need a surgery sometime after birth, generally around the 3 month old mark! Olivers heart was always monitored closely, they needed to check growth and make sure it was in proportion to his body, if it was too small that would be bad, and if it was too big that would also be bad. His heart continued to grow at a fairly normal size. Olivers chances of being well after birth were great! I was told he would be ok and his little body would eventually let ...