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Harley and I welcomed our new daughter to the world last Friday. I was suppose to have a c-section on April 17th- but Maddy had other plans. I went into labor on Friday evening at about 4:45. Harley came home and told me that if they continued to call the doctor. So after about an hour of contractions, I called the dr. and he said to come on in to the hospital. On the way there- the contractions went from every 5-7 min. to every 3-5 min. Oh and did I mention they hurt like a mother!! I never went into labor with my first two kids- so that was new for me. So I arrived at the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors. I was have very strong contractions and every time I had a contraction- Maddy's heart rate would go down. The doctor decided that since I was 37 weeks- that it was safe to go ahead and deliver her. She was born by c-section at 8:16pm. And was 18 inches and 6lbs. 9oz.

After she was born and they showed her to me- I noticed that she did not look right to me. I asked the nurse if it looked like she had Down's syndrome and she said the Pediatrician would have to look at her and let us know. After the c-section was over- they took me to the recovery room. My mom and sister came in to see me and I asked them if they thought she looked different and they both said yes- that they could see it too.

After about an hour they took me to a different room. The OB came in and told me that he was pretty certain that Maddy has Down's Syndrome. The pediatrician came in the next morning and confirmed it. I was an absolute basket case. This was suppose to be this amazing experience- and instead everyone (doctors and nurses) was coming in and telling me they were sorry and all. It took me a couple of days to get used to how she looks. I don't even notice it much now.

Maddy does have a heart defect. 50 % of Down's Syndrome babies have heart problems. The Cardiologist says that Maddy will need to have surgery late summer to repair the defect.

Harley and I are handling everything the best we can. We are ok with the Down's Syndrome- but we just worry about all of the health problems that come along with it.

We had all the prenatal testing done and all of them came back normal. I even had 16 ultrasounds during the pregnancy- and no one ever noticed the Downs' Syndrome. The pediatrician said that this was only the second time that she has heard of all the tests being negative and the baby did have it. Also- I am only 25 years old, so I didn't really think there was much of a chance that she would have it. Harley and I feel like it was just meant to be and she was given to us for a reason. We feel very special to have been given such a wonderful gift.

We have many doctor's appointments that we will have to go to for the next couple of years to see where she stands with everything. We had an appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday and are going today also. We also have a cardiologist appt. for her today. We feel so blessed to have her and would ask that you all would pray for her and that her heart surgery goes well.