My arrival

I never did anything the "normal" way and my arrival proved that. My parents knew I had issues almost from the beginning when a routine blood test came back elevated. The doctor wanted an amniocentisous but that carried a reasonable risk of miscarriage so mom went instead for an ultrasound. Back then ultrasounds were less advanced and couldn't "officially" be used to diagnose Down Syndrome but mom opted for it regardless and had a "high-level" done.

After it was done, I remember hearing the doctor (Dr. NoBedside-manner was his name I think) say that "there are seven indicators that ultrasound can identify and your baby has six of them" and he left. Mom and dad were dazed. They went immediately to see some other Dr for more information but the talking was all muted and hard to understand. It was like there was something muffling it. Mom said later she felt as if she was sitting in a bubble and she could hear and see everything ... but it was like nothing was clear...and thinking "don't all these people know what's going on ?"

Anyway, Mom and Dad decided early on that their God would be the only one to decide if I made it to birth and beyond... no abortion for me and if there were issues after I was born there would be no heroics. But now that they knew I had Down Syndrome on board, and even with the risk of miscarriage, mom did have an amnio - mostly for medical reasons since the ultrasound  had indicated something that could be an issue when I arrived. The amnio confirmed that there was indeed a problem ... my stomach wasn't connected to my intestines !

This was going to be interesting. Mom could look forward to hydramnious !