Embracing the Unexpected: An Inspiring Story of a Mother’s Courage in Raising a Child with a Birth Defect

Amy Ward, who is 24 years old and lives in Illinois, had her son Elijah on January 31, 2020. He was born with a rare condition called amniotic band syndrome. This happens when the fluid sac that surrounds the baby during pregnancy breaks, causing amniotic bands to wrap around the child.

This can lead to abnormal limbs, clefts, and even death. Elijah’s condition hurt his left foot, right hand, and face, giving him a cleft lip and palate. It also caused him to have severe microphthalmia, a disorder of eye development that made his right eye much smaller and unable to respond to light.

Amy Ward, was brave enough to say that she was attacked by trolls after posting pictures of her son Elijah, who was born with severe physical deformities and is shown in the picture with his parents.

Heartbreaking: Amy, from Illinois, was 20 weeks pregnant when she found out that her baby boy, who is now 7 months old, had amniotic band syndrome.

This was a shock to the boy’s parents. Amy was terrified when she found out she was pregnant in April 2019 because she had lost babies in the past. So, when she went to get a scan at nine weeks, she was very happy to hear that everything looked fine.

Amy and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Dylan, made an appointment for a 3D ultrasound at 16 weeks. That’s when they found out that their baby was very sick. The ultrasound tech said that it was hard to tell what gender the baby was, so she left the room.

When she came back, she said that Elijah was a boy, but she was worried that her baby might have a cleft lip and palate.

Amy and Dylan had to wait four long weeks for a follow-up appointment. When they got there, they were told that Elijah had been diagnosed with amniotic band syndrome, which they had never heard of.

Amy said, “I was still worried about miscarrying, so I made an appointment for a 3D ultrasound at 16 weeks to find out the gender of our baby instead of waiting until 20 weeks.”

At first, the tech said she was having trouble seeing the gender, so she left the room for what seemed like forever and made me move around and drink some water.

She then said that she was also a little worried that he might have a cleft lip and palate and that we should probably call the doctor in the morning.

Warrior: Amniotic band syndrome happens when the fluid sac that surrounds an unborn baby bursts while the mother is pregnant. This leads to a number of physical problems. Elijah was born with a split lip and palate, and he also hurt his left foot, right hand, and right eye, which isn’t as good as it could be.

Battle: The brave little boy or girl will have to have three operations in the next six months.

“I felt terrible. I tried to hold back my tears as much as I could, but as soon as we left to go home, I cried the whole thirty minutes home and probably all night because Google search made it way worse.”

“When Elijah was born, I was only allowed to hold him long enough to take a picture, and then they took him to the NICU. I only thought about getting better so I could see my son.”

Amy decided to post pictures of Elijah on the social media site TikTok. She said she has gotten a lot of support from strangers who are happy for her, but she has also had to deal with some disgusting comments from trolls who have asked her why she didn’t have an abortion.

The 24-year-old woman says that these comments have broken her heart because her 7-month-old son is such a happy baby who loves everyone he meets.

Amy said, “His first surgery will be to straighten his nose and make a new mouthpiece to fit.” At about 9 months, he will have surgery to close all of his open clefts, and his eyelids will also be fixed.

Amy said she was devastated when she found out what was wrong with her son and that she cried for 30 minutes.

Proud: Elijah’s parents call him their “miracle baby,” and they were horrified when online trolls attacked him.

Amy said of the cruel online comments, “It really hurts me because he is such a happy baby and he loves everyone he meets.”

Then, when he’s about a year old, he’ll have surgery on his palate.

“I decided to show off Elijah on the app TikTok, which has been both cool and scary”

“There have been so many nice comments and followers who love him, but there have also been some very mean comments saying I should have aborted him, how could I let him live like this, or to kill him.”

“It hurts me a lot because he is such a happy baby and loves everyone he meets.”

“I try not to think about what people will say about him when he gets older.”

“When I read these comments, it made me sad that the world is still like this.”

“Adults tell you your whole life to be different and stand out, but when someone is different, others feel the need to make fun of them, which is wrong.”

“He’s my miracle baby and I love him so much,” she said.

“Every time he laughs, everyone laughs with him.”

Elijah, Amy, and Dylan have three surgeries coming up in the next six months, so they don’t know what the future holds.

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