CHRISTMAS HAS come early for a family who were advised to prepare for their newborn daughter’s funeral, but are thrilled to instead have brought her to visit Santa for the first time yesterday.
Their message to other parents who have been told their baby will only survive if it beats the odds is: “Don’t give up hope, where there is life there is hope.”
She is now four months old and Alice Mary Black has reached all the developmental milestones for her age.
Her parents Niall and Marie had their other two children, Oisín (6) and Conor (4), with them when they went for what they thought would be a routine scan 20 weeks into the pregnancy.
Instead they were told “there was an anomaly. There was fluid on the brain,” said Mr Black, who is a teacher and senior dean at Gormanston College, Co Meath.
The fluid was preventing the brain from forming properly and his wife was monitored closely. The couple were told their child had a terminal condition and would be extremely lucky to survive the pregnancy. “We were devastated over that,” he added.
“We were told that if she did survive the birth process she would not live for long and would be severely physically and mentally disabled,” said Ms Black, who is a nurse.
The couple brought a single baby-grow with them when they went in for the delivery, a Caesarean section, at eight months in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
Alice Mary was born and “we presumed she was gone”, said the proud father. “About 30 seconds later we heard a cry out of the corner of the room. It was just like winning the lotto, it was an unbelievable feeling,” he said.
One day became two and on day five “she was still around and still without any medical intervention. We were just feeding her and we wanted to go home,” he said.
Two weeks later Alice Mary had a shunt put in to drain the fluid from her brain. The couple were told she would never smile but she has defied the experts and is like every other gurgling infant.