Meet Mikayla. A five year old little girl who is changing the face of beauty.
Words from Mikayla’s Mom:
When my husband and I found we were pregnant, we were so excited!! We had waited 13 long months to become pregnant and finally we were! The pregnancy was great, I absolutely loved being pregnant and couldn’t wait to meet my little girl. We went in to the hospital on November 16, 2012 to be induced, but Mikayla made it very clear she was content with where she was. By 9:30 pm on November 17, her heart rate started dropping and so I was brought into the OR for a c-section. There was a lot of commotion in the room and I remember when she was finally born, it became even more chaotic. There seemed to be doctors and nurses everywhere. It seemed like forever before I was able to finally see her for the first time. My husband told me the doctors were concerned that she had Down Syndrome and that they were bringing in a specialist and would also be doing a blood test to confirm. I was so scared about what to expect and what her future was going to be like. I had never known anyone with Down Syndrome, I had heard of Down Syndrome but I didn’t really know what Down Syndrome was.
The next 24 hours in the hospital were pretty normal, we had friends and family come to meet our new addition, the nurses taught us some of the things new parents needed to know and helped us give Mikayla her first bath that night, although she was not a fan. That night my husband and I went to sleep around 11 pm and were woken up at 2 o’clock in the morning by one of the nurses. They were transferring Mikayla to Strong NICU due to low oxygen levels but I wouldn’t be able to go with her due to just having a c-section and not being discharged. I remember running out of our room and down the hall to the special care nursery to see her. I was frantic trying to find a nurse or someone to let me in the nursery. Thank goodness an OBGYN from my practice happened to be near and heard what was going on. He told the hospital staff that he would allow me to be transferred to Strong to be with my daughter. Mikayla and I both took our first ambulance rides that day, hers was at 3 am and mine was at 4:30 am.
Mikayla was born with PDA, patent ductus arteriosis and ASD, atrial septal defect, but she would only need to be monitored by a cardiologist. Her oxygen level was high enough to be able to go home after 3 days in the NICU, which was the day before Thanksgiving. We had several follow up appointments, each one included Mikayla having an echocardiogram and in July 2017, she was discharged from needing any further cardiology appointments as her heart no longer had any issues.
Mikayla is such an amazing little girl. She lights up the whole room when she enters it regardless if its a room full of family and friends or complete strangers. She just has this amazing presence about her. She will greet anyone that she meets and if someone greets her in return, oh my, did they just make her day! She loves performing and being the center of attention! She sings, dances and loves to play any musical instrument, including her drum, keyboard and ukulele. Mikayla also has a huge love for books. She will set her stuffed animals up and read to them making sure to show all of them the pictures on the pages. She is the sweetest, most loving and stubborn little girl I have ever met and I wouldn’t change her for the world! But I am working on changing the world for her.
Since Mikayla was born, we have met the most amazing families in the Down Syndrome community. We never imagined that one extra chromosome would bring us so much love and support from people we had never met before. It’s such an amazing feeling to know there are other families like ours and who are always there to support one another.
Oh the places you will go, Mikayla!
It was a pleasure to do a special photo session with some local kids who have Down syndrome. I am hoping to spread awareness locally in addition to adding my own flair to the campaign, Changing the Face of Beauty.
Our local news station aired the story on Thursday, April 26th to shine a beautiful light on these adorable kiddos and our photo shoot. You can watch the story here.
BETHANY CHASE PHOTOGRAPHY IS A TRUSTED AND EXPERIENCED PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER IN ROCHESTER NY THAT CREATES CUSTOM NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY, MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY, BABY PHOTOGRAPHY, CHILD PHOTOGRAPHY AND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCES FOR CLIENTS ALL ACROSS THE AREA. BETHANY CHASE PHOTOGRAPHY CURRENTLY SERVES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING NEW YORK AREAS: ROCHESTER, WEBSTER, PENFIELD, PITTSFORD, BRIGHTON, PERINTON, FAIRPORT, HENRIETTA, SPENCERPORT, GATES, CHILI, IRONDEQUOIT, GREECE, CHURCHVILLE, MENDON.
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newborn, child and family photographer
rochester new york