She Is Our Little Princess - by Elizabeth Ugalde

Hello. I am a 37-year-old mother of a wonderful 4-year-old daughter named Jocelyn Ugalde. My pregnancy was very stressful because I had to go get special ultrasounds weekly. After one test, I was told my baby had Down syndrome, and that I had 4 days to terminate. I asked the doctor about other options besides termination, and she said lab work and an amniocentesis would let us know for sure.

I decided to go with the amniocentesis and had to wait a couple of days for results. After several days, the results came back and showed that my baby had Turner syndrome. The doctor said if I wanted to terminate, I had to go to Santa Anita. They worried that there was a risk of some liquid fluid and they told my husband he had to decide because both baby and mom could die .

I told my husband I was going to risk it. They said they would have to monitor me often to make sure liquid didn’t go in my babies water. I went through day and night thinking my baby wasn’t going to make it. She didn’t move much, and the doctor warned me that her heart could stop or die at any time. I cried and prayed and asked God to please bless me and that me and my baby would be fine.

I was scheduled to be induced on July 17th, but baby Jocelyn decided to come into this world on June 26th. My husband was so nervous when he saw 9 doctors come in the delivery room. He asked, “What’s going on?” the doctors were amazed, and I am a lucky mom! I have my miracle little girl! After delivery, I had lots of complications due to low blood count and lots of webbing. I had to get a hysterectomy and will not be able to have any more kids. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be a mom, and yes, I have gone through sleepless nights taking her to the doctor for asthma and chronic cough.

Jocelyn was referred toa pulmonologist and has had 2 surgeries due to sleep apnea, she’s had her tonsils and adenoids removed, but continues having sleep apnea and will be getting another sleep study. She has some learning delays but gets speech therapy at school, which has helped her a lot. Thank God her heart has been healthy. She is a loving little girl, and she is our little princess.