The mother of a little girl with Down syndrome has revealed how difficult it was to accept her daughter’s life journey was going to be very different.
When US mum Alyse Biro fell pregnant, she was beyond ecstatic – dreaming about the type of person her unborn little girl would be.
After giving birth to a squirmy, gorgeous little bub Felicity, her dreams came ‘crashing down’ when the doctor explained she had characteristics of Down syndrome.
‘The life I had imagined crashed before me and fell to pieces,’ Alyse told Love What Matters.
‘I cried over sleepovers she would never have, I clutched the torn and tattered prom dress she would never wear, report cards boasting of the honor roll frayed and flying past me like snow, first kisses never had, drowning in tears of heartbreak never shed,’ she added.
‘Images of her leaving for college and late night talks before her wedding shattered into a million pieces.’
The first-time mum admitted being unable to accept it for months.
‘I would text my husband while he was working and tell him I couldn’t stop crying,’ she wrote on Instagram.
But after looking at her doe-eyed daughter and the life she had ahead, Alyse began to embrace it.
‘Slowly I started to live in a new way,’ she said.
‘I no longer watched her from eyes of grief, anger, fear…but with awe and pride – and always love.
As I stare at her playing, laughing, dancing, working, trying, I am immensely proud.’
Felicity – known as ‘Flick’ – is now two and is a thriving, bubbly toddler.
Alyse chronicles her daughter’s life and her own challenges as mum of a Down syndrome bub online.
For more of their journey, follow Alyse and Felicity on Instagram and YouTube.