Meet Auriana

Auriana Faith was born on September 17, 2008. She was induced 5 weeks early because she had a condition in utero called umbilical cord absent flow. Basically the umbilical cord had not formed properly and she was getting little to no nutrients from it. We also had found out at 17 weeks pregnant that she would be born with AV Canal Defect (heart defect in every wall within her heart), and we were warned that they thought she might have Trisomy 13 or 18. She was delivered by emergency c-section when her heart rate plummeted into the 40's. We found out 8 hours later that Auriana was born with Down Syndrome. When they told me Down Syndrome, I said "Oh, thank you God!" I had prepared myself to have her born with something much worse. I had prayed she would have Down Syndrome instead, and she does! Auriana had open heart surgery at 5 months old and is now heart healthy! She does still require a feeding tube though, for the fact that she refuses to eat. We are working on this though. Auriana started crawling last month and we are so proud of her! She also just got ankle orthotics to help her to stand so that she can practice walking with her therapist. She also doesn't hear very well, so we have been signing with her since she was 3 weeks old, and she knows 15 signs!! She's so smart! She has been such a joy to have in our lives and her big sister Kylee just adores her! Thank you for making her the beautiful blanket!