During their final year of college, Andrea West met her future spouse.
They began dating quickly and eventually moved back to Andreas’ hometown once he finished school.
After only a few years together, they were engaged and sharing the news that Andrea was expecting their first child with their loved ones. Andrea felt ecstatic.
The joy, however, quickly gave way to sorrow after only eleven weeks. Unfortunately, Andrea had to undergo a miscarriage.
Andrea wrote on the Love What Matters Facebook page how she felt:
“I was an absolute wreck. I didn’t know what to do, who to talk to, what was appropriate to discuss, or who could help me. Little did I know that 1 in 4 women suffer the same and people just don’t talk about it. I didn’t know if I could ever deal with being pregnant again.”
Andrea’s husband was there for her every step of the way, and after a while, she felt less anxious. Happily, she conceived again.
She vowed that she would take extra precautions this time to ensure her child had a healthy start in life. She stopped eating many of her favorite foods, including sushi and some cheeses.
She also started reading pregnancy books like they were going out of style, convinced that everything would turn out fine this time.
Her term ended smoothly, as expected. She went to the hospital at the expected time, when she and her partner were admitted to a delivery room and began experiencing mild contractions.
An ultrasound revealed that there was almost no amniotic fluid left, which delayed her release from the hospital. Inducing labor was an immediate necessity.
The birth
The delivery, thankfully, was uneventful. Adam, their son, was born to Andrea and her husband before the night was over.
But unfortunately, Andrea’s partner never got to perform the traditional umbilical chord cutting.
Instead, Adam was whisked away from his parents in a flurry of activity involving medical personnel. Over the shoulder of a gaggle of doctors, Andrea’s husband caught a glimpse of their kid. Then he looked back at Andrea and said, “Honey, there’s something wrong with Adam’s leg.”
Around Adam, the toddler, were about twenty people. Andrea’s worry increased as she waited for an answer.
Andrea’s mother and boyfriend went outside to tell relatives, leaving her to lie in the hospital alone herself. Even now, no one has explained what’s wrong with her infant.
He turned out to have a purple and black marbling pattern on his right side of stomach and his entire right leg.
The diagnosis
After some time, Adam was identified as having CMTC, a rare form of vascular malformation.
Both Andrea and her husband were at a loss for words. Only five hundred cases of the condition had ever been reported when their son was born.
Adam’s vital organs were put through a battery of testing, all of which came back negative.
After four days in the neonatal intensive care unit, Andrea finally went home to sleep.
The treatment was successful, and Adam was sent home with detailed instructions for taking care of his skin. However, as time passed, it became clear that Adam was a true fighter.
He’s a healthy young man now, and he enjoys solving puzzles and playing chess.
Even though his disease renders his leg weak, he has been able to play sports.
Adam has always been aware that he is a little different from the other kids, but he has never let his impairment hold him back.
Andrea West has maintained her involvement with CMTC Alliance, a worldwide nonprofit that works to improve the lives of people who have been identified with uncommon vascular malformations.
She is an advocate for those who suffer from these ailments and works tirelessly to raise public consciousness about them.
Please consider spreading Adam’s story and donating to the charity if you wish to aid those who suffer from uncommon diseases. Those battling rare diseases will benefit greatly from your generosity.
The West family may have had a rough start because to Adam, but they are doing well now.
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