God blessed Lonnie and me with a beautiful baby girl name Kaylen “Kaybug” Jackson.

I found out five months into my pregnancy that something was wrong. My regular OBGYN could not figure out what was wrong, so we were sent to an ultrasound specialist. My first pregnancy was great with no complications, so I felt no need to worry about this pregnancy. I opted out of all the screenings for abnormalities and went on with my pregnancy.

We realized God had blessed us with something so precious and rare that she had to be treasure.

My OBGYN sent me to a specialist at Baptist Hospital, and he could not figure out was going on either. He said to my husband and me, “Something is wrong, but I don’t know.” So more testing and more doctors. I finally saw a doctor who was one of the best pediatric cardiologists in the state of Mississippi at the time, Dr. Jennifer Shores. After hours of observing and pictures, she narrowed it down to the wire. Kaylen was diagnosed with truncus arteriosus of the heart and Down syndrome.

Yes, I was torn and confused at the same time, but ironically, weeks before finding out all of this information, I stated to my co-worker that no matter what’s wrong with her, she is mine and I would love her unconditionally. I cried one day on my way home with all sorts of thoughts good and bad. I was worried for her, and she was not even born yet, because I knew how cruel the world can be. In that instance, I told myself I was going to do all I can and be the best mother for her.

I had no clue on how to take care of a child with special needs. I met some really great people or shall I say another family through CMDSS. They showed us that it was going to be okay. They were always there to answer questions, and guide and direct us to the help we needed.

We realized God had blessed us with something so precious and rare that she had to be treasured. Kaylen arrived in this world January 27, 2011 at 11:49 a.m. She was as perfect as I imagined.

Kaylen has brought great joy and excitement into our life. Kaylen’s personality is one of a kind, which just adds to her uniqueness. She loves music, playing patty cake, itsby bitsy spider and she really loves light-up toys. Kaylen also has a brother who just adores her and lets her get away with anything. She loves to hug and kiss on him and of course boss him around. She has her daddy wrapped around her finger, and well, as for me, I treat her no different than a typical child just lots and lots of redirecting with love.