Our daughter was just 8 months old when we found out we were having our son, Ward. Life as we knew it was about to change for our little family of three.
At 26 weeks pregnant, we got surprising news. During an ultrasound, doctors saw something unusual. At first, they thought Ward had clubbed feet. After a long and stressful weekend, we went in for more tests.
It turned out not to be clubbed feet. Instead, we were given two possible outcomes: either a rare, life-threatening condition where he wouldn’t survive birth (a 1 in 50,000 chance) or an even rarer condition (1 in a million) where he was born without both of his fibula bones.
We had to wait for test results. In the meantime, we celebrated our daughter’s first birthday, Christmas, and New Year, all while holding onto hope. Finally, we got the news—Ward was our 1-in-a-million baby! It was a huge relief, but we knew challenges lay ahead.
We prayed for our baby boy, knowing he would need both legs amputated below the knee. It was a strange thing to hope for, but we wanted him to have the best chance at life. When he was born at 36 weeks due to my high blood pressure, we saw that he was absolutely perfect!
We now had a newborn and a 15-month-old who still didn’t sleep through the night. And we thought we were tired before!
We knew amputation was coming. It wasn’t just our lives that would change—it was a big decision for our whole family, but most importantly, for Ward.
When he was 9 months old, we made that choice for him. He had no idea what was happening, and honestly, neither did we. But with the support of amazing doctors, we knew it was the right path.
On December 28, 2021, Ward’s legs were amputated. Our lives changed that day, but only as a family.
Our life isn’t like most. We go to lots of physical therapy, and every Monday, someone is shouting, “Where are your legs?” (It’s always me.)
We celebrate small victories and cry over things we can’t control. But we keep moving forward together.
Now, at 2.5 years old, Ward is thriving! He has a long road ahead, but seeing what he’s already overcome reminds us every day how strong he is. And as a family, we’ll take life one step at a time.