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49
fuse prematurely). Grayson was sent for
a CT scan, which showed that his sutures
had not yet started to fuse, but the doctors
said his brain looked small and they wanted
to do an MRI to get more informati on.
The MRI showed that his brain was much
smaller than other babies’ brains his age.”
Grayson also had two auditory tests, which
showed moderate to severe hearing loss in
his left ear. Luckily, though, a further test a
month later revealed that all was normal.
“He saw an ENT, who observed some
feeding issues (coughing/choking
frequently), and he ordered a barium
swallow study,” Rachel conti nues. “That
showed that he had silent refl ux and silent
micro aspirati ons.”
Then, alarmingly, Grayson started having
seizures. Specialists performed even more
tests, this ti me taking a chest x-ray and an
EKG to make sure his lungs and heart were
in good conditi on. Thankfully both tests
came back normal.
“We are currently awaiti ng the results of
geneti c testi ng to come back to help us
determine what caused the microcephaly,”
says Rachel who, as a loving mother, has
found it diffi cult watching her child go
through so many tests at such a young age
and hates not having any solid answers yet.
She also admits that bonding with Grayson
has been diffi cult, as she constantly keeps
her guard up from worry her baby boy will
suddenly be taken away from her.
“It’s been incredibly diffi cult watching my
litt le baby go through so much testi ng. The
MRI was the worst as he was sedated and
struggled to come out of sedati on. Being
so young he doesn’t understand what’s
going on around him. During tests we can’t
always be with him but can hear him crying
from outside and it’s just heart wrenching,”
she conti nues.
“I’m living in a whirlwind of emoti ons. The
hardest part has been not knowing what’s
wrong with him. It’s making bonding with
my baby incredibly diffi cult. Much more so
than with our Cordelia. Obviously, we have
had to grieve for the life we thought we
would have. We are having to fi nd a new
normal, but I keep my guard up because I’m
always worried that I’ll be given news that
we will lose our son.”
Although she’s only four years old, Cordelia
has been an amazing big sister. She sees
past her brother’s imperfecti ons and has
been very loving and caring towards him.
Rachel wishes everyone else saw Grayson
the same way Cordelia does.
“Cordelia was a litt le concerned about
Grayson at fi rst, but to her he’s just her
baby brother. She’s gentle with him and
loves him very much. She’s also very proud
and loves to show him off to her friends by
saying, ‘Isn’t he so cute’?” Rachel says. “She
comes to check on him every morning and
give him a cuddle. She feeds him his bott le
when he cries, she helps by getti ng his
bott le or nappies, and insists she’s taking
him to Disneyland very soon.Despair
MILE
Beneath The
Despair
A MOM with
postnatal
depression shoots
herself on her
birthday.
HISprettynewmomshotherself
n theheadonherbirthdaywhile
herhusbandwasoutbuyinga cake,
havingreportedlysufferedfrom
ostnataldepression.
hetragicincidenttookplaceinthecityof
boticaintheprovinceofVojvodinainnorth
rbia,whenthe28-year-oldmother,named
reportsasSuzanaBabic,washomealoneas
r husbandhadleftthehousetobuyhera
ketosurpriseheronherbirthday.
calmediareportsheshotherself inthe
adandwasfoundbyfriendswhohadgone
herhouseaspartofthesurprise.
heycalledanambulanceandshewastaken
a nearbyhospitalbutdieddespitedoctors’
efforts.
Accordingtoanunnamedfamilyacquaintance
thewoman,whowasaprofessionalmake-
upartist,hada goodrelationshipwithher
husband,whomshehadbeenwithsincehigh
school,andtheywerehappywiththeirbaby.
“Nobodycouldassumethis,atleastfrom
uswhoknewher,thatshecoulddothat,”
addsthefriend.“Oursoulsandheartsare
breaking.”
Accordingtoreportstheyoungwomanhad
beenseeinga doctorandwascomplaining
thatshewasmentallyunwell.
Netizen‘Sneska’commented:“Sadandtragic
fora youngwomanandherfamily.”
‘JednaMajka’wrote:“Postpartumdepression
is a difficultconditionandthosewhohavenot
gonethroughit cannottalkaboutit...I had
thatissueandbarelygotoutanda fewtimes
I hadsuicidalthoughts,I don’twishthison
anyone.”
It is notclearwhether an investigation has
beenopened.I encourage everyone to try and see others
the way my four-year-old sees them. She
sees past the way people look. She doesn’t
noti ce the disability or that they are diff erent
from her. She just sees how they are similar.
She sees a new friend, someone to love.Everyone is special and amazing in their
own way, and they deserve to be treated
with love and respect. She understands how
to love unconditi onally. She has certainly
taught me a thing or two and I truly want to
be more like her in that respect.”Thisprettyp ynewmomshotherselfinthe
headwhileherhusbandwasoutbuyinga
cakeGO TO PEOPLEMAGAZINE.CO.ZA TO READ MORE ON POSTNATAL DEPRESSION