Sweet Shyanne
The little girl who could
Hi everyone! My name is Shyanne Ira-Rae. I was named after my Daddy and grandpas… that’s a little unexpected considering I’m a girl, right?
Well, I’m really special because I’m the only granddaughter on my Daddy’s side and I was completely unexpected… I also seem to have inherited all of my Daddy’s good looks.
Let me tell you a little about my story… There was this lovely couple who had decided to surprise everyone by getting married on Christmas day. They didn’t really let anyone in on their plans but there were a couple of people who knew!
My grannies were looking down as well as my uncle and they thought it would be really great to surprise my Mommy and Daddy… lol. They are still up there snickering because of the BIG SURPRISE that they were able to pull off!
So while my Mommy and Daddy were busy trying to get their new house ready and plan this surprise wedding my grannies talked to a couple of the angels and told them they were looking for a very special baby… they scoured the heavens looking at all the babies waiting to be born and it took them quite a while to find me as I’d been overlooked many times because I needed a very special family.
Granny said it was love at first sight when they saw me and they all agreed that I would make the perfect addition to the family. I was so happy and I just couldn’t wait until I could be in their arms and playing with my new big brothers and sisters.In the midst of planning and preparing for the wedding, Mommy started to not feel very well… she went a couple of weeks thinking she had a stomach bug but then one morning it hit her… it wasn’t a bug. Well, I guess I was a tiny little bug but not the kind of bug she had previously thought.
She peed on a funny-looking stick and she just about fell over when the second line popped up, she really about fainted when a second stick did the same thing. I’m still not sure how peeing on the stick let her know that I was on the way but I’m glad it did.I know she spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom crying because she was excited and scared. I could hear her heart beating really fast and I could feel the love she already had for me when she put her hand on her tummy.
That day was really hard for her because she wanted to tell everybody but she wanted to tell Daddy first and she wanted it to be special… she up telling him in a very unique Minecraft message later that night. They both cried but I could feel the love flowing all around me.
A few weeks later Mommy and Daddy went to the doctor to see me. I did my best to show off my dance moves and show them just how cute I was but for some reason, the doctor wasn’t too impressed and she made my Mommy cry.
The doctor said something about termination and I think my Mommy’s heart quit beating for a minute… then her heart started racing and I heard her say ‘No, that isn’t an option’ and Daddy agreed with her.They tried to convince her to do some special tests but she refused because she was afraid that it might hurt me. She told them she would love me no matter what… she did do a blood test that told them a little bit more about me.
Mommy was more interested in finding out that I was girl than what the doctor tried to tell her was ‘wrong’ with me. Mommy said I was beautifully and perfectly made the way that GOD had intended me to be and that she loved me no matter what.The next few months were a little bit crazy and Mommy cried a lot more than normal but she always made sure I felt loved and she constantly had her hand on her tummy, rubbing the spot where I was growing.
She constantly prayed for me and for our whole family. She prayed a lot for her own strength because she was afraid she wouldn’t or couldn’t be the Mommy I needed her to be. She also kept praying that I would grow big and strong before I was born because she knew I would need to be as healthy as I could be when I was born.
There were lots of doctors taking lots of pictures of me and running all kinds of tests. They were really worried about my brain and my heart. They also kept mentioning words like Down Syndrome and Dandy-Walker Malformation and telling Mommy lots of things that could happen. Mommy got really tired of all the tests but she pushed on because she wanted to make sure I was OK.
Then Mommy’s body started to get stressed and it made things even more difficult for her but she just kept going.Some of Mommy’s and Daddy’s friends and family got together and had a ‘baby shower’… I don’t know why they called it that because I didn’t get any shower but I did have some fun doing somersaults in Mommy’s belly. This cheered Mommy up a lot and she got really excited and went a little overboard trying to get things just perfect for my arrival.
We were getting really close to my big day but Mommy really wasn’t feeling well. The doctors kept telling her that she would feel better after I was born so I decided to help Mommy feel better by coming a little early. Mommy and Daddy seemed to like surprises, right?
On my birthday Mommy had an appointment and everybody kept joking about Mommy’s shirt that day because it said ‘Let me out!’ with some cute little handprints… I did my best to try to let Mommy (and everyone around her) know that I wanted out and several people saw me moving around and trying to get myself ready.
All my moving made Mommy tired and she went to take a nap not knowing that I was still working on my plan… she got a call and the doctor told her to get to the hospital ASAP as her blood pressure had been really high at the appointment that morning. They were really worried about something but I’m not sure what it was…Mommy grabbed her bags and got my brothers and sisters situated before heading to the hospital.
She called daddy and grandma on the way but she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Her heart was beating so fast and I could tell she was excited but she was also worried about me and she kept talking to me when we got to the hospital.Things went really fast… but not quite fast enough for me because I really wanted to meet Mommy and Daddy!
I decided to go ahead and make my intentions known by kickstarting Mommy’s labor… which wasn’t a lot of fun for Mommy nor for me because Mommy’s belly kept squeezing me really tight and I didn’t like that too much. Finally, the doctors decided that I really needed to come out because Mommy was getting sicker and sicker.
They took Mommy to the OR and right after Daddy walked in they pulled me out… I was so happy!!! I let out the biggest cry because Mommy had prayed that I would and I wanted her to know that I was OK.
I thought I was finally gonna get to see Mommy and Daddy but I only got a glimpse of them as the nurse didn’t take me to Mommy and Daddy… there were a bunch of people dressed up in funny gowns and masks that rushed me away. It wasn’t the way I thought my birthday would go…I was a little scared but I was really mad because I wanted Mommy to hold me.
My grannies came to stay by my side… even though the nurses couldn’t see them. They helped me to stay calm until Mommy and Daddy were able to come to see me.
My NICU stay was really hard on Mommy and Daddy because they couldn’t be with me every day but my grannies were by my side to keep me company… every now and then my uncle popped in to play with me but he ran away when I had a dirty diaper.
I missed my Mommy and Daddy a lot and I loved it when they came to see me… snuggle time was the best part of our visits!
They hated to see me have so many surgeries while I was so little but they knew that those surgeries would help me to get big and strong so I could go home. I really didn’t like all the needles and tubes… the tube they kept putting through my nose was horrible and I kept pulling it out but the nurses got smart and started double taping all of tubes and wires… no fun!
I’ve always tried to be good and everyone was always raving about how cute I am. They were always bragging about how calm I was too… I must’ve gotten that from my Mommy since I got my looks from my Daddy. I’ve worked hard on getting as big and strong as I could so I could go home as soon as possible because I just wanted to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy.
To be continued…
Contact
I’m also on Facebook @thelittlegirlwhocould and Instagram @shyannethelittlegirlwhocould
You can check out our Amazon wishlist or if you’d like to help support our journey you can find my mom on PayPal or Venmo @happy2bmyownboss or on CashApp $happy2bmyownboss.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!
You can also find our support group for other kiddos diagnosed with Dandy Walker and Down Syndrome here.
Sweet Shyanne: The little girl who could 