While pregnant with their baby boy, a woman and her husband learned he had Down syndrome and Hydrops Fetalis, a deadly condition that causes fluid build-up around vital organs, but they refused to end the pregnancy, choosing life and the miracles that followed instead.
Life is the most precious, delicate gift, which must be protected vigorously in all its forms. Without life, absolutely nothing else would be possible. The Lord is the author of all life and decides who receives this most sacred and cherished gift.
In a clip posted on YouTube, Allison Blosfield, and her husband, Eric, learned that they would be welcoming a baby boy into the world. The couple was also informed that it was more than likely that their child would have Down syndrome.
After learning this news, Allison was devastated, but her husband was more measured in his reaction.
“It was just kind of this instant, like, sinking feeling,” Allison said. “My husband’s reaction when I told him that our baby was going to have Down syndrome, it was very calm. And it was very, just, you know, ‘Whatever happens, babe, we’ll roll with it. You know, it’s cool, don’t worry about it.’ While I’m sitting there, like, sobbing.”
Allison posted about her unborn child’s Down syndrome diagnosis on social media. She says members of that online Down syndrome community immediately reached out to her, welcoming her and her family with loving, open arms. They offered her reassurance, kind words and encouragement.
However, at a follow-up appointment, Allison and Eric learned that their baby boy had developed Hydrops Fetalis. Hydrops fetalis, according to the video, is a life-threatening condition in which excessive fluid builds up around the unborn child’s heart, lungs and other vital organs and tissues. The doctors gave the couple the option to terminate. Allison refused to end her unborn baby’s life.
“I remember sitting there when the doctor said, you know, like, ‘Here’s your options, we can terminate.’ And I was just like, ‘I could be done. I could just be done and run away.’ And after I took a breath and thought it through, I was just, like, ‘No.’
“Eric and I told them, we’re like we’re going to take our son home, you know, and we’re just, we’re going to spend time, you know, like a family,” Allison added.
After receiving the devastating news, Eric and Allison prepared for their unborn child’s passing. But then something unexpected took place. Allison began to feel baby Ethan kicking and moving, which he continued to do.
Then, at their next check-up, another miracle took place. The medical professionals could not find any fluid around the child’s heart or lungs. The doctor told the couple, “This never happens.” The Hydrops Fetalis was completely gone.
However, the doctors told Eric and Allison that Ethan had a severe heart defect. They were told that Ethan “would not make it to birth.” If Ethan did survive and make it to birth, the chances of living beyond 24 hours were extremely slim.
In December 2022, baby Ethan entered the world. He spent the first month of his life in the NICU, dealing with a heart defect, but it was not as bad as doctors thought. Despite being in the hospital, undergoing an extensive heart operation and constantly fighting, Ethan’s health deteriorated dramatically.
Eric and Allison made the painful and gut-wrenching decision to take their precious baby boy off life support. Both spent time with their child, holding him in their arms on the hospital's roof, the first time the child had been outside.
Eric and Allison got to spend 199 days with their precious baby boy. After the child’s passing, the family held a celebration of life to honor baby Ethan.
“My son lived 199 days, and we wanted to celebrate that,” Allison said. “He pushed past more stuff than doctors ever thought that he would, and he broke barriers and proved that miracles happen, and I wanted to celebrate that.”
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before you were found in the body of your mother, I had knowledge of you, and before your birth, I made you holy; I have given you the work of being a prophet to the nations.”