Ayden Hopper

Ayden is an absolute miracle.  He lived through a very traumatic birth in which he and his mother almost did not survive. When he was delivered, it was discovered that the umbilical cord was ruptured, so they were both losing blood rapidly.  He was wrapped in the cord.  As the doctor started to untangle him, the umbilical cord broke off at his stomach leaving no cord stump to clamp to stop the bleeding.  Eventually the doctor was able to stop the bleeding and he was rushed off to the NICU for observation. The doctors and nurses were in shock and said they had never seen anything like that happen before.  Turns out the umbilical cord was deformed and never developed the protective outer layer called Wharton’s Jelly, which is very rare.  There very few other cases where this has happened, and, in every other case, the baby miscarried because the cord was not able to sustain the entire 9 months. There was one case in which the baby made it full term, but passed away shortly after birth. 

The day after Ayden was born, the doctor said that she noticed some signs of Down Syndrome and was having him tested.  After a week, they got the results that Ayden did have Down Syndrome.  But it did not matter to his parents because they knew that God had a purpose for him after overcoming such great odds. After two weeks in the NICU, Ayden was transferred to CHOA, where he was diagnosed with leukemia. His blood counts started to get better during that time.  After two weeks, they were finally able to be discharged to go home for the first time.  At three months old Ayden’s blood work was finally normal; the leukemia was gone without any treatment! 

Today, Ayden sees many doctors and specialists, due to his diagnosis of Down Syndrome, but he is healthy and thriving.