Baby defied all medical predictions

By Leo Black via SWNS

A baby diagnosed with several rare genetic conditions, and was predicted to be stillborn, has defied the odds and is now expected to live "a fairly typical life."

Mom Acacia Beach, 26, was told throughout her pregnancy that her unborn child may have Down Syndrome, a herniated brain and spina bifida.

She was warned that her unborn baby, named Dani had a life expectancy of three weeks to a year, and that she might be stillborn. She was even given the option of abortion.

But young Dani Beach has defied the odds and is now six months old.

She's hit every developmental milestone and is predicted to live "a fairly typical life."

Acacia's ordeal began when she was three months pregnant and began experiencing intense cramping and bleeding.

She rushed to ER, where she was told that her placenta had detached and that she could suffer a miscarriage.

Acacia, a stay-at-home mom, was told to stay on bed rest for the weekend and was sent home by the ER doctors.

The following Monday, Acacia, who is now living near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, went to see an OBGYN, who told her she had been misdiagnosed.

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Acacia said: "She was completely blown away by the ER doctor's reaction.

"I was overwhelmed with relief and confused, I was so frustrated with my ER doctor. I'm sure I'm not the first person he's told that to. It was a lot of emotional trauma."

The OBGYN explained that Acacia's condition, the detached and later reattached placenta, was fairly common and does not necessarily end in miscarriage.

Acacia's pregnancy hen continued without a hitch until an anatomy scan revealed the baby had a distended forehead.

This ignited several rounds of tests, which could not reach a solid conclusion.

"They explained that the baby had many deficits," Acacia said.

Two main conditions were put forward, Edwards syndrome and Patau syndrome.

Both syndromes occur in around 1 in 5,000 live births.

The doctors also found a spinal abnormality, which they theorized could be Spina Bifida.

"They gave us the option to abort without any conclusive answer on everything.

"It seems ridiculous to me that they gave us the option of aborting without having an answer.

"For us, it was never an option, but at that moment I could see why people would do it."

Acacia finally got some peace when further tests revealed that the baby's brain was completely normal, with no herniation, and the spinal abnormality was minor.

The sheer volume of incorrect predictions has shaken Acacia's confidence in the healthcare offered by her home state of North Carolina.

She said: "I felt confident in my doctors at the time, but when we went to Wisconsin, a lot of the fear and confusion just went away."

Finally, after months of uncertainty, Dani's condition was revealed to be the extremely rare, Apert syndrome, which affects one in every 600,000-800,000 American kids.

Apert syndrome causes a fusing of the skull and bones in the hands and feet.

After birth, some more operations had to be undergone in order to correct Dani's intestinal tract, but they were completed without too many issues.

Acacia added: "Dani is now with us and she's become a happy, reasonably healthy and fittingly naughty young girl."

While she suffers from some of the issues related to Apert syndrome, Dani has hit every milestone set out for a growing baby, and will likely live into her seventies.

Acacia said: "She's so sassy, she really will tell you what she wants. She's just a giggly, smiley, happy baby.

"As soon as you lock eyes with her she smiles at you, she's just really sweet and content."

The remaining treatment is one surgery and some physical and occupational therapy.

"I'm so grateful we gave her a chance, she's been so strong and she's proven so many people wrong," Acacia said.