Things were going smoothly during Fiona Gould's second pregnancy with her baby boy, Archie. But when the mom of two from Australia reached 28 weeks, a routine scan picked up a possible brain abnormality. After being sent for further testing, she learned that not only would her baby boy be born blind, but that he wouldn't be born with eyes at all.
"He is one of only a handful of children born in the Sydney region to be 'black blind' meaning he has no light perception at all," Fiona wrote on a Go Fund Me page set up to support help with his medical costs. "As you can imagine the last few weeks of my pregnancy were filled with anxiety trying to work out how we cope raising a blind baby."
However, Archie's lack of eyes wasn't his family's only health concern once the happy baby boy was born. The newborn was also diagnosed with Sox2 syndrome, which is a rare genetic condition that only affects 1 in 250,000 births. "His specific mutation is so rare there is only one other recorded case in the world," Fiona wrote. "It was at this point we knew our miracle man was incredibly strong to already have survived so much just to be with us."
Archie hasn't stopped fighting and in the months since his January birth, he has suffered from moderate hearing loss, has been hospitalized repeatedly for respiratory infections, was placed on a long-term feeding tube, and has been dealing with severe motor delays that has him still struggling to lift his head up. "As you can imagine with each new day comes a new battle, a new challenge to find the energy, courage and strength to organize, facilitate and manage the amount of care Archie requires and desperately needs. My days are filled with numerous medical appointments and therapy,” she wrote. “It’s hard to priorities all appointments he needs as well as finding time to just be a family together. It’s so overwhelming, it feels like there are just simply not enough hours in the day!"
More from CafeMom: Why Everyone Needs to See This Photo of a Girl With Disabilities on the Bathroom Floor
Although Fiona is Archie's biggest champion, she admits how difficult it was during her final weeks of pregnancy and postpartum recovery after learning about his diagnosis. "I felt shock and horror. As you can imagine the last few weeks of my pregnancy were filled with anxiety trying to work out how we'd cope raising a blind baby," she told Kidspot. However, as the medical complications kept coming in, she quickly realized that “being just blind would have been the golden ticket."
More from CafeMom: Mom Gets Real About Why She Only Bathes Her Baby Twice a Week
Now, she can't help but marvel at just how far her miracle baby has come. "From the first moment, we held him in our arms our hearts poured with love at his strength, courage and resilience," she wrote. "Everyone who meets Archie is instantly drawn to his gorgeous, contagious personality and beautiful smile."
