Running the Great North Run in memory of Ruby
Gemma Karim
Fundraising in memory of Ruby
My Story
In March 2017 we went along to our 12 week scan, so excited! We'd already seen our baby a couple weeks before and were told everything was great! However at the scan things weren't great. We were told our baby was very unwell, they had something called fetal hydrops and a septated cystic hygroma. We were told nothing else. We went home and obviously googled until we saw a specialist a few days later who told us the baby had a very serious brain condition as well, called Alobar Holoprosencephaly and that they thought it very likely chromosome disorder was causing this. They told us the baby would be either born dead or die at birth so we decided to end the pregnancy. This was horrific as was the treatment we received. We later found out our baby was a little girl who we named Ruby Jo Karim. And she had Trisomy 13. It turns out my husband carries a translocation which can cause this. Throughout all of this I found great comfort in talking to ARC and using their forums to chat to other parents in similar positions. I am now 25 weeks pregnant again and after a lot of tests we are happy to know the baby should be healthy. So I've decided to run the Great North Run next year to raise money to help this amazing charity which most people won't have hear of! This subject is so taboo as well I'd like to change that. I didn't love my baby any less than anyone else and wish that I didn't have to make the decision that I did.
My Story
In March 2017 we went along to our 12 week scan, so excited! We'd already seen our baby a couple weeks before and were told everything was great! However at the scan things weren't great. We were told our baby was very unwell, they had something called fetal hydrops and a septated cystic hygroma. We were told nothing else. We went home and obviously googled until we saw a specialist a few days later who told us the baby had a very serious brain condition as well, called Alobar Holoprosencephaly and that they thought it very likely chromosome disorder was causing this. They told us the baby would be either born dead or die at birth so we decided to end the pregnancy. This was horrific as was the treatment we received. We later found out our baby was a little girl who we named Ruby Jo Karim. And she had Trisomy 13. It turns out my husband carries a translocation which can cause this. Throughout all of this I found great comfort in talking to ARC and using their forums to chat to other parents in similar positions. I am now 25 weeks pregnant again and after a lot of tests we are happy to know the baby should be healthy. So I've decided to run the Great North Run next year to raise money to help this amazing charity which most people won't have hear of! This subject is so taboo as well I'd like to change that. I didn't love my baby any less than anyone else and wish that I didn't have to make the decision that I did.
