04/01/2026
Happy limb difference awareness month 🧡 Delilah is now almost three years old! She is so amazing in every way! She finds new ways to adapt every single day!
Happy Limb Difference Awareness month! Today I will be sharing my story. As challenging as it is to put these vulnerable feelings out in the open, our goal is to help others going through the same thing!
Lovely Lilahs- Pregnant With A Limb Different Baby by Autumn Clark
I found out at 27 weeks that my daughter was going to be born with a limb difference. I had several ultrasounds and two anatomy scans done at W**d Army Community Hospital. They had assured me every time my baby was “perfectly fine” but they needed a few more pictures of her heart each time. By my third anatomy scan, I had to be seen at another doctor’s office because the hospital no longer had an ultrasound tech at that point. The entire time the I was being scanned at the new office, the tech was asking me, “Are you sure you’re 27 weeks? How did you confirm this? What all did they say at your last scan?”
Here I am thinking, “OMG my baby is going to be HUGE!” It was actually the opposite. I got a call about three days later from my OBGYN telling me that my baby was measuring very small on my latest scan and they needed me to come in for more measurements. He also briefly and casually mentioned, “And by the way, it says on your report they were unable to locate your baby’s forearm. Just ignore that haha they must not know what they’re talking about, because on all of your previous scans we were able to see it.” Oh, that’s funny lol. They must just not know how to do their job or something. No need to worry about that… Lets just focus on my baby’s growth. He measures her at less than 10%, so he sends me to a specialist three hours away. At this point we are just worried about her size when they come back and tell us she is actually measuring less than 1% for her growth, she has bilateral clubbed feet, and does, in fact, have a limb difference and her right arm ends just below her elbow.
I break down. My OBGYN ASSURED me this was not true. We had JOKED about it and how the other doctor was incompetent for saying that. How could this happen to my baby? What does this mean? What even is a limb difference?
I had an amniocentesis done at 29 weeks and from that point on I was seen 3-4 times a week for NST and growth scans. Because of the combination of the conditions and the severity of her growth restriction, the doctors weren’t sure if she was going to survive. Termination was suggested, but I was very against that and it is still emotional for me to think about because of where we are today.
While I was processing this, I didn’t want anyone to know besides my immediate family. I didn’t want to deal with the gossip of people talking about her differences, while we were still trying to find out if she was going to survive birth. I cried a lot because I worried for her future. I had never met someone with a limb difference before. I worried if she would fit in, what her life would look like, and what would my life look like.
Although our birth was traumatic (that’s a story for another time) when she was born, she was perfectly healthy! She caught up in growth and her feet were not clubbed. They believe her limb difference was caused by a vascular event, like a blood clot, that stunted the growth of the limb. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I was so proud of her all I wanted to do was show her off and I felt guilty for how I had felt earlier in my pregnancy.
These guilty feelings are something a lot of women struggle with as mothers of children with limb differences. I sometimes still struggle with these emotions. Your plans changed, your life changed, you are adapting every day to something unfamiliar to you. There is nothing to be ashamed about! Why should we have to hide our feelings, we have a community for a reason. It’s okay to question and to wonder. You are not alone in this journey!
Delilah is now 10 months old and absolutely inspiring. She is constantly rolling, waving, and even crawling! She is able to do anything she sets her mind to. She is beautiful, kind and smart in every way. She is my entire world and I love her with everything in me! Her limb difference does not define her, but it is a part of who she is and a part of what makes her so amazing.
