Having to juggle becoming a first-time mother while entering your junior year of college can be one of the hardest challenges but it is not something that cannot be overcome. Being a full-time college student has its challenges all by itself, and so does being a first-time mother. A full-time college student is required to take between 12-18 credits per semester. Most of the college workload tends to lean on the heavier side. Being a mother, especially for the first time, has its own challenges as well. This is what criminology major and Camden, New Jersey resident Alyssa Clark had to face her sophomore year at Cabrini.
On Jan.18, 2018 Clark was experiencing heavy chest pains which led her to the emergency room. What she thought was just a personal health issue, turned out to be that she was pregnant. Although other women would have been excited with the news, Clark had different emotions.
“I was so scared I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know who to tell so I just came back to the university and thought about it,” Clark said.
During her pregnancy, Clark faced a few conflicts between attending her monthly check-ups and going to school. Being pregnant, Clark had to attend multiple appointments throughout the week, making her unable to go to classes.
“I had so many appointments that I was missing so many classes a week including labs,” Clark said. “I went and sat down with my adviser, Dr. Vivian Smith, who told me ‘It was okay to withdraw and school will get tough,’ so, with her help, I made my decision.”
For the rest of her sophomore year, Clark, who loved studying at Cabrini, decided to withdraw from the university, which was a difficult choice she had to make but she and her child’s health came first.
While attending her appointments, doctors transferred her to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia because of a nasal mass [cyst] found on the baby’s nose. As doctors continued to check her and the baby’s health at the appointment, Clark received appalling news.
“At the end of the appointment I was told my son wasn’t going to make it and I should terminate my pregnancy,” Clark said.“ They realized his heart wasn’t connected and then he would need extensive surgery.”
Carrie Grabowicz, an adjunct professor who teaches Health and the Human Body at Cabrini University, said, “Babies [in utero], have a ductus arteriosus since they do not use their lungs yet. This vessel connects the pulmonary artery to the proximal descending aorta and allows blood from the right ventricle to bypass the lungs.”
Doctors told Clark that her newborn baby boy would have a disorder called DiGeorge Syndrome which requires open-heart surgery as soon as he was born.
According to Primary Immune, the DiGeorge Syndrome, also known as DGS, occurs when the developing baby in the uterus has an abnormal formation of certain tissues cells. This diagnosis affects the immune system and the ability of special immune cells to mature properly.
“The parathyroid gland is important in maintaining the calcium levels in our blood,” Grabowicz said. “Its main cause is because part of chromosome 22 is missing.”
Alongside the DiGeorge Syndrome, the baby did not have a place where he was able to release the waste from his body, requiring him to use a colostomy bag, which is when the doctors create a hole in the lower abdominal area to remove the waste from the body.
Being on several medications, it requires him to be on numerous medications which the caretaker would continually need to be on top of.
“I can’t miss a dose or I’d be screwed,” Clark said.
On Sept. 9, 2018, Clark gave birth to her son Jy’ion Malik Clark. She managed to have a good and fast recovery. Baby Clark’s first surgery was the following day in his stomach area.
“I didn’t know about that until I had him and his open heart surgery was at six days old,” Clark said.
While being in the hospital through her son’s surgeries and her recovery, Clark had to begin her junior year doing online classes.
“It was so hard. He lived there [the hospital] for two months and so did I but I had the support of my friends,” Clark said.
Today Clark and her child who is six months now are doing well. Baby Clark attends physical therapy every week.
“He is doing great,” Clark said.
Although it was a tough year for Clark she is looking forward to coming back to Cabrini as a full-time student in Fall of 2019. With the help of her family and child’s caretakers, Clark is determined to graduate on her expected graduation date in May of 2020.
