Posted on 12/14/2002 8:51:04 AM PST by LoneGOPinCT
I am pleased to announce the birth of our son! He is child #3, boy #2. He was born via C-section one full week before his scheduled birth and two weeks prior to his actual due date. Needless to say he threw us for a loop so it's taken us this past couple weeks to get everything straightened out that we thought we had another week to do.
He and Mrs.Lone are both doing fine. The little guy was born with Down's Syndrome (a surprise to us-no history, both under 35 & no testing during pregnancy because it wouldn't have mattered anyway), however we are very lucky that he doesn't show any signs of coronary or digestive problems that are very common with children with Down's. The combination of him being early and having DS has slowed the closing of two bypass valves in his heart (they exist in all children but generally close up prior to birth, AKA "the hole in the heart"), but the cardiologist is fairly confident that they will close up on their own and his heart looks otherwise very healthy. If not, they run a catheter into the valve and essentially scratch it with a small wire to promote scarring to close it up. He is very attentive and shows good tracking skills, good head and neck movements, no narrowing of the rib cage (also very common in DS kids), and has surpising strength so the pediatrician is very optimistic about his future.
We know it is going to be a tough road but as his Doc says, nowadays there is no reason to rule out anything for children with DS, especially the more mild cases. They are no longer institutionalized and as such have greatly benefitted from a "normalized" environment when it comes to teaching them early on and adapting them to social (i.e. school, friends, family) situations.
Some people don't quite know how to react when we tell them he has DS and in turn seem sympathetic. Trust me, we don't need sympathy. We feel blessed to have this little guy and are facing it head-on. As a few have told us, HIS prayers have been answered. It is all about him, not us. Right now he is like any other newborn. Eat, poop, sleep. We'll tackle any other obstacles as we come upon them.
We are still adjusting, but are coping surprisingly well. He's just such a cute little bugger that it probably helps! So no need to feel sympathetic, but please keep us in your thoughts and prayers to help guide us and give us the strength to keep us on track to best benefit HIM. We already consider ourselves lucky and will do our best to make sure he benefits from it!
Now, have a cigar for me!
Uh....that was MEANT to be:
Congratulations and an extra special Merry Christmas to you AND your growing family!
...And I proofread that...not enough coffee yet. Actually, I'm just almost as bad at proofreading as I am at typing (**sigh**)
As the father of a son with special needs, I want to assure you that the joys you will experience will far outweigh the sorrow. You will quickly find that your beautiful new son is more like other kids than he is different. You and your wife will meet a whole new group of wonderful people that you otherwise would never have met. You're about to start an adventure that is as challenging as it is rewarding and for this your soul will be strengthened.
There are two writings that I found helpful when my son was young. One is a brief essay titled "A Trip To Holland", and the other was a little book called "After The Tears".
I'm pretty much up on services and support in the state, so if I can ever be of help to you, please just FreepMail me.
True. Recently I have seen a teen-aged DS girl working as a waitress (and doing very well) and an adult DS woman working at the polls on election day handing out ballots and guiding voters to the correct booth. DS boys work at the local grocery store alongside "normal" teenagers (if there is any such thing as a normal teenager) and work in several fast food restaurants around town.
Congratulations on your new child and many happy returns.
scream in the middle of the night with those wonderful lungs that his parents gave him! :D
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