Down Syndrome and Life

I would be remiss to not start off with a shout out to one of my fave peeps in the world, my baby girl Fizzle!  Ms Fizz is 4 yrs old, beautiful, energetic (aka keeps me running), freakin cute as a bug and funny as all get out, she also happens to have Down syndrome.

We found out at birth that she had DS, and to answer the most common questions...

• I was under 35
• I had a quad screen came back false negative, so I had no idea
• I'm so glad it did!

Why am I glad a screening gave me the wrong info?  Well, doctors are notoriously known for giving only negative information when it comes to a diagnosis of DS, seriously it's been researched.  If I had gotten the diagnosis before birth Im not sure what I would've done.  90% of prenatally diagnosed babies with DS are aborted (or terminated if you want a sweeter picture), who is to say i had the strength to go against the norm?  I'm glad I didn't have the choice.

Personally my doc was not very positive nor were the various professionals that came in to visit after she was born.  At no time did anyone put me in touch with a DS organization or another parent or anyone that could help me.  My girl was pretty healthy (mild heart defect), no NICU, chubby and so sweet but yet the docs acted like it was the end of the world!  Therefore so did I.  I wish I could take that time back and erase it, to not feel the guilt of essentially rejecting your flesh and blood.  However, you can't take it back, no erasers...what you can do is GROW and EDUCATE.

Miss Fizz is now a thriving 4 year old, she had open heart surgery to correct her defect before the age of one.  She makes us laugh and makes us frustrated.  Yes, she has to work harder to accomplish the things that come easy to her siblings, yes it can be hard to watch, but she does these things and the victories are so much sweeter!  She blends seamlessly into our family, her brother and sister love her more than life and fight with her too.  Her big sis is her biggest fan and is amazingly empathetic for her age because of Fizzle.

Her little brother is her best friend and little toot to her at the same time...hmmm sounds like a pretty normal family, huh?

Would life be easier without Down syndrome?  Maybe, not sure though.  Kids are hard, they are a lot of work!  My typically developing kids could get sick any day or in a wreck and become disabled or way worse, God forbid.  Disability is not a death sentence, Down syndrome certainly is not a death sentence. 
 Did I want my kid to have difficulties in her life?  Of course not, but she does, she will and we will deal with them, however, her diagnosis is just a SMALL PART of WHO SHE IS! 

If you happened upon this post and are pregnant with a child with Down syndrome, congratulations!  May i recommend the following site to help you in your journey www.downsyndromepregnancy.org

If you are anyone who would like to see how we parents feel about our little ones with "something extra"  view this awesome video put together by Kelle Hampton