Keywords: Ultrasound baby with Down Syndrome

I write and post pictures / videos to this blog for friends and family who want to catch a glimpse of some of our activities and accomplishments.  I'm hardly a high profile blogger.  But, an added benefit of this blog is that I get to show the world that our life, which happens to include a child with Down syndrome, is full and happy.  It's kind of fun every once in a while to look at the "stats" on my blog page. One of the "stats" show the referring websites and google / yahoo searches that lead to your page.  I'm always amazed that the top searches that refer to my page are from the picture of Mason's ultrasound when he was 12 weeks old in Our Down Syndrome Story.   I imagine someone just finding out that their baby might have Down syndrome.  And I remember how I felt when that was me.  Scared ... searching for answers.  Googling everything I could think of, hoping it would lead me to the conclusion that NO, my baby does not have that extra chromosome.  Ultimately, we know how my story turned out.  We got a beautiful baby boy with a little something extra.  I hope when the googler sees my blog,  they think, just for a second  that  their worst fear isn't really that scary.   That if their child does have Down syndrome, their life will still be full of love, holidays, activities, laughs, vacations, sibling games and rivalries, and accomplishments.   So, here it is again... our little boy at 12 weeks gestation:

And here he is now ... almost 4 years old.  Full of life. So happy.  And healthy.   We can't imagine our life without this little guy.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to revisit some of the feelings and fears we had when we got our prenatal diagnosis and my current thoughts on them. 

1.  How much money and time would we spend in hospitals?  Mason was discharged from the hospital 2 days after he was born.  The same timeframe as our first "typical" son.  He was perfectly healthy.  Heart, lungs, intestines .... nothing special or different there.  After that, it was mostly preventative appointments, including the ENT and geneticist.  Whenever Mason got a cold, it would go into his sinuses and lungs.  For the first three years, that was the bulk of our medical "issues."  Then we found out at age 3 that Mason had developed Celiac disease.  Once we implemented a strict gluten free diet, it is completely under control.  And Mason adjusted like a champ.  Has never asked for his beloved Goldfish again.  A couple of months before Mason's 4th birthday, we found out that Mason has been aspirating liquids his whole life and we never knew it. For three months, we thickened his drinks while undergoing therapy to strengthen his larynx.  It cured him and now Mason is back to consuming all regular thin liquids!  We have PT/OT (alternating) once a week and that about rounds out our doctor and therapy appointments.  Between insurance and Medicaid, most of it is covered and we do not pay much out of pocket. 

2. Will he talk and be able to communicate with us?  Will he be able to attend daycare / school?  YES!  Mason has always been pretty verbal, speaking his first word ("ball") before he was one.  We did teach him some sign language to bridge the gap when his language lagged behind. Now,  at almost four, Mason speaks in 4-5 word sentences and his language is blossoming and growing every day.   Mason has attended daycare and preschool with typical peers since he was 4 months old.  He also attends the county's special education preschool and we feel that it is a good mix for him.  Everyone has always been embracing and supportive of having him in their school.  

3.  What will our other children think?  Will we have enough time for everyone? This was one of our biggest worries.  And now it is the least of my worries.  In fact it just seems silly.  Owen loves his brother and is beyond supportive of him.  Owen understand that Mason learns at a different pace from most kids his age and encourages him each day.  They are best friends and mortal enemies ... just like all brothers!  Mason loves to make our newest little girl laugh.  Of course they do have some typical sibling sharing issues, which makes me smile more than anything!

We've learned a lot over the past 4+ years.  About Down syndrome.  About patience. About being a family.  But, mostly, our life has been pretty typical.  Because children with Down syndrome really are more alike than they are *different*.      

Two Wheelin'

A couple of weeks ago Owen took a 2 hour class to get us started teaching him how to ride his bike without training wheels. We knew we needed this class to get Owen to focus and commit time out on his bike. Otherwise he says he's done after about 5 minutes... because he's 5 and that's about as long as his attention span lasts most days! The class was through the GW Parkway park rangers. The first step was to secure the helmet and take off the pedals. Yes, turn his bike basically into a balance bike. They spent two hours going back and forth slowly getting the feel for how to balance. It was a warm day but Owen persevered because he was determined to learn to ride that "big boy bike!" By the end of the day, he could balance pretty good, but wasn't quite ready to put the pedals back on yet. 

Getting instructions from the Rangers

Practicing with daddy

There were some tumbles ...

But he was getting it!

Last weekend we took the bike back out ... Put those pedals back on ... And whadaya know.  He can ride!!! It really is amazing how riding the two wheeler just clicks. We still have lots to practice bit those training wheels are going into storage til Mason needs them one day!

On milestones...

In hindsight, I realize that Owen hit almost every developmental milestone early.  He was my first and I didn't know any better.  When Mason came along with his designer genes, I knew that my "expectation" of milestones had to be thrown out the window.  I let Mason reach his milestones on his own pace.  And that wasn't easy for this impatient mama!   But it taught me so much.  I learned not to "expect" things of my children (well, except for good manners and good-night hugs, those I expect!) because each child will do things at their own pace given their own abilities.  And Mason sure did everything at his own pace.  That stubborn little monkey never crawled.  So you know that old quote, "you gotta crawl before you walk"?  Yea... Mason blew that out of the water! 


(and I should caveat that ... because Mason did just start crawling a few months ago ... at age 3.  Why?  Because he LOVES to pretend he's a dog!)  

Anyways.. I digress.  My point is that after everything we went through with Mason, it has been a little bit strange to watch Amelia accomplish her milestones so quickly (in comparison) and without intervention.  The milestones that we watched Mason struggle over.  The milestones that we worked on with our physical therapist.  Over and over again.  But for Amelia, the light just clicked one day and she's pulling up on furniture.  Soon after .. she starts crawling.   I want to yell ... "STOP, you are growing up too fast!"   But I can't hold her back just like I couldn't push Mason ahead.  And that's okay.   So, with that said, we now have three mobile children.  And I'm a little bit scared.   :)

Here is a video of our little girl in motion!

 

Play (T) Ball!

Today was opening day for the Great Falls Little League and Owen's first T-Ball game.   He was so excited as the kids lined up with their sign to march into the field.

Do you like the sign that Brian and I pulled together last night like a last-minute school project?

We had a zillion things going on between this morning's opening day and the 5 pm T-ball game and I thought the anticipation would kill him.   Some pics from the game ...

Playing Center Field

Brian "coaching up" Connor

Owen waiting for his turn to bat.

Running to first base

"Mom, I'm trying to play baseball here!"

And here's what the little kids did while their older brother played ball...

Mason brought snacks ... ready for the game!

Amelia and Emma gummed plastic bottles ... fun fun.  :)

Play Ball! 

Opening Day 2012

It's become a tradition ... Spring, Baseball and the Lochheads.  It was a nice day at Opening Day for the Nationals, just Owen, Brian and me.  We may or may not have taken our 5 year old out of Kindergarten for a day at the Ballpark. 

The weather was just perfect for April, a little brisk but sunny.  Here are some pics of our adventure: 

Ready for the game to start!

Owen and Brian

Owen and Kristin

Owen's photography :)

Look who we ran into?!?! Poppy, on a work "field trip!"

The three amigos!

The Presidents! 

Owen and his rally hat (it worked!)

Walking back to our car ... my two big boys!

Hoppy Easter!

The Easter bunny hopped on over to visit us last night and the kids had overflowing baskets to wake up to this morning...

Look at all that loot!

The boys digging in their baskets

Even Amelia was checking hers out!

We headed out to church next.  Some pics of my brood in their Sunday best ...

And a family picture too! 

Later that afternoon, we had a small Easter egg hunt in the back yard.  Owen was a man on a mission ... but did stop to help his brother every once in a while.  Crazy to think that Amelia will be running around with these two next year!

Found on the swing!

Look at my egg!

I see one over there!

Got it! 

Amelia got one too! 

And one last picture ... Owen was so proud of his Bunny cake that he helped me make.  It was really tasty too!

Babbling and Clapping!

Here is a video I took this morning of Amelia saying "ma ma ma" and clapping.  Getting so big so fast!!

(and that exchange at the end ... welcome to my life as a referee!!)