For-My-Kids.com

When my first son was nearly two we decided that he should have a brother or sister to play with. So are planning was coming to fruition and things were about to get exciting again. Well into the second trimester my wife was noticing that this child was more active than our first. He would kick and punch so much that it would keep my wife awake. You can imagine how irritable she had become but with love I tried to console her and ease her discomfort. At least the doctor visits were good and that made us happy.

We had opted for a Cesaren section since we had the first one that way. The day of delivery was running smoothly, this time we were on schedule for early morning. The athesiologist was having problems with the epidural though and we were running about 15 minutes late. In the operating room things were running smooth and I was my calm self. "Yes, dear. He has started cutting you."

Once the doctor pulled the baby from the womb both my wife and I noticed the surprise on his face. Following to the warmer, the nurses were operating differently than the first one. A different hospital and different staff I supposed that was the reason why. He is a boy but weight less than the first one I noted to myself. Then they started looking carefully at his eyes, the extra fold in his ears, his short stubby fingers, the extra length of his tongue and the straight line in his palm. This baby has Down Syndrome they said quietly so as not to disturb my wife. What were they saying? What did they mean? Joy and excitement quickly turned to fear. Then the doctor pinged me, in his exam of my wife they found a cist on one of my wife's overies. More fear, "my wife has cancer?" He needed my permission to do a biopsy, "We don't know if it is malignate". "Sure, go ahead!" My wife half hearing, "Just take them out I won't need them." The doctor laughed and said that she would have plenty of use for them.

Sewn together and ready for the recovery room my wife briefly held her new son. "Does this baby has Down Syndrome?" she asked. "We are doing some tests to be sure." they said. Not really reassuring. "What are we going to do?" she cried.

Back in the recovery room, she was taking so long for the epidural to wear off. The nursing staff was getting worried. You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voice. Hours passed and she was still not having feeling in her toes. Finally, she could feel and we where wheeled back to the room. During the wait I had called the list she had prepared. I let certain people know of the Down Syndrome the baby had. "God gives Special Babies to Special parents!", some would say. When my sister who was pregnant at the time said that I blurted, "Well let's hope God doesn't consider YOU so special!"

Back in the room, we cared for the infant and loved him as much as the first. He had problems with latching on and my wife ended up pumping her breasts. He was jaundiced and needed to stay longer than my wife. She crumbled with fear having to leave him in the hospital. Eventually we took him home and began a life that would be all encompasing of this little one and what special things he might need. Life would never again be the same; life even changed for my first born.

Earnie
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