Belleville, Illinois
Hi! My name is Susan and I am 31 years of age. I took the triple test at 16 weeks. I didn't expect to hear that there were any problems, in fact, I had forgotten I had taken the test till I got the call. This was followed by an Amnio at 20 weeks.
I was given the quick results as 100% DS and then the definite results 2 weeks later with the same results. All the while I was praying that Nate would be Mosaic, at least. Anything to increase his chances of having a more "normal" life but it was to no avail. Yes, we considered all three options: abort, adoption and keeping him. We are Air Force and knew that wouldn't be the kind of supportive lifestyle he would need and we were concerned how it would affect his older brother, Chad at 6 1/2 years. Adoption was quickly forgotten. With the help and support of my civilian doctor and a whole lot of prayer we chose to keep little Nate. God chose us for this special little boy and therefore there was a definite purpose. Nate was born Monday, 31 July 2000. His only immediate problem was his red blood cell could was over 75 and he wasn't getting adequate oxygen to his outer limbs. He was hooked up to oxygen and all kinds of monitors. He looked, to me, like he could have ran the local telephone switchboard through him. 2 ounces of his blood was taken and saline replaced that to thin it out. He was able to come home that Friday.
Since then the cardiologist discovered 2 openings in his heart that are expected to close by themselves before he is one (to be checked at 9 months again). It was determined that he was 12% normal but they thought it should be higher because of his lack of DS features so they retested his blood and came up with 7% (to be checked at 1yr again). He supposedly has a slight loss of hearing (to be checked at 9 months again) but we can't detect it from his reactions to sounds and speaking to him.
He is enrolled in Early Intervention. He is evaluated by Occupational, Developmental and Speech therapist. All say he seems on track, if not ahead.
Nate's big brother, Chad, is real proud of him and didn't understand all the fuss about the DS. He knows a few fellow kids at school and daycare that have DS. As long as he was a boy, he was happy.
I separated from the AF and went Reserve to stay in the local area with my family and all the great DS facilities and support groups. Unfortunately, Scott, my husband, has orders for Turkey. He leaves in May 2001 for 1 month. I get to go through all the possible problems and tests without him. It will be rough and I worry how Nate will take to him when he is able to come home.
Throughout my pregnancy, everyone expressed sympathy about Nate having DS and I took that time to explain DS because the general population doesn't know that much about it and what they do know isn't always right. As Daddy always told me, "Life gives ya lemons, make lemon-aide." and so I am as best as I can be.
Since then the cardiologist discovered 2 openings in his heart that are expected to close by themselves before he is one (to be checked at 9 months again). It was determined that he was 12% normal but they thought it should be higher because of his lack of DS features so they retested his blood and came up with 7% (to be checked at 1yr again). He supposedly has a slight loss of hearing (to be checked at 9 months again) but we can't detect it from his reactions to sounds and speaking to him.
He is enrolled in Early Intervention. He is evaluated by Occupational, Developmental and Speech therapist. All say he seems on track, if not ahead.
Nate's big brother, Chad, is real proud of him and didn't understand all the fuss about the DS. He knows a few fellow kids at school and daycare that have DS. As long as he was a boy, he was happy.
I separated from the AF and went Reserve to stay in the local area with my family and all the great DS facilities and support groups. Unfortunately, Scott, my husband, has orders for Turkey. He leaves in May 2001 for 1 month. I get to go through all the possible problems and tests without him. It will be rough and I worry how Nate will take to him when he is able to come home.
Throughout my pregnancy, everyone expressed sympathy about Nate having DS and I took that time to explain DS because the general population doesn't know that much about it and what they do know isn't always right. As Daddy always told me, "Life gives ya lemons, make lemon-aide." and so I am as best as I can be.
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