Water Under The Bridge

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I’ve updated. I’m so behind on reading all of you, so please bear with me.

Austin has therapy twice a month. Well, I should say “had” therapy because guess what? His therapist said she would like to reduce his therapy to once a month because “he doesn’t need it.” As of right now, he’s not delayed, at all. In fact, he’s actually ahead of where he should be. Yes, I’m bragging. I can’t help it, but I’m so proud of my little man. Having said that, I do wonder when we’re going to see delays. As happy as I am that he’s doing so well, I can’t help but wonder…”When are we going to hit a hard spot or get stuck.” Call me a pessimist, if you must, but I can’t help but have these thoughts.



I went to a meeting for “Parents of babies with Down syndrome.” It was through The Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas. It was comforting to meet parents that are in the same situation as I am. There was a 4 week old baby there and he was so adorable! It made me realize how much Austin’s grown! Ryan didn’t go with me because he was sick with a sinus infection (not contagious!). I wanted to bring Austin, but it would have been challenging without Ryan, so I opted to leave him at home with Daddy. I know I’m only 3 months into being a parent of a child with Down syndrome, but I cannot begin to tell you how far I’ve come. As I sat in my chair, I wanted to badly to tell the newer(than me) parents and parents to be that it’s going to be okay. I remember the early days and they were hard. I had so many questions and fear. How could this happen to us? If I could tell new parents anything at all, it would be to EDUCATE YOURSELF. That might sound funny coming from someone who’s only 3 months into this, but that’s exactly what I did. I poured myself into books and of course, the internet… Mostly books, though. The better educated you are about Down syndrome, the better you’ll able to help your child thrive. I’m not saying you have to have a PHD, but that old saying, “Knowledge Is Power” is so true. Now…why didn’t I say this at the meeting? Well, I felt it wouldn’t be appropriate…seeing as how I’m the “new kid on the block.” ;-)

Ryan (which is my husband, for those who don’t know) has an older brother. Unfortunately, they do not speak and things between them have been awkward for the past 3 ½ years. It’s one of those situations that it’s been so long, I don’t think either of them can really recall the actual reason they’re mad at each other. I will say that Ryan has made several attempts to “reach out.” However, it does not appear that his brother wants to reconcile. Ryan and his brother are different. Very different. However, that doesn’t mean that both of them don’t have amazing qualities. They are both great dads. They both work hard and love their families. Ryan’s brother and his wife have a 2 year old daughter and they were expecting identical twin boys. Sadly, his wife went into premature labor yesterday and the babies were not big enough to survive. Regardless of what’s happened in the past, we hurt deeply for them. Those were their babies. They had names. They had ten fingers and toes. They had sweet faces. It’s just not fair. Now that Ryan and I are parents, we feel sadness on a different level when it comes to the loss of child. I couldn’t imagine having such a short time with my own child. Please keep them in your prayers. I can’t begin to imagine with they’re going through right now.

Have a great week, all. I’m off to catch up on reading all of you.