To Know...90%

The other day I was reading a blog and they were discussing the 90% rate of terminating babies that will be born with Down Syndrome…it automatically took me back to the day of having the “no bubble” ultra sound…I remember lying on the table and my doctor talking to herself and saying TEF/EA and Down Syndrome…I knew then that my baby had Down Syndrome…I just knew…I went and had a amino synthesis…and it came back that my baby was chromosomally enhanced…with that the doctor said you can terminate the pregnancy and we can get that set up for you…I recall saying “no no I will not do that….I cant talk about that right now”…but the truth is I thought about it…I was scared and I did not know what to do…I remember calling my brother and asking him what to do…he said he could not answer that…Chad said the same thing…he was excited from the beginning about having a Down Syndrome child…but I do remember waking up one morning and saying to Chad…I want to have this baby…and we will be ok…I remember seeing the relief on his face and him saying …”I thought we were headed for an abortion”…I also remember reading this statistic and it making me sick….if you think of this and look around at people in our lives…this is a dirty little secret…one of my friends said that she could not go through with having a child with Down Syndrome…that is ignorance…I know that I complain a lot….I know that I have struggled with this….but I just needed to be educated on Down Syndrome….that Maddox is more like Maximus…Maddox is “normal”….she is happy, content, she yells out to be picked up and cuddled, she laughs and giggles, she loves to sit at the kitchen table with us…she just part of our family…someone said Down Syndrome will be the least of the interesting characteristics of your child…and that has rung true…Maddox is a human being….when you look at this…it really is about being self centered and selfish…Maddox did not and does not deserve to have this stigma…she deserves the world…and we plan on giving it her…she is our ROCKSTAR!

On a side note…to know or not to know…I told the doctor I wish I did not know…she said you will be glad you know soon…she was right…this allowed me to make choices…the choice to have her…the choice to learn and educate ourselves…the choice to call for help…Maddox has had therapy since she was born…on Tuesday her Kelly (OT) said this is our pace setter!