{31 for 21} Day 7: Health

How many of us have said it?  You know, when someone asks us if we know if we're having a boy or a girl.

"We don't care as long as it's healthy."

I know I've been guilty of it.  I remember saying it while I was still pregnant with Sweet Pea.

But what does it really mean?  The dictionary defines health as:

a : the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially : freedom from physical disease or painb : the general condition of the body 

But how does that apply to Sweet Pea?  Yes, she was born with a heart defect.  Yes, she has Down syndrome.  But was she really born unhealthy?

Does she look "sick" or unhealthy to you?

In a couple weeks (12 days to be exact) she'll go in to have her heart repaired.  Will she be healthier?  In a sense, yes, because it won't take so much energy to do things.  But it still doesn't mean she was born unhealthy.  She was just born different.  And that difference has made a huge difference in my life.  It's changed my perception of so many things- from health to unconditional love and everything in between.  My heart has been changed as much as her's will be.

{31 for 21} Day 6: One Thing I Love

There's really more than one thing I love about my Sweet Pea's features.  But to start off with, I love her tiny ears.

Especially since her brothers were blessed in the ear department ;)

 

And no, they haven't really grown into their ears- yet.

I also love her eyes.  The beautiful almond shape and the intensity of her gaze...

But more than anything, I love that she's mine.  

{31 for 21} Day 5: What you can do...

As we start counting down the days (yes, days) until Sweet Pea's surgery, I wanted to put a post together about what others can do for us.  And I came across this wonderfully written blog by Susanna (you NEED to read her blog about her journey to bring Katerina home).  She said everything I could think of plus so much more.  So, here is the list from her blog.

1. Visit them in the hospital when their turn comes, and…(pick one or more)…
…if they have a personal blog or Caringbridge site or facebook, read their updates so you aren’t asking them to say it all over again…
…unless they want to, then give them a listening ear…
…call first and ask what you can stop and pick up for them…
…or just pop in and surprise them (like a couple of friends did for me, including one from SC who was in that hospital in PA with her mom that day!)…
…offer to transport their other children to the hospital to see them…
…or give respite care to the people who are caring for their other children…
…give them a hug at least once…
…take them a CD of soothing music for themselves and/or their baby…
…take them a tote bag full of goodies that they may find useful, and include some special surprises…
…take along two specialty drinks, one for them and one for you, then sit and visit in an unhurried manner…
…offer to take pictures of them and their baby (this may remind people like me to take a picture of the baby with his/her visitor!)…
…tell them their baby looks beautiful, even all hooked up and medicated…
…offer to take a load of stuff back to their house (maybe breastmilk to their freezer)…
…ask if you may pray for their baby before you leave…
…remind them that you are praying for them…
…and then DO pray for them!
2.  Send a note to them at the hospital.
3.  Send them a gift card for a gas station, in-and-out restaurant (like Subway), specialty shop (like Starbucks), or grocery store.
4.  Clean their house while they are gone, and do their laundry.
5.  Put a meal in their freezer while they are gone, or after they return home.  Even better would be to organize meals for their first week home or fill their freezer with quick, easy meal components.
6.  Keep checking in on them during their baby’s recovery and remind them that you are praying.  Be sensitive to the fact that they may be eager to talk about things that have nothing to do with surgery, hospitals, medications and doctor visits!
7.  Offer to take their other children for a day or partial day during the time that the baby needs to stay home to avoid crowds.  A playground would be a fun destination if your house isn’t suited for children.  This would be especially helpful if the baby has a follow-up doctor’s appointment!
8.  Offer to stay with their baby while they go out for a few hours during the same recovery time.
9.  Anytime you go to visit the baby, wash your hands well, and be sure to tell the parents that you did, so that they are not compelled to ask you.

And just to let everyone know, my parents will be here for however long Sweet Pea is in the hospital to take care of the other kids and Sarge's parents will be down the last weekend of the month.

{31 for 21} Day 4: A Guest Post

A DAD'S EYE VIEW

OK, so Lynette thought I should take a shot at sharing something, anything, from my point of view- of course keeping with the Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  My guess is I have not thought about everything the way Lynette has.  For starters, Sweet Pea's condition was not a surprise to me.  No, I did not have any secret test performed without Lynette's knowledge or permission.  I don't remember when, it may have even been before conception, but I had a feeling (call it premonition, vision, whatever) that our next child would likely be different.  You can ask Lynette, when we first found out that our little angel had DS it was like I had always known.

The older Sweet Pea gets the less and less I can even tell.  Obviously the thought of sending your child in for heart surgery is not something even an insensitive guy like me takes lightly.  I am anxious for it and the recovery to be over but have faith that it will all go well.  It is clearly serious to me as I have said "no" to the Army for the first time in over 17 years; passing on a vacation- like deployment to Kenya.  In my unit it truly is "family first".  

I am excited for what the future holds for this family.  I have always noticed how much joy and excitement those with Down Syndrome bring to their surroundings and Sweet Pea is no different.  I'm proud to be entrusted with the duty and honor of creating the best, most loving, environment anyone could ever hope to experience.  That's all I can come up with now.  Time to go love on my kids. 

{31 for 21} Day 3: Rock Star

Sweet Pea had her OT appointment this morning.  And she's doing so good.  It's one of those things that because I see her everyday, I don't notice the improvement.  But her OT was very impressed with how much she's improved in the last 2 weeks.

Almost sitting by herself...  Just needs a little support so she doesn't tip to the side =)

She has one more appointment and then her surgery.  Hopefully after her surgery we'll see a huge jump in her skills.  Right now, because of her heart, everything takes so much energy.

One of my favorite pictures for this weekend.

And Girly- girl was going through a box of my old doll clothes.  She found this bunting that my mom had made for me when I was a baby.  She's rocking a new sweater dress now.

Junior has TKD class this afternoon and will find out if he passed his belt test.  Tomorrow I'll probably have pictures of him in his new orange belt =)

A Picture's Worth...

TV is much more interesting to watch this way.

Tummy time...

Testing for orange belt

31 for 21

Last year I had no idea.  This year, everything is different.  Amazing what can happen in a year.

October isn't just Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It's also Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  And that means a whole lot more to me than wearing pink =)

For the last few years, Unringing the Bell, has hosted {31 for 21}.  The goal is to write one post a day for the month of October to help raise awareness for children with Down syndrome and all the wonderful things they can accomplish.  

But, not everything I post is going to be about Down syndrome.  You see, it is a part of our lives now, but it's not our whole life.  We're still the same family we were last year.  We've just been enhanced =)

So, follow along as I try to post a picture of our life over the next 31 days.