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Amanda

Check Your Child’s Growth Online

by Amanda on October 2, 2007
category: Cool websites

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It always interests me to know what growth percentile my daughter is in. For some reason I gain satisfaction from knowing that my daughter’s weight gain is average.

The MedCalc: Interactive Growth Charts allow you to view your child’s growth on the same growth chart that most doctors use to determine what percentile they are in. You input the birth date, gender, height, weight, and head circumference, and then choose from one of 11 different growth charts. You only need to input the specific information for the chart you want to view. The site also has Newborn Baby, Pre-Term (Premie) Child, and Down syndrome growth charts available.

Check out your child’s growth at MedCalc: Interactive Growth Charts.

McKenna

When You Find Out Your Baby Has Down Syndrome

by McKenna on September 30, 2007
category: Down syndrome,Inspiration,Pregnancy

I wish I could tell you in a five step article what happens when you find out your baby has095_12a.JPG Down syndrome, but every situation and every person is so different that the best I can do is tell you my experience.

On the day of our sonogram to find out the sex of our very first child, my husband, the two first-time grandmas-to-be and I anxiously waited in the waiting room for my sonogram. We first had the obligatory weigh-in, blood pressure check, and “how have you been feeling” with the nurse. Then the doctor came in. She asked me how I was feeling and I explained to her my eagerness to find out the sex of our baby. She first wanted to share with me the results of my quad screen. I’ll never forget her words, “It looks like your baby has an elevated chance of having Down syndrome.” Everyone in the room was shocked, except for me. I knew how unreliable those screening tests were, besides I was only 21 years old! I kept reassuring my husband that those tests meant nothing. We went back to the waiting room, and I was still my upbeat perky self waiting for the sonogram tech to call us back. I wanted my mini-McKenna…I wanted a girl so badly!!

Finally, the sonogram! The technician was conducting the sonogram and measuring all kinds of things on the baby. I kept thinking to myself, “come on already, look between the legs!” The technician then told us she wanted the doctor to look at some things. The OB walked in, looked at the screen, and said, “I have to be honest. This concerns me” as she gently touched my leg. Not only did my quad screen point to the baby having Down syndrome, portrait4.jpgbut there were many physical findings on the sonogram as well. Through a cloud of tears and emotion, we found out we were having a girl, but no longer was she going to be a mini-McKenna. She was going to be different than me. She wasn’t going to look like me. She wasn’t going to act like me. Along with my picture with the arrow pointing between her legs, I was given sonogram pictures with measurements of the back of her neck, her femur, her nasal bridge…all measurements that said my baby wasn’t going to be normal. We followed up with a series of level II sonograms. Although we never had the amnio which would have confirmed Down syndrome, the doctors were sure my baby had Down syndrome when they later found a heart defect that is almost exclusive to babies with Down syndrome. My husband and I held on to the small chance that she didn’t have Down syndrome, but tried to prepare for that possibility.

My 6 hour labor and delivery went off without a hitch. As soon as I saw her, I knew she had Down syndrome because I had studied every picture of a newborn with Down syndrome that I could find. Google and I became very close, almost too close, during the remainder of my pregnancy.pa140051.JPG

For a mother, it is the worst thing in the world to hear that something may be wrong with your baby. The guilt, the tears, and the “why me’s” flood every part of you. Then the compassion for your child takes over. The “why me’s” turns into “why her” and the tears become tears for your baby, but the guilt seems to remain. “What if I didn’t have that margarita before I knew I was pregnant.” “When anyone asked if I wanted a boy or a girl, I immediately said I wanted a girl-I should have said I didn’t care as long as the baby was healthy!” “I slept on my right side instead of my left.” “If only I would have eaten better and not gained those forty pounds.” “If only I would have remembered to take my prenatal vitamin every day.” “Everyone must think there’s something wrong with my husband and I.” “Does my husband think this is my fault?” “Is it his fault?”

My daughter has Down syndrome, but that is a very small part of who she is. My daughter is a very unique, original little girl with her own personality. She has the persistence of a mule (and of her mother), my blonde hair and my father’s hazel eyes. She has short stubby toes like my sister and mother and has very straight fine hair like my husband and his family. She loves music almost more than Barney and prefers chocolate milk over apple juice. She is the best big sister in the world, until her baby brother takes a toy that she wants.

Are there things I go through that other mothers don’t have to – yes. Are there things my daughter goes through that other little girls don’t have to go through – yes. Do I worry about my little girl- what mother doesn’t? But at the end of the day, I got more than a mini-McKenna and I wouldn’t change anything about my precious little girl – not even her extra 21st chromosome!  For an exciting update on Down syndrome in our family, click here!!

Amanda

Your Favorite Thing About Being a Mom

by Amanda on September 30, 2007
category: Inspiration

Thanks to everyone who answered our first “A Little Birdie Asked Me” segment. All of you had great answers.

Our first “A Little Birdie Asked Me” question was “What is your favorite thing about being a mom?” Several of you mentioned the smiles and hugs your little ones give you. I know that is my personal favorite thing about being a mom. Lyndsay couldn’t decide and said everything is her favorite. April listed her favorite thing about each of her three kids. Some favorites are momentary and change all the time like in Dawn’s response.

The joys of being a mom are truly immeasurable.

McKenna

A little birdie asked me…

by McKenna on September 28, 2007
category: Inspiration

“What’s your favorite thing about being a mom?”

Amanda

Friday Fun: Mom My Ride

by Amanda on September 28, 2007
category: Video

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