Roll Call

[Guest guest]

I am late in answering the " roll call " because I'm still recovering

from having 35 people for a sit-down dinner on Christmas Day (hubby's

idea, of course).

I am Debbie, married for 14 years to Emil. We live in NE NJ. We

have two children, Theresa and . We also lost two babies very

early in the pregnancies (6 weeks) before our children were born.

Theresa will turn 7 next Wednesday (eek!) and happens to have DS. I

found out from an amnio. (We knew we wouldn't terminate, but I'm a

need-to-know person). The DS was daunting enough, but they also

found fluid around her heart and lungs that built up for weeks and

weeks. Everyone was quite certain Theresa would never survive the

pregnancy. Shortly after my 36th birthday (at about 5 1/2 months)

the fluid disappeared on its own. No one had a clue why, but many

called it a miracle. Theresa came a few days early and was a

respectable 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches. Now she's a peanut (about

the size of a typical 4 year-old). Theresa was born with AV Canal

defect and was on oxygen until her heart surgery at 8 weeks. She was

also the worst eater until they finally diagnosed reflux at 10 1/2

months. She used Prilosec for 10 months. Now she eats incredibly

well and loves healthy stuff too. Unfortunately, I have to limit her

veggies because too much fiber gives her diarrhea. Theresa also has

an underactive thyroid and wears glasses. After the first couple

years of school with getting runny noses and few stomach viruses,

Theresa has been incredibly healthy. She's had just one runny nose

this year, so far!

Theresa attends our local school and is in a self-contained first

grade. I don't see any obvious challenges in the other children

other than some minor speech difficulties. To my knowledge, Theresa

was the first child with DS to attend the school. Theresa is pulled

out for " specials " : art, music, library and Physical Ed (gym). About

a month ago Theresa started to join the regular first grade for

lunch, too. They tell me she's doing well. Theresa LOVES LOVES LOVES

to read. She can decode fourth-grade level words, but still has a

little difficulty with rhyming (interesting, huh?). She takes longer

with the math concepts, but is pretty much keeping up with her

classmates. For now, I am pretty pleased with the situation -- she

gets nearly one-on-one for most of the academics, and gets to

socialize with her peers several times a day. Theresa's fine motor

skills are her weakest area, but she's come a long way!

turned 5 in October and thinks he's the bomb.

is " typical " , which means in lots of ways he's a lot more frustrating

and difficult than Theresa! He attend preschool now and can't wait

to start kindy in September. is very sensitive and watches

out for Theresa. When he was only three, he came running to me in

hysterics because Theresa left the yard. and Theresa play

extremely well together, but I think it's because Theresa tolerates a

lot more than most siblings would ( is soooo bossy). In many

ways, is Theresa's best teacher, because he can get her to try

new or more challenging things. She can ride a bike with training

wheels because she didn't want to ride HER bike ('s hand-

me-down bike was really too big for him). The biggest problem is

that tries to talk for Theresa and we have to keep reminding

him that Theresa needs to speak for herself.

Right now, I am a SAHM, but will probably need to return to work as

an RN in the next year.

Debbie I.

Paramus, NJ