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[Guest guest]

HI, my name is and my husband's name is . We are the proud parentsof 2 wonderful kids who just happen to have DS. Our daughter's name is , she is 6 years old. Our son is Isaiah and he'll be 4 on Sept 5. Both our kids have Trisomy 21.

With we knew she would have DS, before she was born (AFP andAmnio). We had time to prepare, and since she had no medical problems everything seemed pretty "normal". That is until she was six months old and all the problems with URI's began. She spent 10 days in ICU because of pneumonia and a very bad reaction to penicillin. Two months later we were driving cross country and had to stop at a different hospital each day for four days, another bout with pneumonia. As she's grown she's gotten better except for the ocassional trip to the ER for a sudden asthma attack.

With Isaiah it was pretty much a surprise, (AFP was within normal range). Still the whole time I was pregnant, I had the feeling he would have DS. As soon as I saw him I knew. In the 2 months before the results of the genetics tests, my husband really didn't want to believe he had DS. Once it was confirmed, he was sad, but once again we were blessed with a very healthy baby.

Both of our kids are doing great. is in a regular first grade class with an assistant. Isaiah is in a special needs preschool this year and will be in a reverse mainstream preschool next year. I feel I've done the same things for Isaiah as I did for Jess, still they are very different. 's speech is terrific, Isaiah's is slowly coming along. loves books, I'm still waiting for the day Isaiah will sit through just one story. Isaiah loves swimming, Jess thinks she's going to drown when I'm washing her hair. The one thing they both have in common is that they both like to help, be it at home or at school. They also don't like to see anyone hurting. If a cousin or friend is crying, they'll go up and give them a hug and say "O Right".

My husband and I have learned so much from our cyber friends. We've also been able to help other families, especially Spanish speaking families who feel so lost. It's hard enough fighting for our kids when we speak the language, imagine how much harder it is when you don't. We now know why we were given the two special kids. We hope to learn and share what we can with this group.

Sincerely,

and