Dear Parents of the newly diagnosed

Ok, so I know right now you are probably drowning in emotions. You are scared, nervous, worried, happy, sad, and all of the emotions in between. I understand I have been there. When we got the prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome for my oldest daughter, I was feeling all of those at one time and I was at work (they called me at work and told me, well the nurse wasn’t supposed to but she did) my pregnancy hormones definitely didn’t help. I got home that night and I cried a lot. I cried for the loss of what I imagined my 1st baby would turn out to be, I cried for the complications that I have always figured would come with the diagnosis, and I cried because honestly, I thought my body failed me. I had been following everything the Dr. told me to do stopped eating this and that and took my prenatal vitamins religiously but something still ended up wrong (I know that’s not how it works but in my mind at the time I thought it was my fault). Honestly, it was like going through the 5 stages of grief. I was in denial at 1st those tests are only 99% accurate I am probably that 1% and I do not need to worry. Then came anger, what in the world did I do to deserve this, I am a good person I don’t deserve this. Skipped the bargaining stage and went into depression and all the crying. Then finally I hit acceptance and I went into full research mode. Okay, how are we going to do this I was only 23 at the time I was pregnant I just graduated college I still felt young and now I was gonna be a mama to a special needs child. So I learned all I could and reached out to a friend whose child had Down Syndrome. And when the time came and my little Eleanore was born that friend got me in touch with a fellow parent who also had a child with Down Syndrome but she was local and she added me to a Facebook group of other families with children with Down Syndrome. Now at this moment you may feel lost and have no idea what you are going to do, but let me tell you something you are that baby’s parent and you know them and you know what they need. It may be more than a typical kiddo but that doesn’t mean you don’t know them. You are not alone other parents have kiddos with the same diagnosis and they may be in a further stage than you are so they can give you tips and tricks and help you navigate this new life you get to be a part of. Every parent starts a journey when they become parents, but guess what, you get to take the scenic route and enjoy so many more things as a special needs parent. They say it takes a village or tribe to raise a child, well your tribe and village just became so much larger. And now with the amazing things like Facebook and other social media outlets, you don’t have to feel so alone.

Hey you…yes you…I see you, and you are doing a freaking amazing job.

All my love, prayers, and encouragement

Holli