31 for 21: Thank God for my kids!

Once, I was criticized for the name of my blog because my older son has Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). But some how, I feel both of kids are super babies. They both are successful in their own way. I truly appreciate I can kiss and hugs them today, it is something I don't take for granted.

Tommy was prenatally diagnosed with Trisomy 21 when I was 3 month pregnant. My pregnancy was considered HIGH RISK as soon as he was diagnosed. It was considered high risk because most natural miscarriages happen because the human fetus has a genetic disorder. So the possibilities he could die in my womb were high. But while monitoring his development in the womb he was exceeding all the doctors' expectations. Once, he was born he confirmed to all of us how strong he is. He was a good size baby because his weight was 8lb 4oz and his hight 20.5.' He didn't any major complication of syndrome –no heart defects. According to several studies done by the doctors, Tommy's internal organs were typical developed.  He rolled over in his first months, while he was an infant he accomplished many milestones righ on track and some ahead. He didn't has delays until he was about 7 or 8 months. During his first 3 years, he wasn't sick very often —not common colds. But the beginning of this year, things changed for him. He got very ill due to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). My boy spent 13 days in the hospital. After the hospitalization, his sensory issues got worse and it also affected his development. We were so happy having him at home after he was realized from the hospital, but it was hard to realized he lost many skills – he had a huge regression in his development. But not matter what, my boy is strong, and day by day, we are working together to get those skills back. I have seen improvement in the last weeks.

Francis was considered a miscarriage in progress when I was 3 month pregnant. The doctors told me go home and wait, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Around the same time, we got the results that we were high risk for expecting a second child with a genetic disorder, but we didn't go for further testing. We were devastated! But we kept our faith that my baby would be fine. After being in bead rest for a few days, the bleeding stop. My baby was alright! My OB detected I had a tearing in the placenta, but it healed fast. After this, the placenta was too close to the cervix, so it was developing placenta previa. If it didn't improved in a few weeks, I had to go to bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. I was just 4 months pregnant. But we kept being strong and didn't pay much attention to it. A few weeks later, the placenta went up. After this, my pregnancy normally developed. When Francis was born, we felt a huge relief by knowing he was alright. Ironically, he was smaller than his older brother, his weigh was 7 lb and his high was 19.75.' Having Francis, hasn't been much different than having Tommy. He is exceeding our expectations as Tommy did. He seems advanced for his age, which we didn't realized until he had his 10 weeks check-up. Francis and I are enjoying his new skills, so we both sit on the floor to read —I sit behind him  I put a book in front of him to keep his attention and he can sit very well.

Not matter what the prognostics were for them before they were born, they both exceeded all the expectations. They are here today building their story, so I can tell their story. Many unborn babies may not have the change to build their stories because they were prenatally diagnosed with a genetic disorder.  Any baby that is born with or without a genetic disorder deserve to be loved and protected regardless the circumstance they are coming to this world. Not matter the circumstances, we chose our  babies first!