Congratulations!

Hello there, if you are reading this then you or someone you know has just given birth to a beautiful baby boy or girl……Congratulations. Your emotions may however be all over the place as you may have been told that he/she has Down Syndrome.

A Mother's View

My husband and I found ourselves in this situation in April 2004 with the birth of our second daughter Lucy. Lucy's diagnosis and medical problems came as a total shock (following a normal pregnancy) and the subsequent weeks and months were a real roller-coaster ride, full of highs and lows. In those months we were fortunate to be put in contact with other families who had gone through similar situations. This helped us greatly!

The reason for writing this leaflet is that we would like to offer that same support/contact to others (if and when they need it). We have put together some of the local contacts and information, that took us quite a while to find. It may all be too much to take on board now, so perhaps file this until you are ready. We are a family of four and Lucy has a sister, who is 2 years older than her, who she adores. At 1 year Lucy was achieving lots, she was sitting, combat crawling and pulling up to stand. She knew what she wanted and did not mind telling us about it. She is a little ray of sunshine and a cheeky pickle; well most of the time.

My outlook was not always this positive and I do not mind admitting that it took me quite a while to accept what had happened to Lucy and to us. Initially all I could see was our baby who had Down Syndrome, and that she was not the baby I /we had expected. Now I look lovingly at Lucy, with her unique character and see her first and the Down syndrome as an after thought, I love her just the way she is!

A Father's View
We had no idea that Lucy had Down Syndrome so when she was born it was a real shock. Although I tried to remain positive ‘for the family' I could not help but think about her future life. I thought that she would be at home with us for the rest of our lives, that she would be this disabled child who would just come around with us. I thought about boyfriends, getting married and driving. I thought about my career and that it was over or it had to go on hold for the next 10 years or so.

I had so many of these thoughts flying around in my head but they slowly started to disappear as it became clear that Lucy had more immediate problems. Lucy had a bowel obstruction and we were rushed to Gt Ormond St Hospital in London where she had corrective surgery. It became clear also that Lucy had a heart defect and we are now currently waiting for probable surgery in a year or two.

Lucy has really thrived. She has basically achieved all the normal things a child should do, at her age. We have made a decision to push Lucy as much as possible as early intervention has been shown to benefit children with Down Syndrome immensely. I cannot say what the future will hold and many of my early thoughts may still come true. I concentrate on the here and now and enjoy every minute I have with my little girl.

The New Parents page from the Down's Syndrome Association.