A New Springtime

Enjoying the Moments

 Yesterday, we had a wonderful day. Hannah's Godmother came over to visit us and see Baby Malcolm. She brought some of her wonderful children one who is eleven and has Down Syndrome. She is a doll and she recited a poem to me that she had memorized. It was so good for me to see her. It gives me so much hope for my precious lil' tiger.

 

DH came home with  this adorable outfit. It is a gift from a friend he works he works with. We have been blessed with so many presents, prayers and support for Malcolm.

 

We are all enjoying taking turns holding him. We just can't get enough! I am truly learning to live in and enjoy each moment. Trying to give all my worries and expectations to our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 
Hannah was given some beads from her Godmother to make a pair of rosaries and that is what she did today. Abbey has been working on brushing her own hair and she has been doing quite well.
 
Eliana has been such a good sport and occupies herself by imitating big sister.

 
 Taking the time out just  to sit and relax can be so challenging but I think it is a much needed activity these days for our family. Lent is almost ended and these last few days are a good time for us to reflect on how much we have been blessed. A time to open our hearts and minds to God's love and mercy.

I am so thankful for my Catholic faith and all it has taught me and I know I have so much more to learn. I want to wish everyone a Holy Thursday and a Good Friday and may God's love be yours on these solemn days before Easter. Just as we see in the Crucifixion may God take all that may seem like a suffering and turn it into something beautiful. Enjoy every moment and know God is with us.

90% Not Allowed to Live

It has been quite tiring lately, Baby Malcolm likes to nurse and he likes to do it frequently. He also likes to be close to mom and knows when he is not, he pops up immediately. My own fault because I always want to be next to him, too.

 
He is just so darn cute and cuddly and I couldn't imagine not having him in my life. The sad part about his condition ( Down Syndrome) is that 90% of children who are diagnosed during pregnancy with DS are aborted.

 
These sweet precious children are not even given the chance to take their first breath.  Who is responsible for making mothers of children with  DS feel their  children are disposable and not worthy of being loved ? Is it the Ob/Gyns, the genetic counselors? I do not know because I chose to wait and see until my son was born. I'm glad it turned out that way because my heart fell deeper in love with him the moment I laid eyes on him.

 
Women are encouraged these days to be doctors, lawyers, astronauts, etc. , but we are counseled against our own feminine natures against being  protectors and nurturers of our own babies. Women are not by nature ones who have the mentality of, " survival  of the fittest"  and  it  is up to us stop this " culture of death".

 
Any job we take on in life is going to have its challenges, its ups and its downs and sometimes life can be frightening. Each child whether disabled or not can have health problems, learning problems, or die of some kind of illness. I think taking each day one at a time can solve a multitude of problems.

 

 
Remembering that we are all made in God's image and likeness is the focus that is needed to stop such an atrocity as abortion. How could society be so advanced and so barbaric at the same time. "Let the children come to me",Jesus said. I can't even  imagine being without Malcolm and yet 90% of women have been cheated out of their precious lil' ones.

Sometimes my mind gets in the way of my spirit and I start to worry about all these things that haven't even happened yet but then  I pray and ask God to help me reign in  my  imagination. I ask Him to help me live in the moment and not to be afraid and He pours out His love upon me and allows me to love as he does without condition. Without Him none of this would be possible.  I am so thankful for His protection and for Malcolm's, he is part of the 10% who was allowed to live.

 

Showered with Flowers

 
Since the arrival of lil' Malcolm I have been showered with flowers! I have them all on the dining room table and I just love looking at all the bright and beautiful colors.

 
DHgave me a dozen orange roses and they are opening so big and bold. They remind me of his boldness and how he handles things head on. I am starting to allow him to teach me some of his ways even though they are totally foreign to mine.

 
This soft yellow rose is from my mother and my girls. They hung out together  while I was in the in the hospital. It reminds me of their femininity and the warm glow that shines from within them all.

The spring basket is from a good friend of mine. The fragrance from the hyacinth was so sweet and the mini garden will be planted outside and I will think of my friend and her faithfulness and the time my lil' babe was born as it comes to life each spring. The other vase full of mixed flowers is from another friend. She has always been there form me after the birth of each of my children.

All of these bouquets remind me of the abundance of the love God has showered down upon my family through our precious family and friends.

 

The birth of this little guy has brought all of these flowers into our lives and I am sure he will continue to bring many new blessings to us as well. Everyone has been taking turns getting to snuggle with him and we just can't get enough.

 
Here is our flower yesterday, sound asleep and so content.

 
Here he is again today, once again asleep and content but just like a flower with its still
presence it gives off such an awesome powerful sight for the eyes to behold.

 

Ups and Down's( Down's Syndrome +)

Malcolm arrived at 8:02 a.m. by Cesarean section.

 
 

I was a nervous wreck and my blood pressure was up, it was 190/ 114.  After the spinal it came down quite a bit. The surgery went great and baby boy came into the world!

 
He weighed 6lbs. 2oz. ,not bad for 39 weeks gestation.

 
I was so thrilled when I finally got to see him. DH brought him over and we all took our first picture together.

 
The next day the kiddos came to see their precious new brother. The love they showered on him was incredible to witness.

 
I just love these moments, "family love"!

 
DH and I had some great bonding time in the hospital and Malcolm had his daddy bonding moments, too.

While we were  recouping in our room and I was nursing lil' guy I noticed he was having a lot of trouble latching on. I also noticed his eyes were a bit squinty. I began to question whether or not he may have Down's Syndrome. I mentioned it to the hospital pediatrician and he said they would run a test but we couldn't get the results until Monday.
DH thought he definitely had some of the characteristics, and for me it was a bit harder to tell, after all quite a few of our other children have had squinty eyes.

When Monday finally came we talked to another hospital pediatrician who was not afraid to talk to us about our precious special boy. He told us that he did suspect that he has Down's and that he saw certain signs of it also.  He noticed low muscle tone, trouble nursing, and the Simeon Crease on his hands (only has one line instead of two). He also did an EKG on his heart and it came back normal. 

Our results were still not in but it was time to check out. We would have to call our pediatrician when we got home. At about 2:30 p.m., I decided to give her a call and she gave us the results. They were positive. Little Malcolm has Down's. I began to cry and didn't even know why. I have an overwhelming love and attachment to this lil' guy and I see no difference in him than any one of my  other children. I guess it was just an emotional moment of adjustment.

 
Baby sister and I and the rest of the gang have been in our glory loving him and being loved by him. Eliana just can't get enough of cuddlin' up with him.

About 10 years ago, I would of been devastated by such news because I thought I had to live in a perfect world. I did not know God and how to trust in His will.There are many ups and downs in life and with this new diagnosis we (our family) feel very privaleged to be embarking on a new journey, a new path in our lives. We know this is going to be a great opportunity to learn so many knew things.

Thanks for all of your prayers for the surgery, all went great and I am recovering quite nicely.