November 28, 2008
- Samuels' Miracle
Written by Tersea from Samuel's Miracle
I’ve really enjoyed being November’s guest poster each Friday and appreciate Tammy giving me the opportunity to do so. (…)
November 21, 2008
- Acceptance Is Not Submission
This quote recently popped up in the little quote of the day gadget on my desktop and stuck in my head:
"Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. (…)
November 14, 2008
- What Do You See?
WHAT DO YOU SEE…
Written by Teresa from Samuel's Miracle
*when a tiny baby sucks its bottle and swallows?
I see something my son may never be able to do. (…)
November 11, 2008
- Philanthropy knows no age limits
I try not to be a complete slacker when it comes to posts…I try. (…)
November 9, 2008
- Advocates aren't born, they're created
I’ve known for a long time that when it comes to my daughter and hospital staff, I can get fierce! I think every parent who has had a child spend time in the hospital, and especially those who spend considerable time inpatient, has had to go toe-to-toe with someone in the medical field. (…)
October 31, 2008
- Information Is Power
Information is Power
By Jen, from Unique But Not Alone
Well here I am, Jen, your guest blogger in October, and this is my last post for the month. (…)
October 30, 2008
- People are People
Special needs are a perplexing topic to the peripherally involved. (…)
October 25, 2008
- Blogs Can Change Lives
I've known Janice and Susan from 5 Minutes For Mom for a bit now.
Can I just say that I sincerely love these two?
Cause I do.
And not just because they are my bosses here at 5MFSN. (…)
October 23, 2008
- Dads Can't Do Everything, Even Though We Try
Just this weekend I loomed large over my petite baby daughter, holding her close, playing with her hand. Tears rolled down my cheeks, not in a torrent, but rather a slow emotional drizzle which besets me from time to time. “I can love you, I can hold you, I can play with you, but little girl, I can’t fix you.”
Marissa is my daughter. She was born by caesarian section on November 8 of 2007, a day after my Wife’s 37th birthday. She’s our first. She greeted us with a bit of unnecessary medical personnel drama, as the pediatrician saw me cooing at my daughter, caught a glimpse of her epicanthic folds and suggested we needed to have a Down’s screening. Dad being white and not asian, there shouldn’t have been any reason for the folds, so she deemed caution was in order and ordered a fairly comprehensive genetic screen. She hadn’t met the mother yet at that point which would have been a tip-off. Mom is of Filipino descent.
We all had a good laugh about it, after the wife had healed completely. Laughter was completely out of the question for a few days following our release from the hospital with the stamp of approval. Good apgar scores, excellent appetite, digestive system functioning normally, all conditions go for hospital release. The journey home was uneventful, all the normal new parent issues came in time. Baths were had, sleep wasn’t. Diapers were changed, and so were routines. Thanksgiving arrived, and we had enough of a new normalcy established for me to make my brined Turkey Alton Brown Good Eats style. Christmas came and went, with no family or pre-party disasters. The cats loved the baby, the in-laws dog did too. We didn’t make it to midnight on New Year’s, but we did catch it at 2AM for a feeding.
A new clock started on Valentine’s day. I was sitting and rocking the baby for her noontime nap, watching Prince on Muppets Tonight. Marissa made an odd motion, crunching her chin to her chest, bringing her arms forward so her fists were under her chin, and her legs up. It all lasted only about a second, and she relaxed and was perfectly fine afterwards. Puzzled, I watched her instead of the musical number on the screen for a minute. She seemed peaceful enough, so I chalked it up to “baby things.”
Then she did it again. And again. Then ten more times. (…)
October 17, 2008
- Inhale……..Exhale……..
Inhale…Exhale…
This month's guest blogger is Jen from Unique But Not Alone
Oxygen tubes were strewn across the top of their lips and clear tubing clutched in their hands. (…)
October 15, 2008
- Wonder In The Pumpkin Patch
It isn't often that we are able to load Parker up and go do something fun. But when the opportunities arise, I gotta tell ya, they are sheer magic. (…)
October 12, 2008
- I beg to differ!
**Updated to correct, it was actually Obama that said that "children are relatively inexpensive to insure." My apologies.
I’m not going to turn this into a political post. (…)
October 9, 2008
- A Life Worth Living
I first read the article I'm about to share with you a few days ago. I hesitated for a moment to share it due to it's obvious religious overtones.
But the story is true. (…)
October 8, 2008
- A New Website Helps Parents Navigate Medical Research Trials
I'm the Mom of a kid with special needs. Parker was born with an extra chromosome. It's known in layman's terms as Down syndrome. (…)
September 12, 2008
- But What Can Just One Person Do?
Have you ever wanted to help someone but didn't know how? Ever found yourself wishing that there was something you could do, but the problem just seemed way too big? (…)
September 7, 2008
- This Just In: A New Team Member
Anissa, from hope4peyton, will be joining our 5MFSN in this time spot.
Yeah. How lucky are we?
Smart. Funny. And an advocate that isn't afraid to go all MOTHER OF THE BEAST when necessary. (…)
September 5, 2008
- The Evaluation Tightrope
Let me preface this post by saying that I am truly thankful for the behavioral health services we have access to in our state, and that I generally try to focus on the positive. (…)
September 4, 2008
- Next On The Pre-Natal Extermination List: Autism?
In an article written for the New York Daily News, Valerie Karr, a Ph.D candidate , and a disability advocate, dishes up some interesting food for thought. (…)
September 3, 2008
- Expecting Too Much?
Unfortunately the conversation related below actually took place. And even though it was five years ago, it probably won’t surprise some parents that not much has changed. (…)
- Building Bridges
We've seen the looks. We've heard the comments. We've witnessed the pity as you have compared our child to yours.
And released a sigh of gratitude. (…)
