As a newby blogger I feel compelled to start at the beginning. What you need to know for now is that I am Ellie's mom. 2 and 1/3 years ago, Ellie was born to my dear husband and me. She is the most beautiful baby girl, and the first time she saw me, she smiled. She melted my heart right then and there! That smile kept me going two days later when our pediatrician explained to me that he didn't want me to go home until Ellie was seen by the pediatric cardiologist. It was our pediatrician, and my O.B's belief that Ellie had trisomy-21 - aka Down Syndrome.
As devastating as the news was, it was softened by my pediatrician's presentation. I'm forever grateful that he presented the news in a wonderfully caring and positive way. He reminded us that Ellie was a baby first, and a person with trisomy 21 second. He also encouraged us to be positive in thinking about her future. He had worked with people with trisomy 21 and so he knew firsthand that they were individuals and very special.
Above was begun two days ago. But, that was then, this is now. Today is about Ellie's brother. "It's summer!" He says to me (while wearing snow boots!) as he requests permission to head off with his friends to the swings in the woods behind our house. They've been tromping around in the stream. Now that they are all wet, I suppose they should "cool off" by swinging. Understand: we live in Alaska! But, I guess at 54 degrees it does feel like summer after a few years of sub-zero winters. LOL!! We take what we can get, I guess.
