3rd Child Life & Down Syndrome Education

I didn't leave the house with Penny or Porter during their first few months. Last week, Pax attended the MCDSIG Inclusion Conference. He got to listen to the amazing Sue Buckley teach us about preK education and Down syndrome.

He was excited to learn!

I learned a lot...hoping we can implement a few quick fixes with Porter immediately to correct behaviors and work on some longer term reading, math and behavior strategies. I learned about some of the strengths of individuals with Down syndrome (they are visual learners, have a high social and emotional understanding and can have good early reading skills) and hope to help Porter by building on these skills. I also learned about verbal memory capacity weakness that may make it harder for Porter to remember more than a few words at a time, which helps me better understand our struggles with multiple step directions. 

If you have the chance to hear Sue Buckley speak, please attend. Her teachings will help me make Porter's life better. The thing that struck me mist clearly from the day was this (in reference to individuals with Down syndrome): "What they do at 5, they'll do at 25." We need to build appropriate expectations and behavior today. Porter is very capable. So we must set high expectations and big goals. He is capable. His brain is strong. He can do great things!

This fall, we will start The Learning Program PreK module. I'm excited to teach him how to read! I'm excited to teach him using methods that draw on his strengths and account for his weaknessess. I'm excited to do this with some of the amazing families who are on this road with us. I'm excited for his future! 

An after dinner walk

This is how we rolled for tonight's walk...

Penny is always ready for a show!

I try to get out for a walk each day...I need to put a serious dent in this baby weight and haven't gotten the ok to work out yet (still unsure of when I will fit that in, but I need to!) Some nights Porter walks with me. Others Penny. Still others, all 3 (which means Porter is stuck riding). We still don't venture out of the neighborhood, given Paxton's still frequent feeds, but it's nice to get out.

Pax is unsure of my stroller driving abilities, so he holds on tight!

I love walks...and I love that my kids don't mind walking with me. I hope they will always walk with me!

Paxton's Birth Story

Our three babies were born at the same hospital, but all three experiences were so very different. All three pregnancies were different as could be. This third pregnancy was harder on me physically. I was diagnosed with Polyhydramnois, the buildup of excessive amniotic fluid. Google that term and it will give you a list of things to worry about. I was huge and they worried the baby was also very large...they thought he/she would be over ten pounds at birth. So, when I went to the doctor for my 39 week appointment, the doctor decided to induce me the next morning. 

At 6am on 7/16, I called the hospital as instructed. Labor & Delivery was full. They asked me to call back an hour later. At 7am, they told me there was no room and asked me to reschedule with my doctor. But at 7:45am, they called me back and asked me to come in at 10:45am. The doc I'd seen the day before was delivering and got me back on the schedule. I was having some mild contractions that morning and was starting to get excited and nervous. We took the kids to school, finished up some last work projects and made our way to the hospital. 

When we arrived, we met our awesome nurse and they took my blood samples for the cord blood banking. Then they hooked me up to pitocin and we waited.

As they turned up the medication, my blood pressure dropped (I have low blood pressure regularly and its lower during pregnancy). They closely monitored me and the baby, but I was able to do some walking in the room and rocking in the chair. At first check, I was 3cm but the baby was still very high. I tried to use the hypnobirthing techniques to visualize the baby moving down with each contraction. As the nurse turned up the pitocin, I kept telling her the contractions needed to be stronger, which made her laugh...she said she'd never had anyone tell her that before during labor. Around 2pm, the doctor broke my water and WOW. The contractions started coming stronger and faster. Around 4pm, they checked my progress and I was only at 5cm. The baby was still quite high. I was getting tired and frustrated and the baby's heart rate started to drop a bit during contractions. I asked for the epidural. Knowing everything I'd read about excessive fluid, I knew there was a possibility that the cord was causing issues and if I was rushed to c-section, I wanted to be awake. I needed a full bag of fluid before they could give the epidural. It seemed to take forever. Then RC had to leave the room while the anasthesiologist worked his magic. The epidural was amazing. I was able to doze off for a few minutes and when I woke around 6:30pm, I told the nurse I thought I was ready to push soon. She checked me and I was at 10 and the baby's head was down and ready. Yay baby! It seems the epidural allowed me to relax enough for the baby to move into position.

The doctor, nurses and NICU team (like big sister, someone pooped before they were born) arrived just before 7pm and we were ready to get started. About seven pushes later, a sunny side up baby appeared. On the eigth set of pushes, the baby turned, got his shoulder stuck for a quick second and made his grand entrance into the world. He didn't cry at first and because his shoulder had gotten stuck, there wasn't even time for RC to cut the cord...the doctor announced "we've got boy parts" and quickly handed our son off. The neonatologist did some deep suction and all of a sudden we heard the sweet little cry that is Paxton's voice.

RC grabbed the camera and took a few first photos of our new baby boy. His Apgar scores were 7, then 9. 

The doctor collected the cord blood and quickly delivered the placenta. 

Finally, about ten minutes after birth, Pax was able to nurse. He latched perfectly and has been our best eater ever since. We snuggled to warm him up and soaked in every detail as we thought about who he looked like (definitely looked like big brother Porter at birth). 

We let our families know the baby arrived but made them wait to hear the sex and name announcement from big sister herself. My parents brought the kids over around 8:45pm, which is late for the kids, but they did great! Penny came into the room first and made the announcement  for everyone else. 

They were so proud as they held their baby brother. 

Seeing all three together was a wish come true! 

Paxton- we're so happy you're here! Thompson, party of five, just feels right.