The Truth Hits Hard

Veritee is staying here at the moment. Her mum, Kerrigh is in the hospital with complications in her pregnancy.

For those of you who don't know, Veritee is the youngest of Kerrigh's 6 girls (well, almost the second youngest of 7!) She was born at 30 weeks gestation, one week before Samara. They were due a day apart.

So, we met at the Royal Women's while our children were in the Intensive Care and then Special Care Nurseries, and we were at Ronald McDonald House.

Kerrigh was one of the first to bear the full brunt of my grief when Samara was diagnosed at 4 weeks of age.

Back in April, we went to stay with them. The girls' were 5 months corrected. I was petrified that I would find it hard seeing how much more Veritee was doing. But the truth is, Samara was holding her own pretty well, and Veritee was experiencing some delays. Now, don't get me wrong, I did worry about Veritee because, over the months Samara seemed to actually pass her in a lot of things. But, at the same time, it did make it easier to deal with when Samara wasn't doing too bad in comparison.

Well, as it turns out, Kerrigh was suffering from an anxiety disorder, and Veritee simply wasn't getting the stimulation she needed. Which, is actually good news as far as Veritee goes, because she has been getting a lot more of that stimulation lately.

But, today, while being overjoyed for Veritee, I was hit with a fresh wave of grief for Samara. Watching Veritee crawl, pull herself to stand, say quite a few words etc has been a harsh reminder that no matter how much Early Intervention we do, no matter how many dollars we spend on alternative therapies, no matter how much we pray, the truth is, Samara will always be left behind.

And it hurts. It really really hurts. I hate to see my baby girl sit there watching Veritee scooting around everywhere, with a real look of longing in her eyes. She wants to follow - to join the exploration. But she is stuck. She can move a little bit, but it takes her so much effort. I just want to cry out IT ISN'T FAIR!! Why does everything have to be so hard for my sweetie?

I know I have to get past this. If I have an attitude about it, she will end up with an attitude about it. For her sake, she needs to accept the way she has been designed. Because she was designed. She is not a mistake. We all have our crosses to bear. But for some reason, I wish I could take hers from her.

And yet, I do know how blessed we are to have her. A part of me wishes everyone could experience the sheer joy and wonder of having a baby with Down Syndrome. I find myself wishing all my pregnant friends would have a baby with T21. Is that bad? (of course, I would wish for them to have none of the medical issues that go with it!)

Anyway, I've said it now. I have had my cry. Time to move on. Thanks for listening.