Check out Natalie's new site! The page you are currently on will eventually become a poems and quotes page and will be linked from her other site. ENJOY!!!!
Despite negative AFP and ultrasound results Natalie was born with Down Syndrome. We are very excited and honored to have her in our lives.
We wanted to share the following poem with all of you to help you understand how we feel. It is kind of long but VERY worth reading. We are so excited to be in Holland and we hope you will make the trip with us.
Welcome to Holland
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
Cliff figured out the chance of us having Natalie was .0000375%! To quote Aunt Kerry "Now we have proof that she is one in a million!" *SMILE*
"You are so lucky, people with Down Syndrome are always such happy people."
Here is a picture of my Grandpa Arnold when he was a baby. Remind you of anyone?
Don't forget to go to Natalie's new page for picture updates!!! |
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**NEW POEM**
When I am ready...
When I am ready, I will smile.
You’ll have to wait a little while.
Its one of the first things I learn to do, I want it to be just right for you.
When I am ready, I’ll sleep through.
There may be small things you can do, to help me do it, but you’ll soon see, that in the end, it’s down to me.
When I am ready, I will crawl.
And then you’ll have no peace at all.
Into everything I’ll be, No time for your nice cup of tea!
When I am ready I will walk. And when I’m ready, I will talk.
Then that’s it, big milestones done. (Though you will still cherish ones to come.)
And when you’re old and up I’ve grown, and maybe perhaps children of my own, you’ll look at them and you will sigh - How fast the time has passed you by!
Was I really as small as that, helpless and tiny, in booties and hat?
And much as you tried to enjoy each part, there was that wish inside your heart; will you ever get there? You used to say, as you wished my babyhood away.
The others are doing it, why aren’t you? Because it’s not my time - if only you knew
that all the worry was a waste of time, the decision of when, was always mine.
I did it all in the end, nice and steady. I told you I’d do it when I was ready!
The song "Wonder" by Natalie Merchant so perfectly describes my Natalie's life! The lyrics capture our view of her so well! "know this child will be able", "I'm a challenge to your balance", and our mantra..."know this child will be gifted. With love, with patience and with faith she'll make her way"
If you ever get a chance to see the video...DO IT! You can view it on YouTube. I am working on getting in on here. If you know how to do it...HELP ME!!! hahaha
Wonder
By Natalie Merchant
Doctors have come
from distant cities
just to see me
stand over my bed
disbelieving what they're seeing
They say I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation
and as far as they can see they can offer
no explanation
Newspapers ask
intimate questions
want confessions
they reach into my head
to steal the glory
of my story
They say I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation
and as far as they as they see they can offer
no explanation
I believe
fate smiled & destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
"know this child will be able"
laughed as my body she lifted
"know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience
and with faith
she'll make her way"
People see me
I'm a challenge
to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you
and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders
of God's own creation
and as far as you can see you can offer me
no explanation
I believe
fate smiled & destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
"know this child will be able"
laughed as she came to my mother
"know this child will not suffer "
laughed as my body she lifted
"know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience
and with faith
she'll make her way"
Time Enough for Milestones
No firsts today, okay?
There is plenty of time for those tomorrow.
Today, just let me hold you,
watch you,
absorb you,
meet you.
And all those milestones?
They can wait.
-Betty Williamson-
Fragile child, still awkward in your small body. I hold you as if you were made of glass, frightened of moving the wrong way. I am overwhelmed that you are mine, that God has chosen me to protect you. I feel helpless at times knowing that one day you will step into the world and that I must know exactly when to let you go.
Our Fragile Emissary
With modern screening and such
they wonder why
you're here, on this earth
in our home
and in our arms,
after all, anyone
with any sense would have resolved
this problem of you
pre-birth, pre pain.
Blonde Beauty,
tiny as you are,
you catch their stares,
strangers' second glances
into tender baby blues.
And your young
sweet ears hear whisperings
("Down's," "defects")
words dropped loosely
at extra-chromosomed girls.
With such stinging receptions
how we long to shelter you,
surround you; keep your
gentle smiles to ourselves.
Instead, we hold you
up, for others to see;
let you, our fragile emissary
speak to an imperfect world.
Nancy Tupper Ling
Down Syndrome Creed
My face may be different, but my feelings the same, I laugh, I cry, I take pride in my gains. I was sent here among you to teach you to love, As God in the heavens looks down from above. To Him I'm no different, His love knows no bounds. It's those here among you, in the cities and towns, that judge me by standards that man has imparted. But the family He has chosen will help me get started. For I am one of His children, so special and few, that came here to learn the same lessons as you. That love is acceptance, it must come from the heart. We all have the same purpose, though not from the start. The Lord gave me life to live and embrace, and I'll do it as you do, just at my own pace.
"You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think" - Christopher Robin
Just when you think you have learned all there is to know in life...
someone truly special comes into it and shows you just how much more there is.
'Downsyn'
The following are some of our favorite links and videos. Just click on the pictures. Enjoy!
A link to Natalie's photo montage. ENJOY!!!
***NEW***Belly progression montage.
Aiden Rector's page (Kristi's baby)
If you have a child with down syndrome and would like the support of other families please visit us at www.downsyn.com.
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