A Good Visit

In this ,the smallest state, lives the biggest man. His name is Dr. Pueschel, M.D., Ph.D., J.D., M.P.D., He has studied in Germany,and Canada, earned a Master of Public health degree from Harvard. He became director of the first Down Syndrome Program, at Children's Hospital in Boston. Luckily for us in 1975 he was appointed director of the Child Development Center at RI hospital. His greatest accomplishment...raising a son with DS. When Emilia was born, the first thing the nurses in the delivery room said to me was , make sure you get in touch with Dr. P. , He's so wonderful, he works with children who have DS. Upstairs in my room at the hospital, again the nurses are telling me to make sure I get in touch with Dr. P, then one added with a smile, "he'll find you". At 2:00 am, the nurses came to inform me they were taking Em to the NICU, because she was having trouble breathing (it wasn't serious). After she was settled and I could see her, what do you think the first thing the NICU nurses said, oh, wait until you meet Dr. P. "OK, who is this guy and why is everyone so crazy about him"? I asked the nurse. Oh you'll see , she said, He'll be here before you go home, he always comes when one of these sweethearts are born. She added, "he retired 20 years ago but never left." Well , he did find us, I don't know how. The hospital must get in touch with him when a DS baby is born. He has his office at RI Hospital and the babies are delivered at Women and Infants, its all connected, there's also Hasbro Children's Hospital, it's a massive complex, really beautiful. I missed his first visit, Em was still in the NICU, he came and examined her and set up another appointment to meet us before we left the hospital. The second I saw him, I knew why everyone just smiled when they spoke about him. He just instantly relaxes you, He is soft spoken and kind, and he is so happy for you and your baby. He really seemed excited for us and the journey we were just beginning. And humble, I mean I didn't even scratch the surface of all his accomplishments and awards and honors, books, it just goes on and on, the man is a genius. At that first meeting Peter said something like ,we are really in good hands with you, and his reply was , "I know something about DS."I love this man. Another reason why I love him, he refers to all DS children as, "our children". I just can't say enough about this man. If any of you have met him you know what I mean. He is the Prince of DS. And glad to report Emilia, got a big thumbs up from Dr. P at her visit yesterday.

*Picture- this is about 2 minutes after having blood drawn, she's so good.