Emilia is a little under the weather today. She has been up since 4:30am. A stuffy nose and probably a sore throat from breathing through her mouth. No fever ,so I am hopeful it is nothing big. The cute part is that her adoring fan club, who all should be getting ready for school, are trying to comfort her.Anyone worried about how other siblings will react to a new baby who has Ds. Don't! It was one of my concerns too, but as you can see, they love her to pieces. There was never an issue for them. The minute they saw her, they were in love.
They all had initial fears. Fears that she would look different, or that their friends would reject them. All normal fears. Mine were worse than those.
One thing we did was we talked a lot about those fears. And we looked at families, (through blogs) together. We saw families doing things together , living a "normal" life. It really helped my kids to understand what Ds was.
My advise to anyone who might be reading this, and are in this particular situation, would be , just be as open as possible with your children.Include them in on as much as possible. Prepare for this child together as a family.
As scared as I was, this is one thing I think I did right. And I do believe it paid off. My children are Emilia's biggest advocates and protectors. The love they have for her is a beautiful thing to watch.
13 comments:
I'm so sorry you little sweetie isn't feeling right. I hope it's nothing serious and she is on the mend quickly. Praying!!
Precious, steph. For some reason I started getting all choked up there at the end. I guess because children are so accepting. I wonder if your sibs would've even 'seen' Em's DS & would've just loved her as she is. Great advice for anyone facing what you have.
Oh sibling of DS kids are so lucky. They become more compasionate people, and thats what we need in this world.
Seasonal changes, yes! Funny thing is, our OrganizerSon is actually doing better than the rest of us now. Wasn't that way when he was little, though. We used every trick in the book to keep the congestion down. Percuss him first thing in the morning, suction his nose gently, and make sure we didn't feed him too soon after that routine or it would all come back up. Many nights I had to prop up on the couch and hold him up to breathe.
Beginning to think there really is something to this milk business, too. ComputerSon loves milk and has lots of congestion, especially first thing in the morning. But as the OrganizerSon got older he didn't want milk anymore, and he had less troubled with the stuffy nose bit. He seems to do a better job of listening to his body than the rest of us. I don't have to tell him to drink plenty of water. He just does it.
Hope Emilia feels better soon. Hope you get enough rest.
I think that is great advice. Our kids were great and are still great with Sam, they love him to pieces but I have crossed paths with new Mothers who are concerned about what to tell their kids. Great idea to show them blogs of other families doing normal family stuff. Hope the little cutie feels better soon, Sam is a little under the weather as well.
I am so happy that my kids have loved Ella from the beginning too. I think that what helps is that as a baby, the differences aren't really noticeable to a child so I really believe that they would only think differently if we train them to. I have always treated Ella the same. I have made sure to explain to them what Ds is and that Ella will take longer to do things but we really have never made it a big deal.
I couldn't agree more with you about siblings LOVING their brother or sister with Down syndrome...my kids ADORE their little brother and can't get enough of him...I do believe though that GOD chooses certain parents and CERTAIN siblings to bring a child with Down syndrome into our world...Hope she is feeling better soon...:) BTW, LOVE the new fall pic of her on your header....soooooo cute!
Beautiful advice! My kids have grown by leaps and bounds since Justin joined our family! They have so much love and compassion... for everyone now! What wonderful kids you have!
I tagged you on my blog. Go check it out.
Hope she feels better soon! You are right. My girls love their sister for everything that she is. Now the two older girls have their moments of sibling rivalry but they will always protect the baby!
I LOVE the new picture up top. Emilia looks so beautiful:)
Although Lillian does not have Ds, my kids are exactly the same. They don't see a "different" child. They just see their sister and love her. They are not jealous, they are not terribly afraid of her (except when she's puking or choking) but they help me with everything. It is just apart of our life. I love it. Great Post! I do hope that precious little angel only has a cold and is up to snuff very soon!! Sending a prayer!
Looks to me like Em has a protective fanclub!! So sweet.
How is she feeling today? Praying for a speedy recovery. xo
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