Hi, new here and what a journey!

[Peanut08]

Hi,
I posted on antenatal choices recently and have been steered here by some of the mums I chatted to about continuing a pregnancy with a disabled child (lovely, supportive thread)

I have a DH and 3 DC 7,5 and 7 months my youngest DS has down's syndrome he was diagnosed at 16 weeks pregnant by an amnio last year and after quite a few difficult months of worry and 'fear of the unknown' he's here and we're left wondering what all the fuss was about he's fantastic and I'm so proud of him.
We've gone through the weight gain and feeding problems, heart surgery for an AVSD with complications following surgery (definatly my lowest point) but now he is healthy and growing, developing well and is a very happy and content baby who has changed our lives.
So here I am. Looking forward to getting to know you and your DC and thanking you again for the lovely welcome on the other thread. x

Hello and welcome to the sn board.
I hav a 14yr old dd who has cp.

Hi, I have a DS 8 year old with down syndrome, tetraology of fallot, sensory processing disorder, challenging behaviour, severe learning disability, sight and hearing probs, non epileptic fits, autistic traits, lung probs and so on. Life is certainly unique. I also have a daughter 11 (ADD, ODD), stepdaughters 20, 18 and stepsons who are also learning disability 15 and 14. Grandson whos 2. Any questions etc just ask.
I found the ds hard to accept at first and have went through numerous rough patches but wouldn't change anything for the world. I'm glad you feel the same. Take care.

hello, come in and make yourself at home! what a lovely thread. congratulations on the new addition to your family. this is such a supportive forum, i'm sure you'll like it here.

i have a ds (3.4) who has a language disorder/ asd traits and dd (1) who is just as cheeky and just as much fun!

hi and welcome and yep i found this bunch full of support and advice

i have ds whos 3.9 who has Sli, GDD, hypertonial .hypermoblity and ASd traits and is a pickle to say the least but I happen to think hes gorgeous moi biased of course
and have ds 14
ds2 12
and dd who has immune problems

Hello and welcome!!

Oh hello!
I too have three children 5, 2 and almost 7 months. My youngest also has downs syndrome which we found out about oooh about 5 minutes after he was born. I am still having good and bad weeks - how much of that though is just down to having 3 children, who knows!
I am so pleased to hear from someone else who has a baby with DS - we are struggling with feeding and weight gain but otherwise so far so good (touch wood).

Hi
welcome

Hello and welcome!! I'm glad your DS is growing and happy; he sounds lovely. I'm still new to this section; DS (3) with language and social skills delay; possible ASD - appt next week (eek)

Hello and congratulations to you and to fizzydizzy too on the new(ish) arrivals. My first has DS and is 11 now - he's making the transition to High School over the next few months which makes me feel about 100! Have two other dcs, ds2 of 10 and dd who is 6m.

Fizzy - we had weight gain and feeding issues too and in fact, he's still off the DS growth charts but there doesn't seem to be any medical reason for that. We tell anyone who asks (usually children, bless, who tend to be quite forward in asking you about your dc!) that he is small made.

Have you both had info from the Downs Association? Lots of very useful info from them. Also found info from Downs Syndrome Educational Trust very useful. Do you know anyone who has DS?

hello and welcome.

I don't have a disabled child (have ds who is six), i myself am visually impaired though although I don't let that hold me back. Although my ds does not have sn doesn't stop me from voicing my opinions here on a regular basis .

Hi there. I'm new here too. Our DS2 has DS, he was 1 year old on Wed. There are loads of piccies of him on our profile. Fortunately for us (at the moment) he doesn't have any other problems apart from a small amount of hearing loss. We don't live in England so it's a bit of a challenge for us dealing with the medical side of things in Spanish, but we're getting there. Fortunately, everyone so far has been wonderful and he has been having occupational & physiotherapy since he was a couple of months old.

I don't have access to a computer at home so only post on MN during the week while I'm at work - naughty me Having only just recently joined the SN threads I'm still getting to know people but I will endeavour to keep in touch with people.

Must go as nearly home time. xxxxx

Hi Peanut08 and Soph73

Welcome to sn board.

I have 3 dcs (ds1, ds2 and dd3) DS2 has a dx of asd.

Hello and welcome, I've only been looking at mn for a couple of weeks but they seem a friendly bunch. I have 3 DS. 15,12,10. The younger 2 are ASD the 12 year old has classic autism with LD, the younger, moderate ASD who manages with a statement in mainstream. My third is a NT teenager more trouble than the other 2 put together! I hope you find lots of support here.

hi there and welcome to Peanut, soph and veg!

gotta run, but pleased to meet you all!

Hi, congratulations on your lovely baby x

peanut - did you post on the pg after mc thread? I remember a peanut - tho sure it would be quite a well used moniker on an forum so birrova long shot it being you

my dd has rare chromo disorder and metabolic issues. She's nearly 4

sorry eatyrveg - didn't see yr message. Wave off me to you as well

Hello Peanut, Soph and Veg, welcome to the SN board.

Hello to Soph73 and eatyourveg too

Marmoset - you have made me feel better. I have a hang up from oldest son and get obsessed about feeding and weight and stupidly keep focusing on the standard weight chart instead of the DS one which he is doing ok on. Cant for love nor money get him to eat solid food though.
I dont know any other babies with DS, there is a child in my oldest sons school year who has DS but I have found it all a bit difficult to be honest - more so the worrying about the family as a whole. I have spent years listening to families of adults with ld and feel that that is now the rest of my life.
I have only been checking mumsnet out for a few weeks and it has helped!

Thanks for welcome and hi to all the other new mums too.
I'm going to post again later as my computer is about to die on me and I need DH to come home and revive it.
X

Hello again,
computers up and running now so I'd like to say thank you again for your warm welcome and for telling me all about your DC. Looking forward to getting to know you all

fizzyanddizzy,like you said, great to hear from someone who has a baby with DS when was he born? DS was the 28th of Aug. Sorry your having a tough time with feeding/weight issues hope your getting lots of support. DS's feeding issues were mostly due to his heart problems and although small he's doing a lot better now. I too worry about my family and the future but kind of got my head straight during pregnancy when was told by the paed cosultant that having a child with DS is the making of a lot families. Hang in there

Soph73, love the photos a year must of flown by. Look forward to chatting.

marmoset, Finding out about DS while pregnant meant I spent loads of time reading up, researching and preparing before his arrival (shame I failed to put as much effort in to researching the reality of 3 children ) so have been in touch with DS association and have recently discovered DS ed trust, great site. Have joined a local DS group with children ranging from 0-12, don't know any teens or adults though.

pixiemason, Hi to you and DD. sorry wrong peanut,[hmmm] not very original name is it.

take care all xx

Peanut08 - my son was born on the 4th October - he was very clever and let me have a fab waterbirth and no stitches and for that I am forever in debt to him! Have your DS's heart issues been resolved? How incredibly frightening for you. Our oldest DS was diagnosed at 9 weeks with a heart problem and it wasnt until he was about 9 months that his feeding realy picked up.

I think DS3's feeding problems might be more to do with me not giving him the right food! Yesterday he was onto a winner - a friends daughter decided to put a raisin in his mouth (cue 3 grown women flapping their arms hysterically) and then his older brother decided to give him some chocolate milk - he had a smile on his chops for the rest of the afternoon!

This week is a good week and I consider myself very lucky to have such a fab baby. Am particularly loving the fact that he is still such a baby. Often you can spend your time wanting them to get to the next stage - certainly did with my other two and actually this time round its lovley to have each stage last that little bit longer.

marmoset - thanks for the dsed tip - have checked it out and looks most useful.

peanut I just wanted to agree with what you were told by your doctor about it making some families.

As I said DS2 has a syndrome with many similar traits to downs and my DH will say often that he has changed our family for the better. We have more consideration for each other and a much nicer outlook on life. Little things bog us down far less and whilst some things are very tough on the whole I would say our family is far stronger than before.

As for the future, well at least knowing about potential problems allows for planning and forward thinking.

Hope you all have a good weekend.