The rain (or hail, or whatever it is) is pounding against the attic windows tonight. Every morning I look outside the back window and make sure the weasel house is still standing, and they haven’t blown away. I hate this weather.
I’m still fighting off this whateveritis, and the headaches are really getting me down. I cancelled my lesson tonight. Phil insists on putting the news on, even though I would prefer to avoid Shrub’s inaugural celebrations, although some of the newscasters have been satisfyingly snarky and sarcastic which does help to cheer me up. So, America is going to stop teaching science and replace it with religion? Gosh, what a wonderful idea. Why don’t you ban SpongeBob SquarePants, while you’re at it? Oops, you’re waaay ahead of us. Pah.
My sister has had some very bad news. She and her husband have been trying for ages to have a baby, and finally resorted to IVF. They harvested eggs, managed to finally implant three viable ones, and one survived. The process has been extremely expensive (about $15,000 so far). She’s been going through all of the tests and hormone shots and everything else…and has just found out that the baby probably has Down’s Syndrome. She is devastated. (Note to everyone back home…although I’m writing about this, this is obviously private to her, just in case you happen to see each other.) I feel so badly for her, and yet…perhaps there was a reason why they weren’t meant to have children. But what’s done is done, and I know they’ll love the child very much. But still…it’s one of the things you fear when you’re pregnant, isn’t it?
This wasn’t a very cheery update. :(
This was the link that I was looking for. “More than half of people surveyed in a BBC World Service poll say the re-election of US President George W Bush has made the world more dangerous….The survey found that 47% of the 21,953 people questioned now see US influence in the world as largely negative, and view Americans negatively as well.” Should I start practicing a Canadian accent? :(
Downs kids can be very rewarding. My brothers neighbours are active caring parents of a 32 yr old downs child. They are in their 80’s. My main job is in a publishing house that makes things for special ed kids. Every single person that works with them seems to get something from it. I know having a downs baby may not be a first choice but I am sure they are happy they have a child who will live a fairly normal productive life. I know for me personally being childless would be more painfull. My sister in law got told there was a chance her second would be downs, he was not. He is small and slightly underdeveloped for his age but he is now thriving with the right support.
The people with Down’s that I’ve known have been happy and content, if not able to live a totally independent life. And there is a chance that the baby will be ok, of course – I think they’re just saying that there is a strong possibility. Not having the child won’t be an option – she’ll have it, and they’ll love him/her…it’s just not what you dream of, is it?
Nor spending the rest of their lives caring for it…kind of puts your whole life on long term hold doesn’t it…
It definitely alters the way you live. I’ve known a few people with Down’s children and while they don’t love their children any less than other parents love theirs, being a parent to this child means that they don’t get to live their lives exactly as they had hoped or planned. I don’t think it negates the love they have for their child or their worth as parents at all to recognize that there is some sadness at the loss of their dreams.
Whatever the outcome, I hope everything goes as well as possible for your sister and her husband and their child.
Thank you. :)
I’m very sorry to hear about what your sister is going through. The stress of not knowing for sure if the child will have Down’s or not must be very difficult to deal with. I opted out of that type of testing with this pregnancy because it seemed to me that unless there was a chance of correcting such a condition, there was no point in worrying throughout the rest of the pregnancy. knowing ahead of time. I know it’s not the same for everyone and that some people would like to have more time to prepare for such a possibility. J and I discussed it and decided that we would prefer to deal with things as they come. For us as well, termination is not an option.