A Good Cause

As a mother, one of my biggest concerns and worries is that something horrible will happen to my children. Now I'm sure I am not the only mother with this concern and not the only one who started worrying the second I found out I was pregnant. Of course that only increased once I began reading the multitudes of information about pregnancies and all of the things that could go wrong. Then I was faced with the possibility of testing for abnormalities with my babies and the worrying increased yet again. My husband and I discussed the idea of what we would do if something was "wrong" with our child and we agreed that we would love this child and do everything possible to help them no matter what. Thankfully everything was fine and our children came out just like every other child, perfect to us, their parents.

Now a friend of mine was blessed with a child not too long after me. When her baby was born she was adorable, sweet and diagnosed with Trisomy 18. I had never heard of this and had no idea what it would mean for my friend or her beautiful little girl. I did some research but mostly I found read my friend's facebook posts and blog where she began to explain this journey she was going to be on. Doctors said that this beautiful little girl would not live very long. She had a problem where her esophagus did not reach her stomach, a heart condition and a few other complications due to her having an extra 18th chromosome. Unforseen by many doctors, this amazing, strong and courageous little girl thrived in life for 9 incredible months before she became an angel. My friend changed completely, appreciates life much more fully and appreciated the amazing small accomplishments her daughter made that we sometimes take for granted.

Recently, I found an amazing little boy on facebook who was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. These parents were told that he wouldn't live when he was born. That he wouldn't survive a day. 135 days of thriving incredible life later is when he passed to become an angel as well.

Now what these children have in common other than having Trisomy (a third chromosome) is that thousands of people fell in love with them without meeting them. They are miraculous little bundles of perfect innocence wrapped in love and shared with others. It is so rare to be reminded of the utter and complete perfection of a child and yet both of these children did remind me. Both of these children defied the odds, thrived, inspired, amazed and made me fall in love with them. Their stories made me appreciate all that I have been blessed to receive and inspired me to become more educated in understanding Trisomy. Parents of both children have dreamed of spreading awareness of Trisomy and as a parent and someone who loved these children I would like to spread that awareness as well. If you are ever looking for a good cause to donate to or would like to help please consider these non profit organizations:

Hope for Trisomy 13 & 18
P.O. Box 921
Springtown, TX 76082

SOFT (Support Organization for Trisomy)
2982 South Union Street
Rochester, NY 14624

If you would like to learn some more about Corbin McHenry you can find info on the facebook page made for him at https://www.facebook.com/prayersforcorbinmchenry?ref=br_tf