alyssasblessings

Today I read an article someone posted in Baby Center, it was about a teen girl and her love for her sister with down syndrome. To see a teenager so compassionate love her sister is amazing. It made me think about my son, Christopher. Chris is a 10 year old boy who likes to play his video games. He is good in school, loves to read, and loves to play with his friends, but more than anything, he is the best brother Alyssa can have. When Alyssa came into the world, we did not know she had down syndrome until it was diagnosed at her birth. As I was a wreck, I did not give Chris the news until Alyssa was home with us, 12 days after her birth. I remember explaining to Chris that Alyssa was born with Down Syndrome, he asked me what did it mean. He looked so worried, as he was when the baby was in NICU and we would go visit her. I told him she is OK, but Aly would be a little different than any other kids. I told him she would learn everything but at her own pace, and I said you might have to ...

I am usually one of those people who mind their own business. When I walk through a mall, I used to  talk on the phone and go to the store without seeing the people around; however, since Alyssa was born, I am looking around more. I try to see people's faces. Some people look distressed, some people look in a hurry, some others look "just chilling", but I am looking for something more. I look around for special kids like mine. Since I had Alyssa, I havent seen any at all. I wonder if it is because of our society has left us behind or they just ignore us and make us skip life around. I see Alyssa and how unique she is. Yes she is different, but no more than any other baby pushed around in the mall. Maybe I am looking at the wrong places. In therapy, there are a few kids like Alyssa, but our words dont seem to collide, we have different schedules. I only have a few friends, yet most of them are from baby center. I just wish I find people IRL to relate to. I pray everyday, ...

Wow...what a roller coaster 2010 was! Glad to see it go away! It has been three months since Alyssa was born, and I have not written anything since November, I have been quite busy getting to know my little one. Grief is gone (finally!), now I am enjoying bonding with my little one. She has grown so much, she now weights 12 lbs and she smiles, her hair is growing, she lifts her head and her muscles are getting stronger. I am so proud of her. Even though, she still has her heart rate/apnea monitor due to her reflux, she does not have any episodes.Early steps helped me to get her into physical therapy and an infant toddler developmental specialist has been assigned to come to the house once a week. I barely remember the milestones with Christopher, I guess everything was taken for granted, but with Alyssa, anything she does is a success. She is really growing beautifully, she now babbles or as my mom says : "she establishes a conversation". I am so glad I have her with me n...

After 9 days in NICU, a apnea/heart monitor has been ordered to take Alyssa home. Her bilirubin went down(no more bili-blanket needed), her blood sugar has been stable, she was gaining weight, and she was ordered pepcid for the reflux, but she still has episodes of low heart rate. Doctor has told us we could take her home with the monitor, but we have to be sure to know CPR and we must follow up with her pediatrician. I have gone to visit Alyssa in her usual room, but they had changed her from a private room to a shared room outside the unit, what is called " overflow rooms". She was in a corner crib along with four babies in their respective ones. I felt so sad, it was a crowded room as three other babies were with their families. I hated it! As I spoke to the nurse, she told me it is a good sign she was moved out of the NICU room as it means she is more stable. I started praying so she could go home sooner. The doctor has asked to see me, so I went to interupt her rounds, a...

NICU was another scary place, at least for us parents. Alyssa had her own private room, NICU 7 baby, a new name was given to her, to add to her new "nicknames". My husband wheeled me in to visit her, she was hooked to heart monitors, oxygen saturation and biliblanket that made her look like a glow doll. Once again, the waterworks opened up. What a roll-a-coster! Alarms were so loud, and scary. I am a nurse, so I should be used to that, but not with my daughter. At least the nurses were great.! They let me keep on breastfeeding at visits, and also I would pump in my room and bring her milk for the night. Alyssa was seen again by the cardiologist after her results, she was given an ultrasound of the heart and an echo. He went back to our room to informed us that he had good news, no heart mumur was seen, as it has closed and femoral pulses were normal. He would give her the discharge, so she could go home with a promise to see him again in his office for a follow up. For once, ...

On September 29, 2010, my marginal placenta previa finally gave up, and my water broke at 5am. I have been bed rest since the beginning of August, so I really thought "great finally", but deep inside I was already worried since my baby would be born as of 35 weeks. I called out to my husband and he got up right away. He seemed scared this time. We had many scares before, I was in the hospital 4 times due to bleeding and low AF, but the bleeding was never so severe as this time was. On a rainy road, we headed to the hospital where our baby was going to be born. I had already called the doctor on my way in( I was popular in the doctor's office, go figure!). Scared out of my mind, I remember everything was so fast afterwards. We arrived at the hospital at 545am and by 722am, Alyssa Emily Rodriguez was born via C-section, she weighted 5lbs 2oz and she was 17in in lenght. I remember my husband trying to take a picture of the baby and the nurses asking him to cut the cord.The n...