A Mother’s Discovery & Faith
 An inspirational article by Yvonne Pierre, the mother of a child with Down Syndrome.
A mother’s intuition is always right. All during my pregnancy, I felt that it was something special about my baby, but I could not put my finger on it. Two days after giving birth to Zyon, looking at him for the first time I noticed a familiar look. The doctors did not say anything, so I just credited it to thinking it was just me. But that day something did go wrong. The nurse noticed that Zyon was having digestive problems. They took him to ICU (intensive care unit) for "observation".
A few hours passed, and then his father and I went to visit him. As we approached the ICU, we saw a group of doctors standing near the entrance whispering. I immediately heard one of them say, "Here they come now". The lead doctor approached us and said, "Follow me, we need to talk privately". Immediately a lump formed in my throat and my heart was beating very fast as we walked down this long hallway.
She told us that our son had a heart condition and they think he may have Down syndrome. We went to visit him and I could not hold back the tears. I excused myself and went to the restroom to hide my tears. After two minutes, I dried my eyes and thought, "What am I crying for? He is HERE!" I haven’t cried since.
Zyon’s father and I took him to the geneticist to get the results of his test. Yes, he had Down syndrome. The human thing to do is worry and panic, but I did not. The doctor told us, "Don’t get your hopes up and he probably will not result to anything." I thought, "Says who? You’ve never met Zyon, nor can you tell me what his future will be." He also stated, "If you get pregnant again, we can test you in enough time to abort it, if it has Downs."
I never treated Zyon any differently than I treated my older son, Zyair (12). I never put limitations on either one of my children. I have faith in the Creator and that he makes no mistakes. So why would I dare believe that He had made one with my son. No matter what the ability or disability we all serve a divine purpose.
Now, two years later Zyon is doing awesome. Amazingly, the specialist could not find a trace of anything wrong with his heart. He is walking, communicating, and he loves to dance and sing. He is very observant and picks up on things quickly. This only confirmed what he already has and continues to prove to us each day: it’s not about the huge things out there that he hasn’t learned, but the small things that he has learned TODAY.
This experience has also taught me another very important thing. There is not enough positive awareness of the children and adults with Down syndrome. This often leads a lot of parents to fear, depression, and worry. Some put limits on their children because they believe what they were told. That "they can’t" and that "they won’t". This also, leads some parents to give their children up for adoption and even abortion.
The facts are that everyone learns on different levels. Some things we are good at and other things we are not so good at. Zyon has been such a blessing to the family and has taught me in almost three years that the sky is the only limit, the true meaning of love, and about Faith and the essence of life. I would not trade that for anything in the world.
Copyright © Yvonne Pierre
I looked into Zyon’s eyes and there came the birth of "Have Ya Heard? The Ability of Downs"... Launched in December of 2004, the site www.hyhonline.com (HYH Online) was designed to promote positive awareness, provide information on Down syndrome, resources, reviews and many more things to come. HYH Online will give hope to new and existing parents that feel as though there is no hope. What a parent believes will have a huge impact on their child’s outcome, as it is with any child. Our goal is to help others to find that hope and to let them know that blessings always come in disguise. For more information visit us at HYH Online (website listed above) or send us an email to admin@hyhonline.com.
|
articles 
