Reagan's Down syndrome...birth preface (31 for 21 post 1)

Today is the first day of Down syndrome awareness month so it seems appropriate to kick it off with the story of how I started to become aware of Down syndrome.  With the birth of sweet Reagan.  It was the morning sickness that gave it away.  My beloved midwife warned us all that she was going to be gone in September and October of last year and to...err...plan accordingly.  With the busy-ness of the holidays and having just weaned Cadence I miss the fact that I was pregnant for several weeks until the morning sickness kicked in (not something I'd struggled with in my other pregnancies).  

A quick calculation told me that I was due when Lori was going to be gone.  After I started breathing again I decided to remember the lessons I learned through Cadence's birth, that God had a plan for me even if I didn't like it at the first look.  And if that meant no Lori then I would be open to what there was for me to learn from this experience.  An early ultrasound for dating and an adjustment of travel plans showed that Reagan was due Sept 20th, 5 days before Lori's departure for France.  Relief!  Joy! Gratitude!  Now to make sure she wasn't late.  Now on the the fun 20 week ultrasound where we got to find out we were having another little girl.  

Normal ultrasound with one tiny exception.  The report came back that she had an echogenic focus on her heart.  What does that mean?  Honestly nothing.  It could  mean a slight increase in the chance for Down syndrome.  It is a soft marker and the only one she had.  It is also present in 30% of Asian babies and Reagan is half Filipino.  I filed the report and though nothing more of it.  Until the week before she was born.  And then I started pondering what it would mean to be the mother of a special needs child.  I didn't obsess over it, but it was there on my heart and mind.  That was truly my introduction to the awareness of Down syndrome.

Tomorrow: Reagan's arrival :)