31 for 21:Day 12-- Importance of educating others

Here I am again posting at the last minute~I know my mind has been screaming the importance of getting a good nights sleep to me for the past week.  Tomorrow night I will plan to have a little sleep over with my mind and body!  For now, more awareness coming your way....

I decided to start writing again because I do feel it is so important to spread awareness on behalf on my little one.  I am her voice.  Five thousand babies are born each year with Ds.  That is out of a total of over 4 million born each year in the United States alone.  No wonder I felt so alone when I first got the news.  If you think about it, that number is a needle in the haystack kind of number.  I went to my sons open house last year and my Katie is the one in 733 number.  Meaning one out of every 733 children born have Ds.  You may hear 1 in 700 or 1 in 800 too as the number of children born with Ds.  Will she go to school with anyone else who has Ds, especially someone her age?  I have 2 friends who have daughters who will go to the same school.  I wish my little girl was going to their school too!  Since Ds is such a minority group, we moms and dads have to let others know about our experiences raising a child with Ds.  It is so important to me to have other people see the absolute joy my daughter brings to my life.  I can't imagine her in this world any other way.  Someone once asked me if I have ever thought of what Kaitlyn would be like if she didn't have Ds.  I would be telling you a story if I said that I have never given it a thought before in the past.  But I think that is just natural for you to wonder what if.  I love her with all of my being and she wouldn't be Katie any other way.  I worry about her future.  I worry about her being left behind.  I worry about her being made fun of.  But I can't let those worries consume my thoughts.  And really, they are fleeting thoughts from time to time for me.  I don't obsess over them because none of those things will ever change her.  I will deal with those things as they occur.  

The Ds will never go away.  Her DNA makeup has 3 copies of  the 21st chromosome in every cell.  People have asked if the Ds is mild or severe.  Their delays can be mild or severe, but there is no such thing as mild Ds.  Some people have a different type of Ds, which is called mosaicism and another type which is called translocation.  95% of all Ds is the type Kaitlyn has, which is Trisomy 21.  It is important to let people know the misconceptions, the challenges, the joys, the facts about Ds.  We have to remind ourselves how much of an impact we have already made in the last few years alone.  Our children are going to live good lives right now thanks to all the important people who have shared and educated before us.  We need to continue to share and educate those coming behind us.  Our children do matter and they are beautiful people.  Spread the word!!