It’s been nearly three weeks since Miles arrived, and I find myself forgetting that he has Downs. It might be because he’s usually swaddled up pretty good, so I rarely get a chance to see the rolls on the back of his neck. For me, those rolls are the only real physical reminder of his Downs. His eyes look OK to me. Sleepy, but OK.
The only time it really hits me is during feeding time. He can have a pretty difficult time getting a good suction on the bottles. A lot of the time, he’ll do this weird breathing freak-out thing that sounds as if he is having an asthma attack. It can be sort of gurgly, too, so I’m always afraid that I’m drowning him in milk.
It usually turns out OK, though. If you give him a break from the bottle, he’ll level out and start sucking like normal.
At any rate, Miles has found his place in our house without much trouble. We all love him, including Nora and the cats. Well… maybe not Gordon. It took him more than a year to show any sort of affection towards Nora. Pumpkin, on the other hand, has already been spotted holding vigil next to a sleeping Miles on the floor.
2 Comments
1 Tara wrote:
Our little guy is 3 mos. now, and I was the opposite of you. I remember asking when I would stop seeing Ds everytime I looked at him (his features are very mild so it was like I was looking for it). Turns out, that stopped when his personality started peeking out and he started really smiling!
You might want to mention the disorganization with the suck/swallow to his doc…that can be a sign of aspiration (ask me how I know:).
As far as telling co-workers, I’d probably add it as an aside. Like, “He just started therapy for his low muscle tone because of the Down syndrome” real matter of factly, almost like you assumed they already knew. That way they are informed, but not required to respond. (That can get so awkward as they don’t know what to say.)
Blessings on Miles – He’s got a great name!
2 Claudia wrote:
i think he’s a beautiful baby and you will learn a lot from miles.