Hi, my name is Sandi. I was 39 when I decided I would love to have one more baby. I had hoped for a girl, since I have three other children that are all boys. My husband didn't have any kids of his own. So we decided to start trying. It didn't take long, and we found out we were pregnant. My pregnancy was super good all the way through except near the end. My fluid was really low, so I had to start having ultra sounds twice a week and stress tests every day to see how the baby was doing. I had found out earlier from one of my ultra sounds that I was having a girl. I was so happy. So, near the end of my pregnancy, five weeks before my due date, the ultra sounds were saying that Cassie wasn't gaining much weight. It said she was just over three pounds. We talked to our doctor and we all decided it was time to take her out so she could start gaining weight. I had a c-section five weeks early. It turned out that she was 4lbs 11oz. Not what the ultra sound had predicted. Not a bad weight considering my twins were that weight also and they were five weeks early too. I remember hearing her little cry. It was so different; so cute. I commented on it as soon as I heard her. She looked perfect when the doctor brought her over for us to see. I was so happy.

I always had a fear of what would happen if one of my kids had a disability. I always thought I would never be able to do it, and may have to give it up. Within the first day, our pediatrician came to us and said they wanted to do blood testing for Down Syndrome. I couldn't believe my ears. I had looked at her so careful, and told everyone she was ok. I was so shocked. Then, we found out that she had two holes in her heart. Then we found out she had Transient Leukemia, which could go away within three months. So off to Ottawa we went. Cassie was flown by air ambulance and Mike and I drove for a three day journey at sick kids hospital in Ottawa. CHEO. It was terrible for us. Thank God the tests that they were doing were minimal. I really hate tests and needles and all that stuff. It was a nightmare though. I was so glad to be back home after a few days. We found out that Cassie would need open heart surgery by around five months. The Leukemia she had would go away. It took a week for her blood testing to come back, and I knew she had DS. I just felt it in my heart.

We sat in our pediatricians office and received the news of a positive reading of Trisomy 21. Our pediatrician told us she also had a daughter with DS. You know, I was so happy to hear that, and shocked of course. We saw a picture of her. I told our pediatrician that I was so glad to have her knowing that she had gone through similar things. Cassie had to stay in the hospital for five weeks. She had feeding issues. She had a poor suck. One of the nurses showed us a bottle that could help her drink her bottle. Its called a Haberman bottle. I got the hang of it eventually. That kind of bottle is normally for children with cleft palettes. It was the best thing for Cassie. Cassie also had an NG tube that helped her feed also. Finally after 5 weeks, she was able to come home. I was determined for that NG tube to come out. I hated it. It only lasted for two weeks, and I prayed, and she no longer needed it anymore. She was able to drink out of her Haberman.

We had routine checkups with our pediatrician and we were told to watch for signs of heart failure. We thought we were really lucky since she showed no signs at all. Just before she was due for heart surgery, we found out that because she had no signs of heart failure, it may be a bad thing. The surgeon said that the worry could be when they did the surgery, the pressure in her heart would change dramatically and could become a concern.

We had to drive almost four hours to Ottawa for her surgery date at age five months. You can't describe the feeling of how you feel the morning you get up, knowing what is to come. The day of her surgery, we were up early giving Cassie her special bath with an antibacterial soap, which we had to do the evening before as well. We walked over to the hospital and sat and waited. They came to get Cassie, and I broke down. They took her away and we went to sit in the little waiting room. The surgeons nurse was great. She would come in every hour or so to let us know how things were going. They had found some extra little things they had needed to fix while doing the surgery. It took a bit longer than it was supposed to. We were able to see her by 3pm that day. She left for surgery at 8am. I was ok when I first saw Cassie after surgery. I had watched a tv show and had prepared myself as best as I could. But you really cant prepare yourself for something like this. Because Cassie has DS, they had to feed her drugs every hour or so to keep her calm. She was bothered and you could tell. I had pictured Cassie to be laying still  and rested, but she wasn't. She was moving about. It really bothered me. They finally put her on a different drug which helped. The nurses said DS kids seem to eat up sedatives and they have to give it to them more often. Cassie did very well with her surgery. Every day she improved. She was out of the hospital in less than a week, and we were home in less than two weeks. Thank God its over. We went back for a follow up two months later. There is some narrowing of the valve. They said nothing to be worried about, but something to keep a check on.

Cassie is progressing well. After surgery, she started drinking her bottle so much better and was drinking more than she had before. You could see the strength she was getting. Cassie was saying Ba Ba, Na Na, before her surgery. She even beat my other kids in that. She reached for her toys at around three months and put them in her mouth. She was rolling from her back to tummy, and had even started to roll from her tummy to back before surgery. Surgery did put her back though. It took awhile for her to start saying her words again, and to roll. It was around eight months of age to get her words back, and to start rolling from back to tummy. She is almost one now, and still doesn't roll from tummy to back. She really doesn't like tummy time at all. She sat on her own at ten months for short periods of time and still does. She stood stiff legged on you at around nine months. She isn't crawling yet, but has just started to pivot on the floor.

Cassie has always eaten well. I started pablum at six months, soon after that, jarred foods. She is eating not quite a half jar of her food. (small jars) She is a small eater, but eats well.

We have a group of ladies that come in every now and then to see how Cassie is progressing. They say she is doing very well. I know she will do motor skills in her own time. And that's ok, as long as she does them. We all have expectations of Cassie and that is good. Cassie weighs around twenty pounds right now at a year old April 4th 2008.