Greeting cards seem to be a relic of the past and maybe that’s a good thing. After bringing our precious baby home from the hospital and getting her all set up in her new crib, I put my feet up and started going through the mail that had arrived during my extended hospital stay.

It was a difficult pregnancy which I attributed to my advanced age of forty-four, and that my innards had not carried a baby for fifteen years. Being bed-ridden as a preventative measure for slowing the contractions gave me plenty of time for reading pregnancy books as well as baby books.

After Moishey was born and subsequently diagnosed with Down syndrome, lots of advice poured in. Most was unsolicited, but not necessarily all bad (some of it was really out of line…). We learnt fast how to grow Teflon skin and just let most of it slide off…

My son Shmuli was born via repeat C-section after an uneventful pregnancy.  I was not considered in a high-risk category (whatever that means…) and there was nothing unusual noted throughout the term.  Needless to say, we were in a state of shock when we were told our son had Down syndrome.

We needed a vacation. I mean really. It has been quite a year. No complaints and B”H much to be grateful for. Although quite a few of my family members got Covid, B”H no one was seriously ill, and except for an occasional krechts here and there, it is behind us.

I was sitting at a Bar Mitzvah, when a guest sidled up to me. We share mechutanim and she is a sweetheart of a woman. She is employed in a professional capacity and works with special needs children. As occurs frequently, many people are curious about Moishey.

Bruchy is my fifth child; she was born with Down syndrome and is the highlight of our family. She was developing nicely and reaching milestones sooner than expected. At 2 weeks old she was holding her head up when on her tummy. At 5 months old she rolled over.

Bruchy is my fifth child; she was born with Down syndrome and is the highlight of our family. She was developing nicely and reaching milestones sooner than expected. At 2 weeks old she was holding her head up when on her tummy. At 5 months old she rolled over.

What made you realize that there may be something wrong?
Devoiry was a happy and loveable infant who brought us much joy on a daily basis. At around 6 months of age, we started noticing a type of movement that was not typical of Devoiry. Her arms and legs would jerk slightly while her eyes rolled to one direction. 

Shlomo was born full term and everything seemed normal to everybody around me, except for me. It was only after several weeks that he was diagnosed with Down syndrome. What I thought would be the biggest challenge of raising a child, turned out to be miniscule in comparison to what else was going on.