Moishey’s birthweight was only five and a half pounds, and much like his siblings before and after him (there we go again – even though babies with DS will frequently have failure to thrive, Moishey’s pattern of weight gain and growth was replicating his non-DS sibs) he gained weight very slowly, averaging a quarter pound a week. By the time he was three months old, he weighed only eight pounds and had a huge cold.

We used to think that Corona was a brand of beer. Now, almost a year later, we have all experienced this devastating pandemic on some level.

When NYC locked down and students were subjected to learning from home I was fraught with anxiety. How will this EVER WORK? But thanks to the outstanding efforts of Yehuda’s yeshiva, it was a lifesaver.

As every year, the day is very hectic.  I sit for a few minutes though, reviewing in my head the events of the last few months. I am overwhelmed by the enormity of what has happened to me… my family…the world.  COVID-19 has overtaken everything we know as normal.  For my family, however, our personal journey through this mageifa gave us all the opportunity to witness, before our very eyes, nissim geluyim, the effects of the power of tefillah and the benevolence of the Ribbono Shel Olam.

“Can you call her?”
That request was posed to me, asking me to reach out to a new ‘mother’ (aka.. a woman who had just joined the exclusive club of having a baby with Down syndrome).
And so, I hesitantly called Mrs. Klein. We shared mutual friends.

Dear Mrs. Sander: Moishey was very quiet today after lunch. He cried a bit, telling us he wanted Totty. Since this is not his typical behavior we were concerned that he might not be feeling well …

The year 2019 will always remain etched in my memory as an exhilarating yet exhausting year. With Malkie, born with Down syndrome, just a year old and newborn baby Chezky almost sharing a birthdate with her, just one year and 10 days later, my days and nights were hectic beyond description….

Epilepsy in Down Syndrome is an important disorder for families to be aware of. Though it is not very common, epilepsy occurs more frequently in those with Down Syndrome than in the general population, with a prevalence up to about 15%.

I write these words on the eve of the 18th yartzeit of my dear mother a’h. While the pain of her loss is still stinging, I take comfort in the fact that we were with her and held her hands down to the moment when she slipped into the World of Eternity.

It is so painful for me that in this very edition of DSAU, under the topic ‘Confrontation’ there is a lot of ‘dialogue’ about parents being forced by grandparents to give away their newborn with Down syndrome. How blessed am I and my family that our memories of our children’s grandparents zichronom livracha, are filled with love, longing and genuine warmth.

60% of children with Down syndrome have ophthalmic conditions that need to be identified and treated in a timely manner in order to prevent long-term visual disability. Optical rehabilitation must be considered especially important in people with Down syndrome to ensure physical and mental well-being and optimize self-dependence. The majority of typical children are born far-sighted, but most will not require glasses long term as their prescriptions commonly decrease to zero, as their eyes grow.

Nine months of a blissful and perfect pregnancy. Then came the day when our precious baby was born, which changed our lives forever! But seconds after birth they whisked him away, and there was a lot of whispering around our baby. Yes, it seemed like our worst fears were confirmed. Down syndrome. That was our introduction into the world of special needs. The main question was, how and what do we tell our other children? How were they going to deal with this information? Our oldest son was 18 years old and living in his own world of “perfection”.