Episode 13 - Moms' Chat Part 2
Renee is cornered about having more children. The rest of the moms say the more the merrier.
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It is so nice to hear from other moms and know that I am not alone when I get scared about having more children. I think it's great to see how others have done it and figured out their own way of getting things done.
Also good to hear that life can be just as good with only one even if that is not what you "thought" you wanted.
Guess it's a little of both for me, knowing that a sibiling would be great for Zach but also knowing all that goes into having more children. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens for our family, what ever is supposed to happen will, I really do believe that.
Thank you so much for the support.
Just wanted to comment on Renees concern about having (for a time) two kids that can't walk. I defiantly know all about that. When my son, who has spastic quadriplegic CP, was 14 months old my daughter was born. So, for the last almost 9 months I have had two little ones who cannot walk, talk, or feed themselves.
It is a very busy and big job. Especially when you factor in all the OT, PT and speech therapy and handling a newborn. It had been so great though!! You learn to do everything in twos. Two trips to the car to get them buckled in. Back and forth, back and forth!! The good thing is that they don't go anywhere!!! haha I am just getting to the hard part now as my daughter is learning to crawl...
Anyways, the point is that it is totally do-able. You just reorganize the way you do things and take things one day at a time.
Another bonus is that my son and daughter love each other. It is so much fun to see how my daughter is interacting with my son and how its helping him to be more expressive and forces him to try and communicate with her.
Anyways, thanks for the comments from all the other ladies too. Very encouraging to see that there are other moms out there loving and having a great time with their "special" families!
Carrie-
Garrett is a great kiddo! He reminds so much of our son Ian. He is now 12. His original diagnosis is CP spastic diplegia, and it was only till recently he was also diagnosed with autism. I always felt that there was something more going on with him but the medical professionals just could never agree - they kept thinking his social awkwardness and perseverations were all attributed to his CP. Then as he grew older and these issues were not going away, medical folks finally determined the autism diagnosis. It was great to see Garrett, especially the NASCAR video! And such a validation for me that there are kiddos out there with both CP and autism diagnosis. Thank you to you and all the Moms for sharing your experiences.
I have one child with special needs. I had him when I was 35. Right after that I had a cancer scare and a procedure that possibly compromised my ability to carry a child full term. I could not imagine being in a situation where I was pregnant, on bedrest for 3 months and trying to take care of my kiddo with CP. Thought about adoption but seeing friends go through the financial, emotional rollercoaster of trying to secure an adopted baby we were every overwhelmed. Most of my friends who have several children have a great support with family nearby to help out. I do not have that. I would have loved to have another child - and for my son to have a sibling - it was not in the cards. Tough decision - whatever you decide don't beat yourself up. We all do the best we can. Life is challenging enough without the burden of judgement and or preconceived notions about what a family should be.
Hey, Garrett is Great!! He just had another surgery, tendion lengthing. And for the first time one of my children joined me to see what garrett accually does.. Lauren, who is 5yrs old, went with us and did great.. She was such a big help and loved on garrett so much when he was in recovery. We are home and i think the hardest thing is keeping him still, that boy wants to get up and go.. The other not so hard thing is waiting on him hand and foot.. LOL .. He can talk and has alot of needs and a whole lot of wants..LOL.. Mainly has to do with his match box cars!! The doctors have not told me that garrett has autism but i don't need them too.. i know he has a mild form of it that is managable.. He talks with adults fine but he doesn't make kid-friends easy.. He has a bunch of adult friends, I am not sure if that is from all the therapies and hospital stays.. So he is going into 1st Grade in 3 days and we will see how it goes. I do have a great support group around me: my mom and family, and my church family. With out there help i would go crazy for sure.. So what you said about a good support group is something that needs to be considered.. Renee and I have several opprotunities to talk that weekend and i found her to be a great mom and I hope that we offered her some insight into what it would be like with more than one.. IT can get crazy,, LOL.....
Thoughts and prayers for Garrett's quick recovery from the lengthening procedure. Your observations of Garrett remind me of Ian at his age - lots of adult conversation, not many friends his age - except for the very mature girls in his classes that want to mother him - lots of big "sisters"! I remember a lot of social stories pracitice - every morning before heading to the 1st grade having Ian pick one classmate that he would greet in line and rehearsing what he would say! Thank you for sharing your Garrett stories and Mom experiences!