My nurse said “your doctor will be in shortly with your results”. After the nurse left the room, I laid on the examination table fixated on the room’s wall paper decorated with pink and white bunnies. My husband and I remain in silence waiting for the doctor to arrive and provide us with the results of my amniocentesis test. The unbreakable silence between my husband I is a clear indication of the substantial amount of nerves present within our examination room.
Dr. Ralf entered the room holding an office clip board which held my patient chart. Dr. Ralf immediately greeted my husband and I with a hand shake and smile, then took a seat on the chair positioned at the foot of the examination table. Dr. Ralf said “I have the results of your amniocentesis test from your last prenatal appointment”. My husband arose from the chair in which he was seated to accompany me at the examination table. While my heart beat began to increase in frequency, I slowly heard the doctor say “the amniocentesis test results reveal a 90% chance that your child will be born with Down Syndrome typically referred to as Trisomy 21. The doctor further explained that Down Syndrome affects approximately 1 in every 800 babies born in the United States, resulting in physical and mental delays as a result of extra genetic material inherited by the baby at the time of conception. The doctor advised my husband and I there are wide variations among the physical features and medical problems of children with Down Syndrome, with some children needing a significant amount of medical attention and other children living healthy lives (KidsHealth, 2012).
That afternoon my husband and I exited my doctor’s office experiencing variation in emotions ranging from sadness, shock, and failure. Are we financially prepared to care for a child with special needs? Do we have adequate support from family members to assist with the care of our child? What types of challenges might our child experience living with Downs Syndrome? I immediately began to ponder over these questions after processing the results of my amniocentesis test.
Later that night while eating dinner, my husband and I began to discussion our options for the care of our child, challenges that we may possibly face, and anticipated resolutions to those challenges. My husband and I both agree we are financially capable to provide the essential needs of our child upon their arrival home from the hospital as well as their long term needs. My position as a child psychologist combined with my husband’s position as a senior accountant provides creates stability of substantial income as well as adequate time for maternity and paternity leave for the birth, care, and parental bonding of our child. With confidence in our careers and the job security those careers present, the question of available child care upon our return to work was raised.
Prior to receiving the amniocentesis results, my husband and I discussed enrolling our child into a full time quality early child care upon our return to work. In fact, three weeks prior to my prenatal appointment, my husband and I visited a local early child center which has excellent reputation in providing quality care and education. Becoming aware that our child will most likely be born with Downs Syndrome shifted our perspective and option for early care and education. My husband and I both agree that our child will benefit most from in home care provided by a family member. My husband and I both agreed on three family members as options for child care, those being my mother, my mother-in-law, and my sister. These three individual were selected as they all have the essential nurturing qualities and patience needed to properly care for our child and foster healthy growth and development.
In discussing the early care and education of our child, my husband and I both agree in home care would be most beneficial to our child from birth to 12month, but afterwards early care and education within center is essential in building upon their cognitive development and social skills. The difficult in considering this option is finding a center with a comprehensive system. Having a child with Downs Syndrome requires adequate available resources in the areas of health, early leaning & development, and family leadership & support. As Dr. Ralf stated at my prenatal appointment, children with Downs Syndrome have wide variations in physical features and medical problems. For this reason it’s crucial for me and my husband to select a child care center with a reputation in understanding the various abilities of children, health concerns/diagnoses associated with their individual abilities, their limitations in learning and development, as well as the significance of family leadership and familial support in fostering the child’s growth and development.
Resource:
My questions to my classmates are:
Is there additional information that I should include regarding my hypotecial family? If so please provide your suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.
Are there specific websites that I should review to educate myself about qulaity services and programs for the child and family in my hypothetical family situation? If so please provide the websites, they would be greatly appreciated.
