These Are All the Things I Worried About When My Daugahter Was Diagnosed With Down Syndrome

Looking back on our diagnosis day is quite surreal at this point. The feeling of having my perfect world shattered is hard to describe and painful to remember.  

I was scared. Could we handle raising a child with special needs?

If I could write a letter to my past self, I’d say this:

Not only will you handle it, you will find your voice and your passion in it. 

I worried she wouldn’t be the little sister I’d imagined for our older daughter, Kaylee Dee.

They will have a stronger bond than you ever imagined. They will be the perfect combination of silly and sweet. They will encourage each other and make each other more compassionate.  

I worried about my marriage.

It will be hard, but you will get through it and come out stronger in the end. You will see your husband become her biggest advocate.

I worried she wouldn’t look like us and that people would stare.

Let them stare. But not because she looks different. Because she has an infectious smile and lights up a room. 

I worried and wondered about our future. About our ability to parent this sweet girl, about whether or not we even wanted to parent this little girl who was growing inside me.  If I could have said one final thing to myself in those days it would be:

Keep your heart open and your dreams big. There’s nothing Everly won’t be able to do without your help.  

The Mighty is asking its readers this question: If you could go back to the day you (or a loved one) got a diagnosis, what would you tell yourself? If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please  include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio.