"Therapeutic abortion"

I watched an episode of Law & Order last night with a couple who had aborted their child after receiving a diagnosis of Down syndrome - only to find out that the baby was perfectly healthy after the fact. This got me wondering about how many people actually abort their children when given diagnoses like this. Being that we knew about Lucas' brain malformations midway through the pregnancy, we were made aware of our termination opportunity by two doctors that we met with. And if the midwest is the moral compass of the US like some people say, then I guess I shouldn't be surprised to know how rampant this behavior is in the rest of the country.

I found a very interesting article in the Washington Post that goes into detail about the reality of raising a child with a disability in California. The author, whose daughter has Down syndrome, describes an encounter with the director of an Ivy League ethics program who "believes that prospective parents have a moral obligation to undergo prenatal testing and to terminate their pregnancy to avoid bringing forth a child with a disability, because it was immoral to subject a child to the kind of suffering he or she would have to endure." According to the article, studies estimate that 80-90% of pregnancies with prenatal diagnoses of Down syndrome are aborted.

Reading this horrifies me, but I also find myself strangely comforted. Because if turning to abortion is becoming the new standard in keeping a perfect family, then I'm glad that God gave Lucas to us - and that we understand that God has a great purpose for his life.

Pictures for Easter

March 2008

Can you hear me now?

Lucas has excellent hearing and has from the womb. He used to find Marc's voice when Marc would read to him, pray for him and talk to him. Lucas would respond by pushing against me directly on the other side of his daddy's face. It was so sweet, truly cherished moments. We would look forward to our bedtime routine which included these meetings of Father and Son. Lucas always had spot on accuracy though it sometimes took a few minutes to find his daddy.

The same is still true today. He knows Marc's voice and loves to hear him reading, praying, talking, singing, being goofy; he knows my voice too. Even now, with an ear infection, that's right, an ear infection, his hearing is impeccable.

I took Lucas in to the pediatrician's office yesterday afternoon and that was what we were told. He began his first of five days on antibiotics yesterday as well. I have still been sucking some rather unsavory shades of greenish-yellow from his cute little nose with nostrils reddened from all the attention. He slept fairly well last night in spite of the persistence of snot. He only woke twice, had some major saline and sucking times, nursed, and went back to sleep pretty well. I am also smothering myself in vapo so that he can get some good whiffs without having the tingles of it on his skin.

He ended up only having 2 sz yesterday and, so far, one today. I"m confident we will get back to fully resting and having No More Seizures!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Snot Sucker

It's about midnight and Lucas is trying to get back to sleep. He woke about 20 minutes ago and had a seizure. That makes 4 for the day, the most in four days. He then began snorting due to a stuffy nose. I sucked some snot out of his head, but he is still not breathing normally. I am frustrated. To suck more snot will help him breathe which will allow him to sleep, but also keeps him from sleeping while doing it. To not suck snot keeps him from breathing normally which also keeps him from sleeping normally. I can hear his stuffy breathing from here, across the hall.

We were just getting close to back on track; to start all over...

Thanks for your prayers. Please keep them up that Lucas' stuffiness would go away and stay away.
Back to bed now. I'll keep you posted.

Seizure Etiology

Lucas has continued to have seizures (sz) every day. He was having at least 4 a day. It then was up to every time he woke, up to 8 in a day. Marc found a website (epilepsy.com) that offered some helpful information about sz related to sleep. There is one article that states that sleep deprivation can be a major factor in recurrent sz. What it describes is what we have been seeing in Lucas.

I am pretty sure it began with a stuffy nose that was pretty fierce and persistent. It lasted about 3 weeks. He would be awakened by a need to breathe. This greatly disrupted his sleep cycle and, I believe, was the beginning of the vicious cycle of sleep disturbances and seizures. Basically, when the circadian rhythm is thrown off, the atmosphere is ripe for seizure development; the more seizures one has, the more it throws the rhythm.

We invite you to check the website for yourselves if you are interested. The articles are well written, informative and easily comprehensible. There are a few videos that are good for us visual learners too.

The treatment for this is simply to try to get back into the sleep schedule that existed before the stuffy nose began. This translates into me sitting very still while holding Lucas and soothing him back into sleep when he begins to stir. So far, we have seen vast improvements. Now, typically, he is having 2 sz a day compared to 6-8 a week ago. The neurologist's office recommends to keep up what we have been doing and hopefully within another 2 weeks, we will be back to normal.

Thank you all for your prayers. God is good and takes good care of us and we are thankful.

Lucas is calling me now. I hope this information helps those of you curious about what exactly happens when Lucas has a sz.

Blessings!

Video: Lucas with his head up

Within Normal Limits

When Lucas was born, his head was pretty ginormous. Even after about 2 1/2 inches were taken off when Dr. Leonard placed his shunt and allowed large amounts of excess fluid to drain, he was still "off the chart" as far as "normal" head circumference is considered. That all has changed though.

Today he had his 9 month check up (though he'll be 10 months on Friday), and his head circumference is now considered to be in the 90-100th percentile. Still very large, but on the chart. That doesn't really mean anything medically, but I think it's exciting just the same. :)

In other news, I heard back from the neurologist's office yesterday and they said to go ahead and increase his 3rd dose of Tegretol as well, so now all three of his daily doses are up by 1/2mL. We are supposed to follow up with them in 2 weeks (or call earlier if we have any concerns). We are to continue using the Klonopin as needed (if he has a seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes or more than one in a day). We are back on the Klonopin now and will be through tomorrow afternoon. He has had 4 seizures today, 2 yesterday, 4 the day before that. Hopefully, his body will adjust to the new dosing and the seizures will stop. They only happen when he wakes up, not every time he wakes, but something about waking allows them to happen. I still haven't gotten back to the elliptical in the basement because I don't want to leave him, but I can get in some stretching and ab work in the living room so I don't feel like a total physical wastoid. :)

Now, he is sleepy and hungry and that means I'm on full duty. His Grandpa Mike arrives from Mexico tomorrow for a couple weeks, so we are looking forward to that. We'll try to get some more pictures up soon, maybe some video too, because he is the cutest boy in the world and everyone needs to keep up with his ravishing good looks.

Blessings and love to you all. Thanks for your prayers; please keep them up. God tells us to ask.
Esther (for Marc and Lucas)