An Introduction..

We had our fifth child. We knew she was a girl, that she was oh-so-very breech and that I would need a c-section. We knew I was terrified of any kind of surgical procedure thanks to a root fear of anesthesia. We knew a lot, but we didn't know our daughter had Trisomy 21, aka Down's syndrome.

Now we know. Now we deal with it. Now we face the world with a whole new set of skills to discover and information to learn. Now we know that she, Mariana, isn't so much a Down's syndrome baby as our daughter who has Down's syndrome. We know that there is no formula to tell us what her level of function will be, nor is there any way to tell who she is until she lets us know. Just like the rest of our children, we have to get acquainted, observe the strengths and weaknesses, and find ways to live a life to our fullest potential, together.