"We'll love him no matter what."

Down Syndrome?

I was unfamiliar with the diagnosis.

I had become a young mother at 18 years old, fresh out of high school. My baby was almost full term at 37 weeks and 5 days. He was to be healthy and having a child with a developmental delay at my age was rare. We had skipped amnio testing done during early pregnancy due to miscarriage risks. We did not want to take any chances, and when the nurse informed us about the risks of Down Syndrome, we replied, "We'll love him no matter what." Little did we know the truth of our words and the challenges ahead of us.

After a morning of contractions, little Lucas arrived at 4:08pm on May 18, 2012. I held the tiny person in my arms until doctors came to take him away. After examining his features, doctors told us there was a possibility of our son having down syndrome. He had slanted eyes, low muscle tone, a curved pinky finger and a slight space in between his big toe and the toe directly next to it. There was a chance for developmental delays in learning as compared to other children as he grew older. We were ordered for blood work and sent home with a lot of papers and phone numbers to call. We were uncertain and although many family members denied there was something different about my baby; with my mom instincts kicking in, I did my research. I searched the internet for hours studying my son's features and comparing them with the pictures I saw on the internet. I knew my child had Down Syndrome.

So how does it happen and what does it mean?

Down Syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21, I discovered occurs at conception, and I had no control over it. It is where the copy of the 21st chromosome replicates three times. In a child without Trisomy 21, chromosomes from each parent are divided evenly: a total of 46 chromosomes making 23 pairs. One for one, but for some reason Lucas was given extra. He was about 1/780 births at my age. The risk increases each year a mother grows older down to 1/100 over 40 years old.

After 3 weeks of waiting, the diagnosis was confirmed...