Thanks for your comment on amnio. We are also prolife. Our 8th child has Downs. We didn't find out about the Downs until 3 hours after birth. Noone knew whether or not to congratulate us or to extend condolences. The whole birth experience was sad, overwhelming, and emotionally exhausting. I had no clue we would have a special needs child, and I wasn't on God's sign-up sheet that I knew of! LOL Today she is a rambunctious, delightful, tiring six-year old. She does add a lot of strain, and she does add a lot of joy. When I get overwhelmed and weary, I just think about "when you do it for the least of these, you do it for Me." Not that she's least in my sight, mind you.
However, on our tenth child, I had an amnio. I just couldn't face another delivery day surprise. I wanted to be emotionally prepared, ready to welcome whoever God sent. I'm so glad I did it! We moved a month before delivery, and in the midst of that upheaval, the peace of mind helped a lot.
Ten kids are a piece of cake, but a special needs child is the icing. We are all grateful that God chose us.
=== We are all grateful that God chose us.
I suspect He's pretty pumped you chose Him and His will.
MotherofTen - how on earth could a mother of ten children not be prolife? Just out of curiousity, did you receive immediate support from a local DS organization??? We have a great association here in Cincinnati, and the immediate support they provided to us was overwhelming. IMHO, the support they provide to expectant parents often can be the difference in whether or not the family decides to abort the baby. And for parents like you that have the ton of bricks dropped on them shortly after birth, the local DS organization is also a Godsend.
For those of you that are also prolife, if you're ever looking for a worthy cause to support, check out your local DS organization. I believe that they are often responsible for preventing the abortion of DS babies. Speaking from personal experience, abortion may sometimes seem like an appropriate option to parents that learn their baby has DS - even for parents that would otherwise not consider abortion and/or desparately want a child. But, the intervention of the local DS organization can often show them that their child will still be the light of their lives, and that they can indeed handle the additional work it will require. Also, in many parts of the country there is a waiting list of parents willing to adopt children with DS.