Re: A good Article you will all enjoy

[Guest guest]

Kristy,

No fair making me cry at lunch!

Darlene

>

> Seth is a Perfect Child

> H. Boehm, MD

> Boehm is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University

> Medical Center,where he is former Chairman of the Ethics Committe as well as

> former Directorof Maternal/Fetal Medicne. He is author of " Doctors Cry, Too:

> Essays fromthe Heart of a Physican. " Contact Dr. Boehm at

FHBoehm@...<FHBoehm%40aol.com>

>

> Over the past 38 years, I have participated in the care of thousands

> ofpregnant women and have attempted to answer the many questions that

> eachpatient invariably wants answered.

>

> While these questions are often specific to each patient's pregnancy,

> onecommon question usually surfaces at some point in our discussion, " Is

> mybaby OK? " Because it is so difficult for me to define " OK, " thisquestion

> has always been a tough one for me to answer.

>

> At the heart of this question lies a pregnant patient's desire to know if

> herunborn child will be perfect (normal and healthy), a very reasonable

> concern.Once again, however, defining perfect is not an easy task.

>

> Most pregnant women do not realize that approximately 2% of the 4

> millionbirths each year in this country involve the delivery of a child with

> asignificant congenital defect. That translates to one out of 50 births!

> Thesebirth defects include hundreds of different types of anomalies such as

> spinabifida, heart abnormalities, limb deformities, metabolic disorders

> andchromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

>

> When you consider that each of us begins with the union of sperm and egg,

> whichcreates one cell and this one cell continuously divides to create the

> billionsof cells that result in a living child, it is truly a miracle that

> any of usare born, much less that we are born perfect.

>

> It is with this in mind that I explain to patients that each birth is a

> miracleand that the uniqueness of each of us is what makes us perfect. I

> also attemptto explain that normal is in the eye of the beholder. The gift

> of life can be " perfect " even in the presence of serious problems. One year

> ago, mynewly born grandson, Seth, was to help me understand this from a

> differentperspective. Seth was born with Down syndrome.

>

> Down syndrome was first described by Dr. Langdon Down in 1866 as

> acondition in which a child is short in stature with mild to moderate

> mentalretardation, as well as often being associated with other physical

> problemssuch as heart defects. The risk of having a child with Down syndrome

> increasesas women age. At 20 years of age, the risk is one in 2,000 births

> and at 35 itis one in 365. At age 40, the risk of delivering a child with

> Down syndrome isone in 100.

>

> I have spent my entire career counseling patients on the risk of

> delivering achild with Down syndrome. But until the birth of Seth, I had

> never beenconfronted on a personal level.

>

> My son Tommy and his wife were expecting twins - a girl and a boy.

> Ivividly remember the excitement as and I waited during the delivery

> and cried with joy as we each held a child inour arms in the recovery room.

> Marly and Seth were perfect. What dreams andexpectations we held for these

> two precious bundles of joy!

>

> Several hours later, however, we were confronted with the fact that

> Sethcarried a diagnosis of Down syndrome while his sister Marly did not. Our

> familywas filled with emotions, from the high that came with the birth of

> the twinsto a low at learning of Seth's disability and knowing that he would

> bedifferent with possible life-long problems.

>

> Later that evening, holding Seth in my arms and gazing into his angelic

> face, Iwas overcome with unconditional love for my grandson. As the tears

> rolled downmy cheek, I understood that despite his diagnosis, to me and

> those who lovehim, Seth is a perfect child, to be loved and nurtured, the

> same as his sisterMarly. Our dreams and expectations for him may now be

> different from those forhis sister, yet they are dreams and expectations

> nonetheless.

>

> To me, Seth is perfect. His 1-year-old smile lights up a room and his

> laughterbrings warmth to all who are near. He loves to cuddle and gaze into

> the eyes ofthose who hold him and he embraces his sister with what can only

> be describedas pure affection and love.

>

> Seth is one of many children who are born with birth defects and

> complications,yet, like so many others, Seth has embarked on a journey we

> call life. Thatlife will be filled with challenges for him and his family,

> yet that is alsotrue of each of us as we embrace life with its ups and

> downs.

>

> As we enter a world in which more genetic information will be available

> for usto consider in selecting a perfect child, I hope we have room in our

> world andhearts for those like Seth who are challenged and different,

> because challengedand different can still be perfect.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

lol sorry about that! I didn't give that warning!

Darlene Benoit wrote: Kristy,

No fair making me cry at lunch!

Darlene

>

> Seth is a Perfect Child

> H. Boehm, MD

> Boehm is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University

> Medical Center,where he is former Chairman of the Ethics Committe as well as

> former Directorof Maternal/Fetal Medicne. He is author of " Doctors Cry, Too:

> Essays fromthe Heart of a Physican. " Contact Dr. Boehm at

FHBoehm@...<FHBoehm%40aol.com>

>

> Over the past 38 years, I have participated in the care of thousands

> ofpregnant women and have attempted to answer the many questions that

> eachpatient invariably wants answered.

>

> While these questions are often specific to each patient's pregnancy,

> onecommon question usually surfaces at some point in our discussion, " Is

> mybaby OK? " Because it is so difficult for me to define " OK, " thisquestion

> has always been a tough one for me to answer.

>

> At the heart of this question lies a pregnant patient's desire to know if

> herunborn child will be perfect (normal and healthy), a very reasonable

> concern.Once again, however, defining perfect is not an easy task.

>

> Most pregnant women do not realize that approximately 2% of the 4

> millionbirths each year in this country involve the delivery of a child with

> asignificant congenital defect. That translates to one out of 50 births!

> Thesebirth defects include hundreds of different types of anomalies such as

> spinabifida, heart abnormalities, limb deformities, metabolic disorders

> andchromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

>

> When you consider that each of us begins with the union of sperm and egg,

> whichcreates one cell and this one cell continuously divides to create the

> billionsof cells that result in a living child, it is truly a miracle that

> any of usare born, much less that we are born perfect.

>

> It is with this in mind that I explain to patients that each birth is a

> miracleand that the uniqueness of each of us is what makes us perfect. I

> also attemptto explain that normal is in the eye of the beholder. The gift

> of life can be " perfect " even in the presence of serious problems. One year

> ago, mynewly born grandson, Seth, was to help me understand this from a

> differentperspective. Seth was born with Down syndrome.

>

> Down syndrome was first described by Dr. Langdon Down in 1866 as

> acondition in which a child is short in stature with mild to moderate

> mentalretardation, as well as often being associated with other physical

> problemssuch as heart defects. The risk of having a child with Down syndrome

> increasesas women age. At 20 years of age, the risk is one in 2,000 births

> and at 35 itis one in 365. At age 40, the risk of delivering a child with

> Down syndrome isone in 100.

>

> I have spent my entire career counseling patients on the risk of

> delivering achild with Down syndrome. But until the birth of Seth, I had

> never beenconfronted on a personal level.

>

> My son Tommy and his wife were expecting twins - a girl and a boy.

> Ivividly remember the excitement as and I waited during the delivery

> and cried with joy as we each held a child inour arms in the recovery room.

> Marly and Seth were perfect. What dreams andexpectations we held for these

> two precious bundles of joy!

>

> Several hours later, however, we were confronted with the fact that

> Sethcarried a diagnosis of Down syndrome while his sister Marly did not. Our

> familywas filled with emotions, from the high that came with the birth of

> the twinsto a low at learning of Seth's disability and knowing that he would

> bedifferent with possible life-long problems.

>

> Later that evening, holding Seth in my arms and gazing into his angelic

> face, Iwas overcome with unconditional love for my grandson. As the tears

> rolled downmy cheek, I understood that despite his diagnosis, to me and

> those who lovehim, Seth is a perfect child, to be loved and nurtured, the

> same as his sisterMarly. Our dreams and expectations for him may now be

> different from those forhis sister, yet they are dreams and expectations

> nonetheless.

>

> To me, Seth is perfect. His 1-year-old smile lights up a room and his

> laughterbrings warmth to all who are near. He loves to cuddle and gaze into

> the eyes ofthose who hold him and he embraces his sister with what can only

> be describedas pure affection and love.

>

> Seth is one of many children who are born with birth defects and

> complications,yet, like so many others, Seth has embarked on a journey we

> call life. Thatlife will be filled with challenges for him and his family,

> yet that is alsotrue of each of us as we embrace life with its ups and

> downs.

>

> As we enter a world in which more genetic information will be available

> for usto consider in selecting a perfect child, I hope we have room in our

> world andhearts for those like Seth who are challenged and different,

> because challengedand different can still be perfect.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Beautify said!

Re: A good Article you will all enjoy

> lol sorry about that! I didn't give that warning!

>

> Darlene Benoit wrote: Kristy,

>

> No fair making me cry at lunch!

>

> Darlene

>

>

>>

>> Seth is a Perfect Child

>> H. Boehm, MD

>> Boehm is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University

>> Medical Center,where he is former Chairman of the Ethics Committe as well

>> as

>> former Directorof Maternal/Fetal Medicne. He is author of " Doctors Cry,

>> Too:

>> Essays fromthe Heart of a Physican. " Contact Dr. Boehm at

>> FHBoehm@...<FHBoehm%40aol.com>

>>

>> Over the past 38 years, I have participated in the care of thousands

>> ofpregnant women and have attempted to answer the many questions that

>> eachpatient invariably wants answered.

>>

>> While these questions are often specific to each patient's pregnancy,

>> onecommon question usually surfaces at some point in our discussion, " Is

>> mybaby OK? " Because it is so difficult for me to define " OK, "

>> thisquestion

>> has always been a tough one for me to answer.

>>

>> At the heart of this question lies a pregnant patient's desire to know if

>> herunborn child will be perfect (normal and healthy), a very reasonable

>> concern.Once again, however, defining perfect is not an easy task.

>>

>> Most pregnant women do not realize that approximately 2% of the 4

>> millionbirths each year in this country involve the delivery of a child

>> with

>> asignificant congenital defect. That translates to one out of 50 births!

>> Thesebirth defects include hundreds of different types of anomalies such

>> as

>> spinabifida, heart abnormalities, limb deformities, metabolic disorders

>> andchromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

>>

>> When you consider that each of us begins with the union of sperm and egg,

>> whichcreates one cell and this one cell continuously divides to create

>> the

>> billionsof cells that result in a living child, it is truly a miracle

>> that

>> any of usare born, much less that we are born perfect.

>>

>> It is with this in mind that I explain to patients that each birth is a

>> miracleand that the uniqueness of each of us is what makes us perfect. I

>> also attemptto explain that normal is in the eye of the beholder. The

>> gift

>> of life can be " perfect " even in the presence of serious problems. One

>> year

>> ago, mynewly born grandson, Seth, was to help me understand this from a

>> differentperspective. Seth was born with Down syndrome.

>>

>> Down syndrome was first described by Dr. Langdon Down in 1866 as

>> acondition in which a child is short in stature with mild to moderate

>> mentalretardation, as well as often being associated with other physical

>> problemssuch as heart defects. The risk of having a child with Down

>> syndrome

>> increasesas women age. At 20 years of age, the risk is one in 2,000

>> births

>> and at 35 itis one in 365. At age 40, the risk of delivering a child with

>> Down syndrome isone in 100.

>>

>> I have spent my entire career counseling patients on the risk of

>> delivering achild with Down syndrome. But until the birth of Seth, I had

>> never beenconfronted on a personal level.

>>

>> My son Tommy and his wife were expecting twins - a girl and a boy.

>> Ivividly remember the excitement as and I waited during the delivery

>> and cried with joy as we each held a child inour arms in the recovery

>> room.

>> Marly and Seth were perfect. What dreams andexpectations we held for

>> these

>> two precious bundles of joy!

>>

>> Several hours later, however, we were confronted with the fact that

>> Sethcarried a diagnosis of Down syndrome while his sister Marly did not.

>> Our

>> familywas filled with emotions, from the high that came with the birth of

>> the twinsto a low at learning of Seth's disability and knowing that he

>> would

>> bedifferent with possible life-long problems.

>>

>> Later that evening, holding Seth in my arms and gazing into his angelic

>> face, Iwas overcome with unconditional love for my grandson. As the tears

>> rolled downmy cheek, I understood that despite his diagnosis, to me and

>> those who lovehim, Seth is a perfect child, to be loved and nurtured, the

>> same as his sisterMarly. Our dreams and expectations for him may now be

>> different from those forhis sister, yet they are dreams and expectations

>> nonetheless.

>>

>> To me, Seth is perfect. His 1-year-old smile lights up a room and his

>> laughterbrings warmth to all who are near. He loves to cuddle and gaze

>> into

>> the eyes ofthose who hold him and he embraces his sister with what can

>> only

>> be describedas pure affection and love.

>>

>> Seth is one of many children who are born with birth defects and

>> complications,yet, like so many others, Seth has embarked on a journey we

>> call life. Thatlife will be filled with challenges for him and his

>> family,

>> yet that is alsotrue of each of us as we embrace life with its ups and

>> downs.

>>

>> As we enter a world in which more genetic information will be available

>> for usto consider in selecting a perfect child, I hope we have room in

>> our

>> world andhearts for those like Seth who are challenged and different,

>> because challengedand different can still be perfect.

>>

>>

>>