#NEVERALONE

Lettercase recently launched a campaign called "Never Alone".  They are working tirelessly to provide information and support to parents who get a Down syndrome diagnosis.  With the developments in prenatal testing, which allows women to be given a diagnosis earlier in pregnancy, the urgency to provide information has grown.  As a community, we want to make sure that these mothers and fathers are "Never Alone".  There is a community that is here to support them and love their child along with them.  Please join the campaign by going to their website, The Never Alone Campaign and sharing your story and why providing information is important to you.  They would love to share a variety of experiences, so whether you are a mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, or a loved one, please share your story.

We were told by a pediatrician the day after Kamdyn was born that they suspected she has Down syndrome.  We spent several days in the hospital while I recovered from an emergency c-section, and then back for another couple days while Kamdyn was treated for jaundice.  In that time, the only person who gave me any information about Down syndrome was my mom.


(A newborn Kamdyn with my mom)

And while I am grateful to my mom for doing that, it should not have been that way.  That pediatrician should have given us information as soon as the words Down syndrome were mentioned.  If not him, the hospital's in-house pediatrician, one of the dozens of nurses, or even the pediatrician who confirmed her blood work results should have thought to give us something.

Because of my experience, I have worked with my local Down syndrome support group and contacted local doctor's offices and genetic counselors in our area and provided them with Understanding a Down syndrome Diagnosis booklets.  My hope is that doctors will see the importance of providing this information and that they will pass on the name of our local support group so that mothers and fathers will know that they are "Never Alone".