Compatible With Joy-Trisomy18: Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

Today, March 18th, is Trisomy 18 Awareness Day. Get it? March is the 3rd month, TRIsomy. In honor of it, I created a video from the last nine months. There are already two from the first year of his life, so this picks up on his birthday. Thanks for inspiring us, little man. We love you.

1 comment:

The Gubler FamilyMarch 19, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Hi Rebekah. I talked to you the other day on the phone. I am the one who had a Trisomy 18 little girl who lived to be 3. I loved this video. Aaron is such a cutie. You are so blessed to have him. You can check out my blog to see the picture of our little Emily. I only have one picture of her on it right now. I will try and add a post about her as soon as I can for you. My blog is: thegublergroup.blogspot.com
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What is Trisomy 18?

Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, is where a child has three of the 18th chromosome. Most people have two of each chromosome, one from mom and one from dad. In a trisomy, the child gets two of one chromosome from one parent and one from the other. Think tricycle, three.

Imagine if you made a batch of cookies and it called for two cups of sugar. Sugar is good, it's necessary for the cookies to turn out the way you expect them to. But instead, you put in three cups. You then proceed to mix and bake the cookies.

They're not going to be the way you expect, and it's the same way for that extra chromosome. Our bodies don't "read" the code well when there's an extra portion added in, and it causes all kinds of complications.

But just like "typical" children, there is a wide range of abilities and challenges for children with a trisomy. Many of the anomolies occur along the mid-line: the brain, the mouth (cleft lips and palates) the heart, lungs, diaphragm, and kidneys. Some are more severe than others.

Each child is unique, each is special. I like to use the sugar in my analogy because each one child is so sweet. In our home, we say that the 18th chromosome holds the secret to love. Aaron got an extra love chromosome, and he uses it to bless our lives.

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

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