A couple weeks after being discharged, our baby boy was up to 5lbs and we got to bring him home. He was floppy, so tiny and exhausted with all he was going through. He was put on Lasix to remove fluid form his lungs caused by the holes in his heart. I was still pumping milk and using a syringe and tube to finger feed him. Not long after he was able to use a bottle. It was very stressful and difficult for me to pump milk. After getting mastitis and the an allergic reaction to the meds they gave me for it, we decided to start adding formula and eventually switched over to it completely. He was able to handle it by this time. This was also when I started paying attention to my natural given instincts. He was so tired it made it hard for him to have the energy to eat. They were having us wake him every three hours, twenty four hours a day for a bottle. We started letting him decide when he was hungry and he did much better. He had the strength to nurse and was gaining weight. We had lots of appointments. Geneticist, pediatricians, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, ophthalmologist and  ENT doctors.  His ears are lower than normal and so he had fluid in his ears. His tear ducts stayed stopped up and he had  an undecended testicle. His first surgery was at six months to fix those problems. All at one time. He did really well and  in fact, never let it bother him. He was a very happy baby. He had a lot of respiratory problems, got sick a lot and often was in the hospital often. Our first Christmas was together was spent in the hospital, same as the next few years would be. It snowed that Christmas and he was so fascinated looking at it fall out the window. By age 3 he had a heart cath done to  prepare for open heart surgery. It had to be rescheduled because they taped his IV in to where you could not see it good. It infiltrated and we spent the next several weeks following getting the dead and dying skin removed. He did soon after get the surgery and it went very well. So well that he doesn't have to have antibiotics before dentist appointments. He continued to amaze the doctors with his strength and desire to not be down. He was ready to get up and go the day he had the heart surgery! Things were getting much better as he went through these surgeries. He was getting stronger everyday. 
   He did do things slower, but did them just as any other child in his own time. He was almost a year old before he sat up, but said his first world around normal time. His first Birthday party was a little different. He couldn't feed himself to well, but enjoyed it all the same. He was eighteen months when he took his first steps. I can not explain the joy he has at accomplishing things. The smile on his face and the joy he has of us being excited is priceless. It is so rewarding to raise a child like ours. He started receiving occupational and speech therapy around this time, which helped him and us a lot. He started potty training at three and by 4 was only wearing pull ups  to bed or when it would storm. Certain sounds would  scare him or make him nervous and he would have accidents. He would get frustrated when we couldn't understand him or he could understand us and would have temper tantrums. Just like many other three year old do.He went to the Circle school when he was almost four and started kindergarten at age seven.

  Things by this age were much easier for him and us.  we seen doctors a lot less. He had his tonsils and adenoids taken out at seven, but never bothered him a bit. He came home singing and eating speggettios!We found out that didn't have asthma and what was causing his respiratory problems.  When he swallows drinks or liquid foods in goes in his lungs. They gave him thick it to add to liquids. This gave the flap time to close and prevent fluids form going in his lungs. We haven't had to rush him to the hospital with trouble breathing since.  We had done that so much that at the slightest cough I could tell if it was a cold or to crab him up and go to the hospital. 

   This was also the age he started kindergarten. He was so excited. He has never met a stranger and loves being around people.  The thing about kids with  Down's is, they don't care what race, religion, disability or even if you don't like them. Yeah, it hurts their feelings to be called names or for people to not want to be around them, but they love EVERYONE. They are quick to forgive and forget.  I was so afraid to sen him to school. I worried about him being picked on. Wonder if he would be safe and what would happen if he got sick. For the most part, everyone was very good with him. I t took a while for him to be able to handle the sounds. He didn't like the bells ringing, the noise in the cafeteria or  assemblies. They worked with him and  eventually it didn't bother him anymore.
   Anything he sets his mind to or wants to do he does. Sometimes that makes it fun for us. He likes to wonder off and turn his music up loud. Which is funny because he doesn't like anyone else to have their music loud.  He has ALWAYS loved music. He can be very stubborn when he wants to do something and we don't want him to. Or when he wants something and can't have it. He is very persistent. He is very smart. He can work almost any electronic and once he does learn something he never forgets. And that is a fun thing for us too. Kids with Down Syndrome love to mimic and often he mimics things he shouldn't. It is a challenge to get him not to do something he has learned. He is a typical kid.