Hi! New to Uno Mas

[seanybear]

Hi There! My name is Maria and I am mom to Sean 2 (DS) and Paige almost 5. I'm looking forward to making new friends and sharing new ideas and resources with everyone.

[Myria]

Hi Maria! Welcome and thanks for joining us! Sadly our group isn't as active as it once was, but you will find many wonderful people here! Give Mr. Sean a big hug for me : )

[mg12061]

Welcome to unomas. I have a 14 year old daughter with DS. I can't wait to hear all about Sean. This site is full of sonderful support and information.
Mary Grace

[Chris too]

Hi

I am trying to remember to check in on Uno each day, so I hope to read lots of great Sean stories

My youngest, Stevie (ds), will be turning 6 in June. She is the perfect caboose to our train of kids.

Welcome to Uno!

[Jackie]

Hi and Welcome to UNO...I am Jackie mom to Emily who is now 30 and lives about 500 miles away in Austin Tex. She is in an arts program there
arcofthearts.com/ and lives in a companion/foster situation....and is a happy camper. We have family in the Austin area so she is not alone.

I am hoping maybe this will be a wake up call for this once very very active site to wake up again. I think FB has taken many away and this site has been very good because it has some very caring and very intelligent people here. Also this has been a site that really doesnt have the fights that so many of the others do. Everyone here tries very hard to state their opinions but not criticize what others do. We are all good friends because of it and many of the people actually find times to travel and meet each other. So keep posting and tell us more about yourself and the kids.

[kg91207]

Welcome Maria! i have to second Jackie about how wonderful and drama free this site is!!

[Googsmom aka Jennifer]

Welcome to Uno!! {{{{HUGS}}}}} I'm Jennifer, Momma to Brook aka The Brookster Glad you found us. Love this board!!

[laurasnowbird]

Welcome to Uno! Two years old was SUCH a fun age, and you have so many awesome things to look forward to! I'm Laura, mom to Ethan, who is now NINE years old (where did the time go!) and a complete stinker. In what state do you reside???

[laurasmom]

Hi Maria, and welcome to UnoMas!

I am Sharon, mom to 2 teenagers, at least for about 5-6 more months. Kelly is 15, and Laura, who has DS, is 19.

Can't wait to hear more about Sean!

[Connie]

Hello Maria and welcome to Unomas!!

I am Connie, mom to 4 kiddos...Griffin 15, Gray 13, Collin 11 (DS) and Lauren who is now 9. I saw a little guy about 2 this week while on vacation and it really took me back. That really is such a fun age. Can't wait to hear more about you and your family.

Connie

[Emilysmom]

Hi Maria, and Welcome to Uno Mas! ! ! Looking forward to hearing more about Sean, and celebrating his milestones with you.

I am Susan........mom to 4 kids, who have suddenly decided to grow up on me! ! ! My "baby" is now 17 years old! (Jordan). I also have Emily, who is 19 and has Down syndrome. She is graduating from high school this year! And, we have 2 older sons, Justin and Michael.

Jackie is right..........this site was once FULL of wonderful, supportive, fun folks and I'm hoping we can get back to being very active again.

Susan

[seanybear]

Wow! What a warm welcome! So nice to log in and see all these replies! Thank you!

To add to my intro, I've been married 7 years to my wonderful husband, Mike. We live in Gaithersburg MD (not far from Myria - who we met at Georgetown!) Having a baby with DS is not what I expected. Not really sure what that was, but Sean has opened our eyes and our hearts and has been an absolute joy.

I was talking to a new friend this evening at dinner who also has a son with DS born 1 week after Sean. We agreed how much easier this second year has been as we've overcome the fear of DS and several health issues. Sean was born with a small ASD and PDA but did not require any heart surgery. At 6 months he was diagnosed with AML leukemia and began treatment at 7 months old. He is now 10 months post-treatment and doing very well. He is walking and signing and is as smiley as ever.

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Maria

[laurasnowbird]

Maria,

I can relate to the intensity of that first year, and Ethan was medically pretty uncomplicated compared to many. We were in teh same position as it relates to hearts issues, small ASD and PDA which resolved on their own. But the schedule we kept with early intervention classes, PT, OT, etc. was grueling. and it seemed like we lived in the office of one specialist or another. It DOES slow down, and the learning curve is fairly high in the beginning.

Glad to hear that Sean is doing so well. The AML must have been a horrible shock, and I'm thrilled to hear that he's doing so well!

[Jackie]

Hey Maria...I have a connection with Georgetown...my daughter Marnie works in Peds there...she also knows Myria and Ayden. She is a nurse but her job is more like a social worker.

[seanybear]

Hi Laura - yes. I was pretty overwhelmed in that first month. Between the cardiologist, geneticist and hematologist we were at the doctor's every week. By the third month the appointments were slowing down. Then we had that long stint in the hospital. But I will say that through all of that Sean was really a great baby. Very easy despite all the health issues. I always wanted to stay home with my kids and sometimes I see being in the hospital as my chance to do so. I work full time and miss my kids during the day. But, yes. Things are starting to feel normal now.

Hi Jackie - Small world, huh?! Marnie sounds like someone we know but I hate to say that I've purged much of my memory at the hospital. Does she work in the clinic? Or on the Peds Heme/Onc unit? We were discharged at the end of May 2010, but often visit the floor when Sean has a bone marrow biopsy. We now have clinic visits once a month. I'll be in on the 27th so I'll say hi