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Jaclyn
I was twenty-five years old and my husband, Eliott, was
twenty-six years old. We had the "ideal" life: we were just married,
we had great careers, and we were surrounded by family and friends. We had our
whole lives ahead of us and we couldn’t be happier. To add to our good fortune, we found out we were expecting our first child. We were delighted! Everything was according to plan. Naturally, we thought he/she would be perfect but our "ideal" life was shattered on July 10, 1995 with the birth of our daughter Jaclyn. After her birth, the doctor informed us that she would need to be transported to a pediatric hospital about an hour away. They told us she had a heart defect and they believed she had Down syndrome. We couldn’t believe something like this was happening to us. We were so devastated. Fortunately, the day following Jaclyn’s birth, we met another young couple whose daughter had also been sent to Children’s Hospital. With tears in our eyes we proceeded to tell them about Jaclyn. They, in turn, told us about their child. Unbelievably, their child was born with a very rare disease (only several cases ever reported in the US) which caused grotesque facial abnormalities, blindness and deafness. They needed to spend an indefinite amount of time in the hospital because of the surgeries their daughter needed. After hearing ‘their" story, Eliott and I decided we needed to pull together. They were a godsend to us because they made us realize how truly fortunate we still were. After five days, we took Jaclyn home with us. Our love for her grew stronger and stronger and we realized just how perfect she really was. Although there are and there will always be hurdles to face, Jaclyn continues to enrich our lives daily. She is a happy, sweet, and loving child. We are so proud of all that she has accomplished and all that she continues to do. She attends a typical preschool and she likes what typical children enjoy. She is one of the best things that ever happened to us. On August 6, 1997, the second best thing came along and we gave birth to Samantha. Now we are anxiously awaiting the birth of our third daughter. Being a parent and being five years wiser, we realize that there is no such thing as an "ideal" life and you really need to count your blessings. We feel we have been very fortunate. |
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