Five Blessed Years

Five years ago today, our life changed forever. Osiyyah & his twin sister, Yophiyyah were born.

My then 14 year old sister & I stayed with our mom in the hospital from the time she was admitted late Wednesday night, Feb. 2nd. As my sister & I stood in the hallway outside of the OR, little did we know how different our life would be from that day forward.

The twins were born naturally with no complications. Osiyyah was "Twin A" and Yophiyyah "Twin B." The babies were born at 2:05 & 2:10pm Thursday afternoon, February 3rd 2005. My sister & I briefly got a peek at the babies as the nurses wheeled them into the NICU. I remember how tiny they were. Just under 6 lbs each.

Shortly thereafter, my dad came out of the OR and went to follow the babies into the NICU. A few moments later he came back with "there is some bad news." Our hearts stopped, not knowing what he was going to say. He proceeded with "it looks like the little boy has Down syndrome." My sister & I were both relieved and I thought "oh, that's not bad."

After the babies were born and we knew this information, we went into the waiting room where the rest of the kids were and some of our friends. Being exhausted from practically no sleep in over 24 hours, my sister & I both started bawling as soon as we told everybody the news that the babies were born. We probably looked like a bunch of geeks in the waiting room that was full of other people! At that point, we were so excited to have two new babies! Praise the Lord!

From that day, our lives have changed for the better. The first few months after the twins were born, there were some challenges. With the two week NICU stay, then having to go to the pediatrician's office every 2 weeks to a month for Osiyyah. Looking back, those office visits could've been avoided had we known more. But, we live & learn.

Praise God he has given us Osiyyah. Life would be so dull & sad without him. He makes us laugh all the time.

The last 5 years have been a learning experience and I'm sure we have lots more to learn. Osiyyah is incredibly blessed to be born into our family & in this country. Into a family who loves him, even though God made him with a little something extra.

Osiyyah is thriving beyond what we ever thought and what we were ever told. I am so thankful God has given us the knowledge & understanding to help Osiyyah be where he is at today. Had we not found out about Nutrivene and the so many other things that we do with Osiyyah, I'm convinced he would not be thriving like he is today. Praise the Lord for his kindness towards Osiyyah.

To put things in perspective, if Osiyyah were born into a family in another country, especially Eastern Europe, it would be very likely that he would be in an orphanage right now. Because he is 5 years old, he would now be on his way to a mental institution. He would not be thriving. His life would consist of laying in a crib, getting hardly any attention. I can't imagine someone doing that to a child, simply because they have Down syndrome. I can hardly think about this without crying. But, this is the reality of so many children with Down syndrome in other countries. It's incredibly sad.

So, today we will sing "Ha day" (Happy birthday), as Osiyyah says, to him & his sister. And, today, as every other day, we are very thankful God has put Osiyyah in our lives.

I love you O & Yo!

Qadoshyah