Diagnosis- Breaking the news...

I wrote this Facebook private message to our closest friends and family after we received Sophie's diagnosis. Hola friends and family, Happy New Year! This Holiday Season was wonderful! we got to spend time with family and friends and had a great time. The kids also received some wonderful presents from everyone. Sophie received a really cool Barbie tricycle. Gregory had one just like that but with Diego, right around her age. There is just one slight problem, Sophie is facing some physical difficulties that will make it very difficult for her to ride it by the time she grows out of it… and that is why I felt the need to write this message to you today. It was a difficult decision to write this message because, let’s face it, we live in a culture where we try to hide our problems from others, we live in a “show off” society. We “show off” the BEST of our lives: Cool cell phones, vacations, houses, cars, we always even “show off” the BEST side of our kids. In this society, we tend to hide the bad and ugly from everyone’s sight but it is different for me this time and I need to tell you now because I am “showing off” my Beautiful and Super Smart Baby Girl who is One year old, wears amazing princess dresses and tutu skirts, even as pajamas and is not able to sit, stand, or walk independently, has difficulty controlling her hand and arm movements and has begun wearing really cool shoes (Leg braces) that will enable her to walk at the moon when she becomes an Astronaut one day. By the age of 7 (I have been told by doctors) she will even pushing around a walker that will help her walk and will get us a really super close parking spot at every parking lot, everywhere we go. About a month ago, Sophie’s Neurologist diagnosed her with cerebral palsy which is an injury inside the brain caused more than likely due to her prematurity. Her nervous system is therefore affected which means the nerves which carry messages from her brain to her legs and arms like to take a holiday more often than not. She is receiving therapy 4-5 times per week by three different therapists, and is seen by 5 different doctors of different specialties about every two months. Obviously, we all have an idea in our heads about what a typical child of a certain age “should” be doing. And so naturally, you are asking us questions (especially we have not seen you in a while) why don’t we put Sophie on the floor to play, sit, crawl, walk, or sometimes giving us recommendations to help her walk faster. Sometimes it is hard for us to explain the reasons because some people react so differently, there is usually a moment of silence, followed by an “I am sorry”, and/or words of encouragement among other reactions. So I just want to say that there is nothing to be sorry about, the definition of “normal” is different for everyone, Sophie is normal and should be treated as a normal child like Gregory or any other kid. We still do and will continue to do pretty much everything like we did before: Playground, parties, sports, etc… Life is good! It is just taking a little bit longer than we thought, but WE ARE GOING PLACES! Thanks for reading…. Now you will not be surprised when you see us wearing some cool devices Hugs and kisses, Lauren