What is Good Enough?

I'm a little confused. I've been reading the Internet everywhere, all kinds of blogs, articles, books, everything I can get my hands on. And what I find most disconcerting is people who have had trouble getting pregnant and/or carrying a child to term, and yet they still take into consideration when they can get a CVS or an amnio. Isn't the point of having a child to have a child? Not to decide, well, I'll go ahead with it only if the child is perfect? I mean, what is so bad about having a child with Down Syndrome? I really don't understand it. I mean, if you get pregnant and continue that baby to term, weren't they meant to be? Wasn't there a reason you were blessed with that particular child? It is still pretty rare to have a child with Down Syndrome. One out of 800 babies. That's a lot of babies. But time and again, I read about women who are so determined to get pregnant, only to prepare to test for something they don't think they can handle. Well, guess what? If you had asked me, I don't think I could have handled a child with Down Syndrome, and yet, I couldn't imagine how lonely my life would have been without him here these past two and a half years. He has brought so much joy and wonder to my life, and fulfilled me in more ways that I can say.

Just last night, my husband and I took our son to a party with several friends of ours, many of whom have children about Owen's age. Guess who everyone wanted to say hello to and play with? Yup, Owen. Guess who smiled and laughed and kicked the ball around? Yup, our Owen. He was the life of the party, while the other kids hung back with their parents, or cried and threw temper tantrums.

It's funny because right after we had Owen, we swore next time we got pregnant we would take the amnio, just to be prepared. But when we finally did get pregnant again (after a miscarriage and nine months of no pregnancy), it didn't matter. We were just thrilled to be pregnant again and we both agreed that we weren't going to have a CVS test or an amio. We just put our faith in God. And who knows what God has got in store for us? We will find that out after our baby is born. Of course we hope she's healthy and chromosomally perfect (and not autistic, as long as I'm asking), but we set out to be parents and we are going to do the best we can to raise whatever child we are given.

By the way, Roxanne had her baby, Gideon! A beautiful baby boy with red hair...I'm so happy things have worked out for her. She truly sounds happy, and she deserves it.