how the blog came to be.

On June 28, 2008, Dylan Ross was born.  He came very quickly and everything went very well.  Apgar scores of an 8 and 9.  My 7 pound, 5 ounce sweet baby boy.

Five hours after he was born, a doctor walked into my hospital room and I was told that there was a strong suspicion that Dylan may have Down syndrome.  He was not doing well and was about to be taken by ambulance to another hospital.  His red blood cell count was too high.  His oxygen levels were concerning.  He may possibly have a heart defect, but they were not sure.

Two days and many thoughts of the unknown later, it was confirmed - my baby had Trisomy 21. 

Down syndrome. 

Five days and many emotional adjustments later, as my love for this new baby boy began to grow, this little one born with surprises, I watched as the pediatric cardiologist performed an echocardiogram on his tiny heart.  The doctor looked up at me as I watched in both silence and fear, and said quite simply, "Yes.  He has it.  A complete AV canal defect.". 

A serious heart defect, a complete AV canal defect that would require open heart surgery at 4 months of age. And then later, during the time of his heart surgery, an additional, and extremely rare heart defect called an A.P Window was found.

The love kept growing.  And intensifying.

And so, our new life began.  This new life, one that I once feared may not be good, may not be fair has in fact, wound up being absolutely, exactly right.

I began this blog with the hope of keeping family and friends informed on Dylan's day to day progress, especially during the time of his heart surgery.  I had no idea that it would wind up being so, so much more... 

You may find some of "The Big Stuff" here:

Finding Out
Dylan's Heart Surgery
Dylan's First Year
One Year Heart Anniversary

Thank you all.