Beautiful Bubs and Magnificant Mums

I was pondering life as Hannah's Mum because DSA NSW asked me to come along to their annual 'mums and bubs' morning tea and to speak a bit about my journey so far. Of course I said I'd go - how could I miss an opportunity to spend time with a bunch of new babies?? Last year when I went, I was one of the 'mums and bubs' as the twins were not yet 1.

Most of the babies there were under 18 months so Han really was an oldie! God, those babies were beautiful! Their Mums had come from all over greater Sydney and some from even further away. At the risk of being overly sentimental: given that the only thing that those women knew they had in common was a baby with DS - there was a variety of people, backgrounds, stories, health problems, concerns ... but the love - that was the same for everyone and magnificant in its passion and in its completeness - they really were amazing women. And I have to say that for some of them still raw from coming to terms with the diagnosis it was brave to attend such a function.

I have never believed or particulary liked the adage that 'God chooses special people for these sort of babies' line - I believe (perhaps a bit naively) that any parent would and should do their very best - no matter what the situation and by and large I think we all do - there is nothing special about the person per se but there is something about the parenting experience that is unique. And as many of you know also very 'normal'. As I listened to these women talk about themselves and thier babies I felt great respect for what people with open hearts and eyes/ears can achieve. There were some heartrending stories too but I don't feel it is my place to share them in such a public space. Enough said. It was a great day and although I 'fluffed' what I had wanted to say - the day was really for those new mums to share their stories and there was plenty of that going on - it was wonderful to be a part of the whole thing.