Alaskan governor has a child with Down Syndrome

Here is an article about the governor of Alaska and her fifth child that was just born with Down Syndrome. What a testimony to the sanctity of life! You have to cut and paste, sorry, I'm still pretty computer illiterate even though I do blog:)

http://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/viewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1470

Still vomiting at the Bridges house

Time to blog again and let some of my frustrations out. Carsten is still throwing up. Average, about twice a day. I'm very stressed about it and the worst is in the mornings when I haven't even had my coffee yet! 10 months of vomiting is bound to send you to the nutty house. The most frustrating part is that GI does nothing. He smiles and says, it should get better by a year! A year! Can't you do something other than prescribe some reglan! We're not talking about any other baby here who has no other problems. We have been through a traumatic birth, heart surgery, G-tube feedings, and to top everything off there is daily projectile vomiting! Can you tell I'm feeling sorry for myself right about now. I'm starting to feel a little better as I dump this onto you readers, thanks for listening:)
Really, I've got to get a hold of myself. I usually end up taking it all out on Chad, poor husband. He's been the subject of so much abuse from me and he rarely ever retaliates except when I've pushed him over his limit. I felt a little better yesterday when I got this letter from the compassion center. There was this woman on the front that had found the center for help. She accepted Christ and He turned her life around. I don't know why but it reminded me that there are people out there that have it a lot worse. The letter sent me into prayer and in my prayer I could see and feel Carsten being taken from my arms and floating upwards to God's throne. It was like God was taking Him from me to lift the load. I really need to give him up more often. God is in control of his future and there's nothing I can do to change or manipulate that. I feel better now:)

Giving it up to Him,
Momma Bridges

Little lingerie cake

Carsten is at his nana's, Chad is at work, and the house is all mine!! What a nice Friday free day. And... tonight I'm going to a bachelorette party for my friend Shannon. I'm starting to get into cake making so I wanted to post a pic of the cake I made for her party. I took the first class at Hobby Lobby and want to take the next two. Its pretty messy and time consuming, but its so much fun and a way for me to be creative without having to draw or write poems which I'm horrible at! I would love to make wedding cakes someday..we'll see, for now I'm happy with the little lingerie cake:)

Love to all today and blessings,
Momma Bridges

Mr. Photogenic

Well, it looks like Carsten has inherited his photogenic nature from his father and not me! I've started a new book about the life of a mother with a child with Down Syndrome. Its called "Road Map to Holland" by Jennifer Groneberg. Its based on a poem by Emily Perl Kingsley. For those who have never read this poem, here it goes:


I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Down Syndrome Awareness- Must Watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvl7I-OlWWE

Great video, I cried and cried!

It doesn't get any cuter than this!! Check out Carsten and his daddy!

 

 

Bridges Update

I have to confess I haven't been faithful to our blogsite again! Hopefully these recent pics will make up for the the time since our last post:) We have been pretty busy lately. We arrived home yesterday from our trip to Florida, yep, just mommy and daddy this time! Carsten stayed at his Grandmomma's and Nana's while we were gone. We went to Saint Augustine Florida for a week and let me tell you it was the best thing we have done all year. Chad and I got to rest, well, as much as he would let us. Chad is a fan of the memorials, museums, forts, tour sites, trollies, etc... The funniest part about watching him on these trips is during our museum visits. He HAS to read every little caption on the walls and memorials about the place where we are. No skipping anything! So, most of our pictures are me walking way ahead of him trying to get him to keep going so we can either get to the food or lounging area!:)
Carsten had a fun time with his grandmothers and I think they were glad to have us home so they could get some rest too! Praise report on Carsten's eating, he is now eating cereal and baby food!! I included a picture of daddy feeding him some rice cereal. He will eat about 2-3 servings a day. Still no bottle, but we are so thankful for the progress he is making and know that his drinking will come in time.
Another important update is our moving plans this July! We will be moving to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for a year. Chad has been accepted into a military studies program and will get his Masters during our stay at the post. We are excited about our move and I am especially curious to see what life is like on a military post!
Enjoy the pics! I will post more soon...
Love,
The Bridges