Things we learned about Down’s Syndrome in her first eight weeks

  1. It’s not a longer tongue; it’s a smaller mouth. So said our Doctor.

  2. Babies with Down’s Syndrome find it harder to latch and breast feed due to this; however it absolutely is possible. (I am exclusively pumping breast milk for Coraline with a double electric breast pump)

  3. About 50% of babies with Down’s Syndrome will have heart problems. The teams who surround you to take care of this are exceptional.

  4. The care on the NHS in the U.K, in our case, has been amazing, thoughtful and superb (we had a week in hospital after Coraline was born)

  5. Babies with Down’s Syndrome can have lower muscle tone

  6. Babies with Down’s Syndrome can have a lower immune system

  7. There are some incredible inspiring bloggers, books and TV shows out there

  8. Each baby is totally their own person in terms of the developmental and physical characteristics of Down’s Syndrome they have. In Coraline’s case we will be led by her as an individual and we will give her love, love, love

  9. There is a service called “portage” (an educational home visiting service for children who have additional support needs). They will visit us when she is ten weeks old to see what support may be required e.g. speech development, motor development

  10. Babies with Down’s Syndrome are very social and this is a strength

Liz