The Hudson Family

We certainly have had a huge support system since the minute Logan was born. As soon as we found out, Sam's parents rushed to be with us, while my parents went to Hopkins to sit with Logan until we could get to him. Sam's older brother, Matt and his wife Becky, soon followed and the 6 of them rarely left Hopkins until Logan was discharged. We literally had breakfast, lunch and dinner there for 2 weeks. They were so supportive, it was hard to be sad when we had so much love surrounding us.
Matt and Becky have 3 children that are older than Logan and Maddie. Luckily we get to see them pretty often because my children ADORE Lauren, Will, Martha and Addie, their new dog. Lauren takes such great care of Logan and just loves him so much. Will is far and away Logan's biggest idol in life. When Will walks in a room Logan's whole face lights up. Recently Will started to take Karate lessons, we were lucky enough to see some of his new moves at dinner the other night and since then I've noticed Logan karate-chopping everything from his stuffed animals to his little sister!! And, Martha has of course taken over as role of "big" sister to both Logan and Maddie.
Really, we are so blessed to have them in our lives. I just know that as they grow older Lauren and Will and Martha are going to play a huge role in Logan's life.
Here's Becky's story:

Have you ever had something that you really feared? Is there something that you really worried about? That is how we felt about having a baby that would have “something wrong with it.” My husband and I dreamed of what life with a baby would be like. We rarely talked openly about our fears that our baby would not be “perfect”, but we definitely had them.
We went through three pregnancies living with that fear. Again, we seldom talked about the worries that we carried around with us, but they were real. We had three children and none of them had any apparent syndromes, illnesses or health problems. We felt joyful. We felt Blessed by God.
One year after our youngest child was born; Sam and Katie were having their first child. They had dreams, they had plans and I bet they had fears too, but I am not sure, because these are the kinds of worries you don’t always share aloud. Later that night, my husband drove over to the hospital to meet his new nephew. Logan was an hour or so old. Matt came home with pictures on the cell phone and all was right with the world. We had another “perfect, dream come true” baby in the family. Matt mentioned casually, “Oh yeah, they had a little oxygen tube for him, apparently he was having a little trouble breathing or something and needed additional oxygen, but no one seemed concerned.” We went to bed feeling happy for Sam and Katie, joyful, Blessed!
The next morning we got a phone call that led our whole family down a very scary fear-filled road for the next week or so (seems like it was months). The Doctors and nurses were not sure what was “wrong”, but there was a suspicion that Logan had Down syndrome. Our hearts dropped! How could this happen? We all worried. Katie and Sam were exhausted and afraid. We had no information. We were all clueless. This was not the plan we had in mind. This was not the way we dreamed it would be. Logan was in the hospital! Logan was at Hopkins in the NICU. This was not supposed to happen—things should be “perfect!” How could something be “wrong?” I think this period of not knowing was probably the worst. We all lived with fear.
A few days later the chromosome tests were complete and the genetic counselors planned to meet with Katie and Sam at some random time in the middle of the day. We all knew this was not good – good news could be given at anytime. Bad news needed a specific meeting time. So – we got the news. Logan had DS. None of us knew what that meant for the future. We didn’t know anything. We had all lived with our misguided fearful ideas of what having a child with DS would be like. We felt worried for Sam and Katie. We wanted them to have their dream come true. We wanted their baby to be healthy and happy. We didn’t want their child to have to live life with something “wrong “with him. We wanted them to have their “perfect” family.
Katie and Sam decided on that day that we would all be positive. We would look forward. We would keep our eyes on the horizon. Everything would be fine… no everything would be great. They started us all on that road and Logan has continued to guide us all on our learning journey. Along the way we have dropped off our fears and picked up loads of knowledge. We have left our preconceived ideas of what is “perfect” and what is “wrong” at various places along the road. We have traveled down highways we never expected to be on and found out life can be better than you “planned” and the dreams you have for your future are limited by what you don’t know about the possibilities. Sometimes your dreams come true in ways were not part of your original plan. None of us knew how much joy Logan would bring into our lives. None of us expected to be Blessed by God in this way, but when Logan was born we were Blessed.
We left our fear on the curb and we continue down the road with joy and hope. Katie, Sam, Logan and Maddie are making a road map for other parents and families so that they will not start their journey laden with fear, but filled with joy. Having a child with DS is not the end of a “perfect family” and it is not the end of your “happily ever after dream come true.” We don’t always know what will be around the corner, but we do know Logan is a big part of our perfect family.

Thanks Becky for your very uplifting perspective!!