Where I've been

The beach!

I will post more details and pictures about the beach later, but right now I have something I need to get off my chest.

I subscribe to a great message board for moms of kids with spina bifida.  And the last few days' posts have been filled with pregnant mamas who have just found out that their kids will be born with this awful birth defect.  Confession time: these mamas irritate the fool outta me.  How dare you get so upset...no, not upset, MAD...that your child may have to stay in the hospital for two weeks.  Try three months.  And don't even get me started that you're upset that your little boy might not be capable of having sex.  ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME.  I just get so frustrated with people who right off the bat don't do any research or attempt to learn anything about the birth defect at all and get so upset about things that are so trivial in the end.  These same people posting these asinine questions are on the SAME MESSAGE BOARD as moms who have questions about catheters, cone enemas (NOT pleasant), surgery after surgery after surgery, permanent breathing tubes, and permanent feeding tubes.

I know that I was somewhat in their shoes at one point, but I guess I'm bitter.  Not because Emma's so bad off, but it's just frustrating to watch my child turn blue every day, choking and fighting for her breath, while simultaneously throwing up.  And there's a mom worried about her child staying in the NICU for 2 weeks.  PLEASE.  Call me insensitive, jaded, rude, whatever.  But there are far worse things.  I just want to say to these women, "Your child does not have Downs!  Your child is not mentally disabled!  Your child can live independently!  Your child will even be able to swim!  Do you not understand how much worse it could be?!"

Sorry for the rant...some days I just can't take it when people aren't grateful for what they have.

OH WAIT.  Speaking of being grateful for what we have.....I think....just maybe....there's a possibility....that the VitalStim Therapy might be working.  Emma has had 5 sessions I think (I've completely lost all sense of time since I've been at the beach), and she has choked a significantly fewer number of times since we've been at the beach.  Maybe it's coincidence, maybe it's the salt air (it would be awful if we had to move the whole family down to the beach, don't you think?), but I'm hoping and praying it's the VitalStim.