Our family expands....

While Steve was at DDI our life became a little bit more "normal" and I mean a tiny bit! There were no therapy sessions after work so our evening provided the down time that we never had the years prior. At this time I felt it was important to move on, I wanted another child as did my husband. On May 28th, 2004 our family was made complete with the birth of Andrew Evan Dolinsky. Andrew was a scheduled c-section. I knew I was having another boy and I also knew he was genetically intact. Twelve weeks into my pregnany I had a CVS test, very well aware of the risks I still decided to go through with one of the most painful tests I ever experienced!
The remainder of my pregnancy was uneventful, yippie!
It's hard to put into words how much Andrew has given our family. As both of my children are unique they are so very different but somehow I manage to love them equally but differently. Steven in many ways is like a big toddler, still does not sleep the entire night, it's like I still wake for night feedings but at this point it's waking due to anxiety (I will get into that at another time)and when I look at Andrew it's seeing a big boy. I know that for many WS families the decision to go on and have more children after you have a WS child can be very hard. Our very dear psychologist Dr. Karen Levine and I have touched on the topic many of times.
Since I walk in the shoes I can honestly say having Andrew was the most amazing gift our family could have ever received. He shows us the "lighter" side of life. He has an amazing spirit and such a natural sense of compassion. At 5 years old he has developmentally passed Steven, it is definitely bittersweet but at the same time we were prepared for this. Andrew has taken on the role of 'big brother', he knows Steven needs help with things around the house and he is the first one to help him. He looks out for his brother and realizes there are many things that Steven can't do that he can. He does not truly understand why but I am confident that when we get to that point that he will embrace his brothers disability. The boys are also typical brothers in many ways, for example they will fight for the same toy which is very normal and at this point we welcome any type of normal that comes into our home!