The letter I sent letting people know Miss V had Down syndrome

Trying to make sure I have a place to point new mom's if they want to know how I told people...who knew a few years ago I'd want access to all this stuff!

Dear Everybody,
As you know, Baby Violette Hope showed up on Tuesday, June 26 at about 2:15 in the morning. She is sweet and wonderful and beautiful and a blessing and she has Down syndrome.
I had quite a few prenatal screens and feel very confident that her body parts are all in good shape. Any of the typical physical characteristics that can cause problems for babies with Down syndrome aren't showing up - her tone is excellent, her heart is good, her suck is good, her ears are good, etc. etc. The doctor we met with this morning told us that her good muscle tone is one of the only early indicators that they have about the severity of impact the Down syndrome will have on her, and that she looks terrific to him.
I had many preconceived notions of what Down syndrome was all about, and from what I’ve learned this week, I was wrong about quite a few things and was putting some limits on Violet that don’t need to be there. There are a lot of early interventions that have led many people with Down syndrome to have very full lives, that include independent living, working, even secondary education.

From everything my husband and I have been told, the best thing for us to do is welcome her as a part of our family and treat her like we did our other beautiful babies. That’s pretty easy. We are very joyous to have her as part of our lives.

I plan on continuing working and doing what I’ve been doing here at XXXX – and everyone I’ve talked to in the medical community seems to see no reason at all to change that plan. She’s even been given the green light so far to come with me (and my mother) to Las Vegas when I visit the XXX tradeshow in September!

We have high hopes that she will lead a full and wonderful life.

My husband and I really appreciate everyone’s support and good wishes!

Missy