In The Beginning

Just wanted to share a few beginning  ideas today that I feel are important for parents who might be starting on a journey with a child that has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
The first thing you must do with a child that you know that will be coming home with the diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is to educate yourself  from several different sources about the diagnosis. Much of what you are going to hear is gloom and dome, however, I seeked out or God put in my path ,depending on your view point, adults that had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome who are just as successful if not more successful than myself and I was born a very healthy child. My county that I adopted from offered a series of classes on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome the I believe was a fantastic resource for myself. I will share more about this in other posts. Second,  you must think and start to plan the future now. It is important to  understand that your child might live with you for the rest of your life and will need help their entire life. If you are someone who wants to raise your kids and then have them leave home at age 18, this is not a child that you should adopt or continue to care for. I am planning for the future by saving a little money each month and I am looking at buying the house next door to me in the future. I adopted at age 40 so I won't be around as long as I wish for my daughter, but I will be putting a plan together and finding an attorney or people I can trust to manage her money if need be in the future. I will also be putting everything in a trust and most likely my niece who is quite competent will control everything. I know your thinking, I am just going to take it one day at a time, but if you have a child that has FAS and you want to keep your sanity you must prepare for the future.

 If you are coming home with a baby that is underweight and failure to thrive like most FAS children, then it is very important the formula you choose for the child. I had an excellent pediatrician that kept my daughter on the formula they chose for her as soon as she was taken off the feeding tubes. They put my daughter on Neosure. This formula is made especially for preemies and those who are born underweight. I kept my daughter on this formula until she was 2 years old. Nutrition is so important during the first few years of life and I believe the extra calories and vitamins that this formula contained helped to improve my daughters physical and mental capabilities. She did have a problem with acid reflux on the formula but the good out weighed the bad and the acid reflux was taken care of by a perscription medicine from her doctor. The medicine had a minty flavor and even today, my daughter loves mint, which is fine by me because my favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.