THE LAST POST OF A WEEK IN THE LIFE....

of a family raising a special needs child.

When Blake was 2 years old I was finally comfortable taking him to the daycare at the gym that I worked out at. I had spent quite some time explaining his needs to each of the workers. We were being very cautious with his interaction with latex, since we didn't know yet if he had a full blown allergy or not. He was wearing leg braces, being cathed and pooping quite frequently. I would always pack his bag with all our necessities and leave it in the daycare. I also brought his sippy cup that was a sport style sippy cup. It had his name on it and had his medicine in it. They kept it up at the counter and were very careful and caring to make sure that Blake drank all his liquid each morning so that he got his medicine when needed.

Imagine my surprise one morning when I came in from working out and saw his "sport style" sippy cup sitting on the counter with a straw type thing coming out the top. I burst out laughing as one of the girls came up to me and said she was so sorry that they couldn't get Blake to drink his juice this morning. I was still laughing while I tried to explain to them that the thing they were using for his straw....was actually his catheter! They looked at me like they didn't have a clue what a catheter was. Imagine their horror when I told them that the catheter is inserted into his penis to get his urine out! He wasn't putting that straw anywhere near his mouth and I couldn't blame him!

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month. If you are considering or trying to get pregnant, please start taking folic acid NOW. Neural tube birth defects usually form before a woman even knows she is pregnant. Folic acid is know to help prevent these types of birth defects.