How to deal with a child with a birth defect

All babies are gifts and miracles, but some miracles are more challenging than others. My second daughter was born with a congenital birth defect of cysts in her lung. She required surgery at 2 weeks of age to remove one of the lobes of her lung.

It's a stressful and challenging time.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Love
• Patience
• Someone to lean on

1. Finding out that your unborn or new born child may be ill is a very hard thing to deal with. But you can't keep it inside. You have to find someone to talk to. Either your significant other, your family, clergy or just a good friend. Talking about it, even if the other person can't directly relate to the situation, will make you feel better.

2. Give this child all the love and attention you can. So they aren't like other babies, big deal! Hold them whenever you can (some times medically the baby might not be able to be held), talk to them, sing to them. Let them know you are there for them. They may only be a few minutes, hours or days old, but they know who you are.

3. Take as many pictures as you can. Live can be very short in some cases and you want as many memories as possible. And babies grow so fast, you are going to want as many pictures as possible.

4. Try to find someone else that has been through it or is going through it. They can usually give you a much more realistic picture of how life will be than the doctors can.

5. Remember that you have to take care of yourself. Getting run down to where you are sick won't help things. You need to stay strong for your child.

Tips & Warnings

• Love and caring goes a long way. It might now heal your child, but it will certainly make them feel better.
• Always seek medical advice in medical situations.