Big brother one, and big brother two!
It’s hard to believe it’s been over three years since we announced that Noah was a big brother…the first time. Boy, does time fly! We are excited to announce that we will get to meet child number three this October! (October 25th if all goes as planned.)
Grandma was surprised!
A few weeks ago we had the chance to surprise Abbie’s mom with the news as we picked her up from the airport. (By the way, if you’re interested in buying the Ice Ice pregnancy announcement shirt that Abbie is wearing, you can check it out here.) picture you can che Check out the super fun video below to watch how we told her the news!
Introducing the Newest Member of the Smith Family
We can’t wait to meet this baby!
Last week we were able to see our baby for the first time as well as hear his or her heartbeat! This is the third time I’ve got to be a part of this experience, and each and every time it is amazing! The fact that there is a little life living inside of my wife is simply awesome. The gift of life is seriously a miracle.
We can’t wait to meet this little one!
The day we saw our baby on the sonogram we showed Noah one of the pictures at dinner time. I love hearing his cute little voice say “baby in tummy” as he points to my wife. It’s so much fun hearing him talk, it means even more since I know he works very hard to learn every word he speaks.
A Few Thoughts On Prenatal Testing
At some point when you’re visiting with your OBGYN during during a pregnancy the question comes up, “Did you guys want to do any testing?” Typically this is presented as, “Would you like to know the gender of the baby? We have a test that can find this out for you early if you’d like to know.” This question sounds very innocent. Of course we’d like to know if we’re having a boy or girl before the 18-20 week sonogram. But the truth is, the tests are looking for much more than the sex of a person’s child – they are looking for “chromosomal abnormalities” which in turn cause many people to abort their child – this is heart breaking.
I wrote about how a mother’s womb is the most dangerous place for a child with Down syndrome, that is also heart breaking. A place that is supposed to be a safe, protective place for children, turns in to an unsafe place simply because they have a different number of chromosomes. That hurts my heart.
All of that to say, I personally don’t want any part of any sort of parental testing. We did not do any testing when Abbie was pregnant with Noah, or Jaxten, or with this baby. This is not to knock anyone who does them, I think it’s a matter of conscience. At some point I’ll write a blog post talking about how I just don’t think they are helpful (the tests aren’t accurate, and can cause unnecessary anxiety, for one.) If you’re really taking these tests truly to find the sex of your child, go for it- but you just need to be aware that the doctors main goal with these tests aren’t to help you determine the sex – they are to help you make “a choice.”
We super excited to find out the sex of this baby in about 10 more weeks and even more excited to see this baby towards the end of October. Our 10 year wedding anniversary is on Oct 27th, so this is quite the anniversary present! 🙂
About Rick Smith
Just wondering….Did you ever receive the link to the story of Collettey’s Cookies? I think you would enjoy it.
Regards, Stephanie
P.S. Your boys are so handsome.
Congrats! What does ICE stand for!
Its the song Ice Ice Baby. With the arrow pointing to the baby
i belivev its saying ice ice baby vanilla ice sang it lol
I have a child with Down Syndrome. She is 3 years old and a delight to my heart! I had prenatal testing and I do not regret it for one minute. There are better more reliable forms of prenatal testing than there used to be, ones where they can find the baby’s blood in your bloodstream. I know that many people choose to do testing to eliminate, but that’s not why I chose. At the 20-week marker they found some soft signs, and as I was an older mom I was looking for confirmation so I could prepare my heart, my mind, and a team of specialists for whatever may lie ahead. I was able to mourn and grieve the lose of the idea I had of child so that I was ready to embrace the Wonder that I was to receive. Congratulations on your third and thank you for living your life publicly as an encouragement to many.
I agree with you 100%. I, however, chose to have the prenatal testing with 3 out of 4 of my pregnancies. My reason was NOT so that I had a choice… It was for the information and preparation. When I was pregnant with my 3rd, I was 39 years old. The test for Down syndrome came back positive and my Dr suggested having an “amnio” done to confirm or rule it out. All of my Drs were Christians and fully understood when I said it would not make a difference to me – there was no way I would have an abortion. Still, they made a good point with me. There are many other health issues that can come with Down syndrome and knowing what to expect would/could be beneficial. I like knowledge. Knowing as much as I possibly can about something gives me comfort and confidence. I had the amnio done and it turned out my little girl did not have it. It was simply my age that changed the “numbers” and gave a positive test result. At 41 I gave birth to my 4th child and had opted for zero testing other than finding out the sex of the baby. Because I skipped it this time… I was a mess. I worried constantly. I still wholeheartedly agree with you. My reasoning for getting the testing was just for a different reason. (An interesting point I would add here, is that a few years later, my oldest daughter gave birth to a boy with Down syndrome when the prenatal testing for Downs had come back negative. So on both sides there are false/positive results.) I look at my grandson, and my heart breaks for all those babies who have been aborted. He is every bit a joy and blessing to us that the other 8 grandkids are!
Congratulations!!! We are happy for you all!
We have 11 and each one is an amazing blessing!
I so agree. My first child was born with spina bifida. We didn’t have the option for prenatal testing, because it was almost 40 yrs ago. Now we had our 2nd child 10 yrs later,I was 36 I had lost 2 babies and now I was into my 13th week, they were really pushing hard for testing, 1st of all we had waited 7 yrs, i am pro choice snd my choice was to love this child no matter what. At 35 weeks my son JP was born and he has been rocking thay extra chromosome from day one. My 1st born, Amy, his big sister, mentor, best friend and advocate.has been there for him from the start. When he was 4 months old he joined joined his sister as a member of the Deaf community. I have never questioned our decision not to test. i was even questioned again after he was born, by the doctors, which i thought was rather rude. Enjoy this pregnancy, whether its a boy or girl, it will be blessed to be born into your family, and have 2 great big brothers. God bless!?
CONGRATULATIONS! WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HEAR!
LIAT
Congratulations I am excited for you all
I love all your post! I love Noah so much! He gives me hope! My 2 yr old grandson has Down syndrome. He’s doing very well! I absolutely adore him. When I see Noah I like to hope my grandson will be as great as Noah is! Noah’s my hero!
Noah looks so good, it has been a long time since I had an update. So happy your two boys will welcome a new baby. Keep us posted.
Congratulations!!! I LOVED hearing Noah say “baby in tummy!” So so cute! Thank you for sharing your life and family with all of us. ❤
Congratulations!!!! Lots of love for you all… 🙂
Happy for your family! Love seeing Noah talking about the baby in the tummy.
Congratulations! I am so happy for you and your family 🙂
Congratulations! I did the test at 12th week and it was positive. My doctor asked if i wanted to terminate but I decided to let God. I didn’t want the amnio test as I was told it could trigger a miscarriage. I didn’t even tell my hubby coz i believe a mother gotta do what a mother gotta do. Our pretty girl was born with down’s last year and also a heart defect. She’s gone thru open heart surgery and doing pretty well considering. I thank God for her but am still wondering if I was right in making a choice for my hubby. I also know it’s a privilege that we have her though I still get those low moments, BUT, i love her to death! She is our 4th born and I was 41 when I got her.
Congratulations to you all . I was asked if we wanted to have a amnio after blood test showed abnormalities.. we also said that it would not make a difference on our choice, so we didn’t.. we have a beautiful daughter rockin the extra chromosome..
Thanks for all your beautiful stories…
Congratulations on the BIG news. You guys are an inspiration to our Family. My Wife and I have learnt a lot from you guys with our 6yr old Boy and we love reading all about your journey with Noah.
Thank you for Sharing your story with us all…….
Congratulations to your family and to Noah who will be the best big brother ever!
Great news! It was not that long ago that Noah was a brother for the first time. How time flies!
Congratulations on finding out you’re having another child! I think it is wonderful and such a blessing for all of you! I love reading about Noah and his little brother. I really enjoyed reading the letter that you wrote to Noah’s teacher. Praying all goes well for you folks as you’re welcome in another member. Thank you for sharing no his life with us. He certainly is a very special little boy! May the Lord bless all of you and keep you safe.
I was 21 yrs old with a15 month son when I had an emergency c-section in a very small town. 6weeks later we came home to Ky for Christmas and my newborn develops a cold and took him to a doctor on New Years Eve and was informed my son had Down syndrome. Needless to say devastated and scared to death . It was recommended that I put him in an institution as he would never attend public school, read or write etc etc. This child who for 6 weeks that we thought was premature but normal and was coming home where he belonged. He is now 36 years old and more intelligent than most people I know. He is a complete gentleman, opens a door fora female always.. he of course was in Special Ed in school but lettered in academics every year in high school. He is a wiz at math but unfortunately cannot read. Knows 350 sight words but cannot read. His dream is to get married which I’m afraid may not happen. But I can promise you one thing, he has taught me more about life and love than I could have ever taught him . He was in Special Olympics for over 20 and excelled at every sport but eventually got tired of it . He will tell you he has DS but to him he’s just as normal as you or me because we treated him exactly like we treated his brother. I am so glad I was never tested while I was pregnant because I was young and I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I’d known he was going to be born with a disability. I can honestly say today that In my prayers I thank God for blessing us with him. Any young mothers out there that may need to talk or ask questions I would love to be honest and answer from experience. I ended up working in Special Education in an elementary for 7 years. I hope there’s one person that this may help. Things have improved tremendously in the last 36 years with public acceptance but I still occasionally have to deal with it . I’m the lucky one in all this. I was blessed. I would have given anything to have talked to another parent. That’s why Noah’s Dads blogs are so important.