An Unexpected Road

[samboswig]

Awesome dude.

[Billys Boots]

Good man laoislad, fair play and good luck. 

[heffo]

Best of luck LL.

[Galwaybhoy]

Great post Laoislad, amazing courage.  Wish you, your wife and baby boy all the best.

[deiseach]

If the mods are reading this, might be an idea to pin the thread to the top of the board. Not everyone is going to read it based on the title. And everyone should read it

[mannix]

Good man LL.  You are the rock the little man will cling to so be strong even if its hard. He could not imagine his dad not being the toughest guy in the world.

[sammymaguire]

The time, effort and courage to put that post together is unreal.

I have two young boys myself LL. Reading this is a very humble feeling. The extremely complicated process of a baby being made inside a woman's body where there can be millions of things go wrong is one that can bring unheralded joy on the day of arrival or terrible sadness and tragedy.

That wee man will bring you many's a joyful day chap.

[Bingo]

Fair play LL, very big move for you to post that and it a powerful read. I hope posting that helped in any small way.

Best of luck to all for the future.

[J70]

Fair play Laoislad. One of the best posts I've read here. Shows how trivial some of the nonsense that is discussed on the board really is. As the father of an infant son and somone with an uncle and cousin with Down Syndrome, I can only imagine how devastating it must have been. Thankfully though, as you say, things have really progressed in terms of maximising the potential of children with Down's Syndrome. The gulf between my uncle (a child of the fifties) and my cousin (born in the nineties) is incredible, mostly because of what the system way back when did once they got their hands on my uncle. It sounds like your little lad is in good hands. I wish you and your wife and son all the best.

[mc_grens]

Nice one LL. Best wishes indeed.

[seafoid]

Laoislad

You are a tribute to your small family. Fair play to you for putting that piece together.

[From the Bunker]

Firstly, Congratulations on becoming a father, it is a big responsibility no matter what the circumstances. My sister and brother-in-law had a new born with DS. Her initial reaction was to hide. The thing i found is that when it is family....its family and grandparents, uncles, Aunts, cousins rally round. Your arkwardness will make them nervous, your confidence will make them more confident.

[Milltown Row2]

Good man LL, great post, very honest and open and I hope it does what you wanted it to do.

[oisinog]

LL best of luck in the future.

Your son could still play football someday dont let those dreams go away

[Puckoon]

Laoislad - little to say that hasn't already been echoed in here. Such a tough but inspiring read and knowing how much excitement you had to be a father my heart goes out to you all for the pain and turmoil you've described in the days after Eoghan was born. A watershed moment for you and for your family and your inspirational story puts all the nonsense into perspective.

Like J70 I have a cousin with Down's Syndrome, also a child of the 90s and an absolute gem in the family. I remember the day he was born and his parents going through the same things you described.