{"id":174121,"date":"2017-11-03T08:05:55","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T12:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=174121"},"modified":"2017-11-02T14:27:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T18:27:04","slug":"mom-expecting-second-baby-syndrome-beautiful-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/mom-expecting-second-baby-syndrome-beautiful-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom expecting second baby with Down syndrome: It’s a ‘beautiful journey’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

When Ashley Engele and her husband learned over four years ago that their newborn baby girl Rilynn had Down syndrome, they were shocked and scared. An unknown future loomed before them and they\u00a0mourned the life they imagined they would have. But as the years went by and they welcomed a second daughter, life was much more normal than they had expected.<\/p>\n

Rilynn, 4 and 1\/2 years old, attends preschool, loves Barbie dolls, plays and fights with her little sister, and argues with her mother over which outfit she will wear. Now, as Engele and her husband prepare to welcome their third daughter, they have learned that she also has Down syndrome like her big sister.<\/p>\n

“There it was, right next to the words T21, in bright red: positive. Our youngest daughter would also have Down syndrome,” wrote Engele for ABC<\/a>. “Our hearts sank. This wasn\u2019t the result we were expecting. Similar to our first birth diagnosis, there were tears, guilt, anger, and lots of unknowns. You see, this isn\u2019t the life we had envisioned. We didn\u2019t plan to be raising two kids with special needs. It\u2019s OK to grieve the life you had planned, which did not include two children with Down syndrome. The one positive thought is that we know we can handle this. You see, we already know the beauty of Down syndrome and the sense of ‘family’ that exists in the Down syndrome community.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0