We are the Hattingh-family, Jacques, Mariaan, Daniël (9) and Anja (7).
“You already love her, nothing is going to change that”…these words will always stay with me. This was what our Paediatrician said when we got the results of Anja having Down syndrome.
Anja was already 7weeks old. The sweetest little girl..slept like an angel and almost never cried! (For the first couple of months though). We didn’t suspect anything while I was pregnant, no screening scans revealed anything!
After the diagnosis, we slowly but surely started with early intervention, physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. Anja is a healthy little girl. She needs to wear glasses and visit the dentist regularly, but otherwise, she is just as busy as any other little girl!
Being feisty and having a strong will has made Anja take on many challenges! Her milestones, with regard to development, were coming slowly. She started walking only at almost 2 and a half years. Potty training was also a challenge but at 3 and half years she mastered it!
Anja is 7 years old now and she will be off to Grade 1, at mainstream school in 2022!
We as a family have grown so much! Changed even.
We have hard days where we struggle to communicate and do things. We also have great days; we have friends and connections and passions that would never have existed if Down syndrome wasn’t a part of our lives. Like another mom said: “It’s such a paradox — Down syndrome doesn’t make up our daughter, and yet without it, she wouldn’t be who she is — we wouldn’t be who we now are…”
We won’t give up! We have learned to accept, include and love both our children as they are…with faith, love, hope and extra patience!
To God be the glory ……. because without Him we could not have grown in this journey. He fights all the battels for us!