It won't be long now, and she will be here.
It took a while, before Mum fell pregnant with me.
Everything with my development was going well, right up until the last moments!
When the doctors said I have brain damage, and we learned I would have severe cerebral palsy and a vision impairment... Mum and Dad talked about whether they should have another baby.
Brain damage and oxygen deprivation isn't genetic, so there was no reason not to have another baby... it would just be hard, because I will always need a lot of care.
So, Mum and Dad decided to have another baby.
The day Mum found out she was pregnant, she was pretty happy... for an hour, or so. That exact same day was the day Mum and Dad learned I had an enlarged liver... and the cancer word was thrown around for the first time.
If Mum wasn't pregnant then, I would probably have been an only child.
Or, at least, my sister would have been a lot younger than me.
The whole time I was undergoing chemotherapy treatments, my sister was growing in Mum. During all the bad days, the scary days, the sleepless nights and frightful surgeries, my sister was growing in Mum. No one really had time to worry about the pregnancy. At times, Mum wasn't allowed to kiss me, or change my nappy, or clean my drool or spew (without gloves), because of my toxic bodily fluids. Other than that, the pregnancy just got 'swept under the rug'.
You wouldn't know it, now.
The moment I lay beside my new sister, I loved her.
I froze, so I wouldn't hurt her, and I fell in love.
A week after she was born, I was cleared of my cancer.
She knows me, already, my sister. She knows I'm different and that I need extra help. She knows I sometimes hit her, with my dystonic movements, but she doesn't even notice that now. She wants to push me, when I am in my chair or walker, and she wipes my face and offers me toys.
And then, Mum found out she was pregnant, again.
It was a huge surprise!
We had given away the baby things!
We don't have a bedroom for another baby!
Life is about to get very, very busy!
This baby was unplanned. This baby was a shock...
But, this baby, she is meant to be here.
We figure, she is here for my middle sister.
Together, the two of them will have strength, when people make ignorant comments about me, or stare, because I 'look funny'.
Together, the two of them can be stronger, when they have to deal with my severe cerebral palsy.
Together, they can gang up on me! (I'm a bit scared!)
Mum was scared, too.
She was actually afraid that my tiniest sister would be a boy. She was afraid people would take an able-bodied boy to the footy game, or the beach, or the park... and leave me, with my cerebral palsy, lying on the mat.
Mum was afraid I would be forgotten and dismissed, because I can't run.
She thought, if I had a brother, I would be compared to him, a lot... and that I would always look weaker and feel less valued.
She felt a great relief when she learned, very early on, that a little girl was growing inside her. There should be less comparisons, this way...
Though, we think Charlotte will do a great job of protecting me against anyone dumb enough to forget me, or treat me differently, because of my cerebral palsy.
I love her for that!
And, they say... If you don't know how to talk to someone with a disability, or you don't know how to act around someone with a disability, watch their siblings, and they will show you the way.
We've passed 23 weeks gestation, the time when doctors will start to fight for premature babies.
We've past 31+1 weeks gestation, the time I spent inside Mum.
And now, we've hit 32 weeks gestation, the time when Wollongong Hospital will let us stay there, if my baby sister is born early.
I can't wait to meet my tiniest sister!
I hope she gets my eyelashes!
When do you think she will be born?
My Sister Knows
For My Sister xxx
House Renovations - Disability Friendly
My Cerebral Palsy Classification
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