Hopeful Parents

In the first months after Lively started having seizures and was diagnosed with infantile spasms, I did something that isn't very characteristic of me: I didn't read about it on the internet. I did look up some basics that I could access from the hospital, just enough to know what sort of treatment options he might have, and what side effects he might experience. That was the extent of my reading for awhile. Web searches for infantile spasms and perinatal stroke led to terrifying sites that I just couldn't handle, at least not initially.

Because I had started writing a blog myself, eventually, I started reading other parents' blogs, and I noticed many had a link to the site hopefulparents.org. This is an online community of parents of special needs kids, and the more I read, the more I realized that reading the stories of people who had gone through what I was experiencing made me feel a little better. I had felt so alone, but in reading these other blogs, even though I've never met any of the writers in person, I felt little less isolated.

Recently, I expressed an interest in writing for hopefulparents.org, and I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to join the amazing writers for this site. On the 16th of each month (beginning two days from now!), one of my blog entries will be featured. Please check it out!

And check this out too:

He's not standing completely by himself, but he's doing really well, isn't he?

(Also, if anyone wants to help me formulate arguments for why I need iPhone 4 with the better camera on it, feel free.)