There are so many simple joys that can be found when we embrace the concept of ‘slow living’ which we are trying our best to do around here.
This month has been full of adventures here at home and away. We just never know what to expect. Our area has been experiencing a severe drought so that made gardening a little more challenging this season. We have been so blessed to get a decent amount of rain lately and I don’t complain about it, even when it happens mid harvest!
Pip: Welcome to Pollywog’s Place Blog — where the posts are personal, the stakes are real, and nobody is pulling punches.
Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog wrote something this week that takes on prenatal diagnosis, medical pressure, and what it actually looks like to say no — repeatedly — when doctors are certain they know better.
Pip: Let’s start with that story.
Mara: The post opens a question that cuts to the bone: when a prenatal diagnosis arrives loaded with worst-case projections, who actually gets to decide what a child’s life is worth?
Pip: The answer, in this case, came appointment after appointment, and it was the same every time. Here’s the line that captures the whole experience: “At every MFM appointment I was asked if I was ready to schedule ‘the procedure’ — I was told that it would be simple, we could try again in a couple of months, and this was just a rare occurrence that we wouldn’t have to worry about happening again.”
Mara: What that means in practice is that the medical framing wasn’t neutral. It was a campaign. The word “procedure” does a lot of work when you use it to describe ending a pregnancy — it flattens the decision into something routine.
Pip: And the pressure didn’t stop at clinical language. Two weeks before the birth, she was told she was being selfish for refusing. That’s not a medical opinion — that’s something else entirely.
Mara: The post is careful to say it isn’t condemning anyone who has faced this choice differently. But it does make a pointed argument: doctors were presenting opinions as facts. They said Shyanne would never walk, would never have a happy life, would be a burden to her other children. Post-birth genetic testing couldn’t even fully confirm the original diagnoses.
Pip: They called it a rare occurrence that wouldn’t happen again — which is a remarkable thing to say about a child who was, at that moment, doing somersaults.
Mara: She frames the core message plainly: “A disability should not be a death sentence for any child who hasn’t even had the chance to live yet.” And she points toward adoption as a real alternative for families who feel unequipped, noting there are communities and support groups that offer something a single genetics appointment simply cannot — time, experience, and people who have actually been there.
Pip: Shyanne defied every projection. She’s described as healthy, active, and, to use the post’s own words, able to light a room.
Mara: The post ends where it began — with faith, and with the insistence that fear of uncertainty is not the same thing as information.
Pip: One post, one family’s experience — and it raises something that stays with you.
Mara: When the data runs out, the question of who decides is still very much open.
You can read the post HERE:
I debated on whether to write this post or not, but as many of you know we have been blessed with two special needs kiddos in our home.
Our oldest was adopted and our youngest was a surprise baby… in so many ways. I never entertained the idea of abortion for any of my pregnancies and never would, but that’s me.
Continue reading “Down Syndrome shouldn’t be a death sentence”
I am hoping to make a new devotional for each month this year… that’s a big challenge, but it is something that has been on my heart. For JUNE, our monthly theme will be FAITHFULNESS. We will be trying to find ways to show a little more FAITHFULNESS through routines and habits.
Here is the FREE printable, if you’d like to join us:
Continue reading “FAITHFUL in All Things Devotional”
This time of year seems to be a little busier for us, so I thought it might be helpful if I just got all my special meals and recipes gathered for the month. I checked the menu plan and have made a list of the holidays that we want to celebrate.
If you haven’t seen our Perpetual Meal Plans yet, then you really need to check them out, as they have all kinds of special and unique holidays listed. Now is the time to start making your bucket list for Fall things, if you haven’t already.
You can also check out our Holidays tab and the June Holidays post for even more ideas!
Don’t forget to add upcoming birthdays onto your Meal Plan!
Continue reading “Special Holiday Meals: June Edition”
