Special Needs Blogs

I have said quite a few times here on the blog how reading other Special Needs Blogs helped get me through the first few months of Gelli’s life. I looked to some of these blogs for answers and inspiration when I had no idea what to expect from my daughter’s extra chromosome. I realized that many of the feelings that I felt initially were almost universal to mothers like me…It was as if there was this hierarchy of emotions everyone went through. 

And that made me feel a lot less guilty.

At any rate, I wanted to share some of the blogs that I found through my journey. I don’t get to visit each and every blog every day. In fact, I probably visit each of these blogs (now) when I remember something that I want to look up, or when I see a post on social media reminding me about them. I just wish I could spend more time reading…and a lot less time doing housework and house chores.

• Enjoying the Small Things– Kelle got me through the first few weeks when Gelli was in the hospital. She wrote a memoir that I was lucky enough to snag an autographed copy because of my awesome mom. She takes the stand that we can find the good if we look for it. I totally agree and she turned my desperation when Gelli was born into hope. Plus her daughter Nella is just super cute.
• My Stubborn Miss– Megan is a teacher. I relate to her in so many ways. Ellie is just a year older than Gelli so it’s really easy for me to get ideas from Megan in my parenting with Gelli because they are so close in age. 
• Gillian Marchenko– I read Gillian’s memoir and found so many parallels in our lives when she gave birth in the Ukraine. Her daughter, Polly also has another sister with Down Syndrome who Gillian and her husband adopted after Polly was a little older.
• A Little Moxie– Meriah is also hearing impaired. Her blog talks about special needs from another perspective, as well. Sometimes, she gets really angry. Anger is good. It can light a fire for inspiration and get changes going for the better.
• Love that Max-Ellen keeps it real too. (Actually, all these bloggers keep it real.) She writes about her son Max who had a stroke just after he was born which caused significant brain damage. She also has a column with Parents Magazine.
• Noah’s Dad-One of only two thorns amongst the roses, Rick provides a loving father’s take on raising his son Noah, who has Down Syndrome.
• The Sumulong 3– Stephanie writes about her son Owen. I found her blog through Megan’s guest post for Down Syndrome Consciousness Month. Her son, Owen is half Filipino, like me.
• Kimchi and Latkes– Jisun is Korean American and grew up in the states with a strong cultural tie to her heritage. Some of her posts remind me how I felt growing up in Upstate New York as one of the few Filipinas in the town where we lived. She writes with ease about topics I have yet to tackle on my blog. I find it difficult to write about controversial topics in our community. I’m sure with practice, I can tackle these important issues…hopefully, with as much insight and grace as she does.
• Down Syndrome Prenatal Testing– Mark has a daughter with D.S. and the focus of his blog is clear, simply by the blog name. 
• Manila Mommy– Neva is not only, proud mom to Noah, she has been blogging for many years even before Noah was born. I have a personal relationship with Neva, which I value greatly. She is my friend.
• Big Blueberry Eyes– I found this blog when I was searching for bloggers who took the #31for21 blogging challenge. Every year in the United States (October is DS Awareness Month) many bloggers participate in this challenge to create awareness for our children. I found this post here, which has even more blogs you can take the time to look at for inspiration.
• Don’t Be Sorry– Sarah blogs about her son Oscar. Something that stuck with Sarah was when the doctor who delivered her son’s suspected diagnosis started their conversation with ” I’m sorry but we suspect Oscar has Down Syndrome.”

Do you have any blogs your look to for inspiration? Hope that you can share them here in the comments section as well 🙂