Frequently Asked Questions

Did you and Mr. Andi know that Nathan would be born with Down syndrome?

No, we didn't. I had multiple ultrasounds during my pregnancy, due to my high-risk classification, but none of the soft markers for Down syndrome were present. We declined additional prenatal testing, because we knew that we would not abort and our experience with Sarah Kate had already taught us that you can't prepare for everything. We have never regretted our decision not to test.

Do you know what caused Sarah Kate’s cerebral palsy?

Yes and no. Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain that occurs either before, during, or shortly after birth, and it is very common in preemies. Sarah Kate was born 10 weeks early due to a placental abruption, when the placenta detaches from the uterine wall. The cause of the abruption itself is unknown. Following her birth, she was diagnosed with a Grade 1 intraventricular hemorrhage (bleeding in her brain), which is not typically considered serious.

I read on the blog that Sarah Kate had a selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR). Who was her surgeon and what else can you tell me about SDR?

Dr. Oakes at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama did the procedure. Although Dr. Park at St. Louis Children's is a well-known SDR surgeon, we were confident in Dr. Oakes' ability because at the time of Sarah Kate's procedure (early 2006) he had been performing SDRs for almost two decades. Additionally, we felt that because the after care (i.e., the year of physical therapy) is such an important piece of the SDR puzzle, we wanted her to have the procedure at a facility that offered a comprehensive approach to SDR, which Children's of Alabama did. We were fortunate that we lived close enough to Birmingham to be able to take advantage of their program. You can read about our experience with SDR here or (if you're really bored or desperate for some SDR reading material) the original play-by-play here.

What kind of photography equipment do you use?

Most of the time, I use a Canon 80D with one of the following lenses: an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 USM zoom, a 40mm f/2.8 fixed pancake,  or a "nifty fifty" 50mm fixed lens. At swim meets, I typically use an 85mm f/1.8 fixed for a little more reach in (mostly) indoor facilities. I rarely use a flash or tripod, although I own multiple varieties of both, because I hate flash and it's pointless to chase a kid with a tripod. For post-processing, I'm an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber; I spend about 90% of my processing time in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CC for the other 10%.

Who does your blog design work?

Me, myself, and I, although I do use a theme from Lindsey at Pretty Darn Cute as my jumping off point. Although I would love to have a really great web designer handle my site, designers cost money. Because my blog is first and foremost about the message, not money, I do everything on a shoestring budget, which means doing it myself. I'm fortunate that I have some basic Photoshop skills, as that has allowed me to create my own graphics, and I know enough about coding to be dangerous. Everything else has been a matter of trial and error and studying the designs of other blogs that I like.

You should write a book! Have you ever considered it?

Although I've listed this question near the bottom in the FAQ, it's probably the one I hear most often. I am writing a book, but I'm not (yet) pursuing publication of a book. I'm writing a book (in bits and pieces) so that I can create a permanent record of my family's story for my children. If, at some point in the future, an opportunity to be published presents itself, I'll pursue it.

How can I help keep the lights on here?

Honestly, this question isn't really asked all that frequently, but I'd like to think that there might be a few people out there thinking it who haven't asked yet. 🙂 Here are a few ways you can help keep Bringing the Sunshine going strong:

• Share the blog with your friends. Social networking and bookmarking links are provided below every post.
• Click to shop. Everything I talk about on the blog is something I believe in, and occasionally those things are products (like my photography equipment listed above). By visiting the sponsors in my sidebar or clicking through my product links and making a purchase on Amazon, you can drop a few (and I do mean a FEW) coins in the therapy fund jar.