Not of My Blood but of My Heart
About the article
A mother tells about the experience of adopting Emma, a baby who was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Emma has many health challenges and is strengthened through a priesthood blessing.
Quotations
As we watched her and played with her during that first meeting, we knew she was very delayed developmentally. At the age when most children are learning to walk, this baby could barely roll to one side. Eleven months old, she had just learned to hold up her head, a skill babies usually develop at six weeks. She could sit with support, but her spine curved. Her muscles were the consistency of marshmallows. There was no joint stability at all. When I gently pulled her hand, I had the feeling that her wrist and elbow would stretch forever. We didn’t care. Ray placed the teething ring in her hand and closed her fingers over it.