This is a story about the night that AbbeyRose King was born as told by her parents, Jeff and Cindy King.

AbbeyRose was born on July 8, 1999 late at night. She weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. They told us at the hospital that we needed to get an award for having the most family and friends there the night she was born. It has been just like that ever since - family and friends and lots of prayers, love and support have surrounded her and us. 

Well, that night they showed her to Mommy, then Daddy carried her down the hall to meet family and friends, then to a room with a window where everyone could watch while the doctor did some checking...checking and more checking. I think one or two grandparents silently thought... “What are they checking?” Nothing was said to anyone then. Soon all of the visitors that had come to see her had gone home happily. Everything was great, she was finally here! Then maybe 15 minutes after that, AbbeyRose went to the NICU and we were alone in Recovery (I remember the time was around midnight). The Neonatologist slipped quietly in the room with us, introduced himself, then told us there were some concerns about AbbeyRose. It seems that after “their checking” it was believed that she had Down syndrome and possibly a hole in her heart. Shocking news, it hit us pretty hard, definitely nothing we ever expected. We had no signs or symptoms during our pregnancy, we thought, how could this be? We cried a lot and I don’t think either of us slept at all that night. We didn’t know what to expect. We were upset and scared. It seemed at that time a very heavy load to bear. Neither of us knew we had just been given a miracle. 

AbbeyRose was born on a Thursday and immediately whisked to the NICU (she would be there four days). They were concerned about her heart and wanted to keep a close check. First thing Friday morning, we went down to NICU early, to see our new bundle of joy. No one in our families knew the news about her except us and I think by then, we were over the initial shock and just wanted to see her, hold her and start loving her right away. We did just that. The hardest part came next - telling visitors - family & friends, telling them what we knew and listening to their responses. To tell them what we knew made us cry each and every time all over again. But in those first few days, we became so strong, it didn’t matter to us what she had, she was ours and we loved her so much. We knew nothing about Down syndrome or heart problems but we were positive that we would make the best of it. AbbeyRose was our very first baby and she was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. 

We went home with her on Monday - they told us signs to watch for, regarding her heart, and they gave us a book to read about Down syndrome. When we carried her to the Pediatrician for her two-week checkup, they told us about Hudspeth and their Early Intervention Program, shortly thereafter we enrolled her there. At three months of age we started seeing the signs of her heart problem and she only weighed 11 pounds. She had only gained a little over a pound since the day she was born. We couldn’t get her weight up, her heart was using up all of her energy. The doctor told us that the time had come to do the repair, she would need open-heart surgery. She had a hole in her heart, which they called a VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) which was according to the doctor an easy, one-time repair, meaning that they would sew a patch over the hole and she would be good as new. They did that in October 1999, we were in the hospital only seven days - she was a trooper! And we were so very proud of her! She began to flourish and we have had no heart problems since. As soon as she was feeling better, we began her journey at Hudspeth - a place where she and we would learn so much! She started going twice a week at first, meeting with Mrs. Amy, her Educational Therapist, then as she got older we increased her time and made it just one day a week and added her Physical Therapist, Mrs. Janet, and then her Speech Therapist, Mrs. Leah. She loved her therapists, you can ask her about any one of them and she smiles! On her visits, we would work on her cognitive, language, gross motor, fine motor, and social skills. With their help we have certainly come a very long way. We knew very little about raising a child, much less, one with special needs and they have been there to help AbbeyRose excel beautifully and they have also helped us cope with all aspects of being parents. We formed a Parent Exchange group that consisted of a handful of parents which has been wonderful for us. It became much more than a support group - it was a place where you could go and talk with other parents who are facing very similar issues - raising a child with special needs. Even though AbbeyRose is no longer going to Hudspeth (she graduated at three years of age), we still participate in the Parent Exchange Group. It is a very beneficial part of our lives - it’s a place where we feel comfortable talking about anything and we have made many friends there. AbbeyRose is a sweet, very loving, and very caring little person. When she is happy, her little smile can light up the world and make everything seem so bright! But when she is not happy (which is not very often), she lets you know it. She has a strong will which can be tough at times, but this will probably be very beneficial one day! She was enrolled in a Mother’s Morning Out Program at age one, for two days a week - which she absolutely loved! And now, at four years of age she is going to Pre-Kindergarten which she thinks is very wonderful too!! She has made many friends and has some wonderful teachers. She has shown that she really loves to learn. Her main delay right now is her speech. She says Mama, Daddy, Mamaw, Papaw, Grandpa, Pops, Kitty Cat, Puppy, Bear, Pile-Up, School, Santa Claus and attempts to say many other words. She can say JU-LY which is when her birthday is….but for the most part, she uses sign language to tell us what she wants or needs. Hudspeth loaned us a book on teaching sign language and we started it with her when she was about 22 months. She is very good at it, there are even some signs that she made up on her own - for words we didn’t know the sign for. She knows all of the colors and can say most all of them when asked to identify…and now she is learning how to count. 

She LOVES playing outside and riding the tractor with Daddy. She’ll cry if you tell her it’s time to come in.

She LOVES popsicles and ice cream, wearing jewelry, coloring on everything, watching Barney, playing in her tent, taking care of her baby dolls and washing her hands. This past Christmas she fell totally in love with Santa Claus! She carries a picture of him and her in her Barney Backpack to school everyday and has a life size Santa Claus in her room to look at and talk to every day. She will even sometimes cry when she is talking about him - because she so loves him. She has a baby sister, LilyCate, now who is just under two years old and she loves her dearly. Her favorite time is night time when it’s time to “pile-up” in Mama & Daddy’s bed, put on her “jammies” and watch a movie until she falls asleep between us. And as you can imagine, this is our favorite time, too! In the back of our minds, I guess we know she has and will have some disabilities - but we don’t think about that every day. When we look at her now, we see the most beautiful little girl in the world. We don’t see Down syndrome. Most times we never even think about it until someone asks us, “Does she have it?” Our reply is usually… “Yes, she does and isn’t she gorgeous!” Don’t let me fool you, it took a while to get to that confident point in answering stranger’s questions…without a single tear…but we made it. She is as normal as a normal child and we treat her just that way. We are raising her as if she had no disabilities at all and we expect the highest and best from her. Knowing AbbeyRose, this is probably just what we will get! 

Jeff & Cindy King 
60011 Stratford Drive 
Smithville, MS 38870 
Phone: (662) 257-6467 
E-mail: TJEFFKING@aol.com