October 9th, 2017

Snot. It’s a big part of our lives here at Emma HQ. When the nose is full, it starts coming out of her eyes, like conjunctivitis. Ew.
Why?
People with Down syndrome sometimes have underdeveloped respiratory systems. Long story short, the snot pipe that leads from the nose down the throat is meant to be a nice curve, but in Emma’s case it’s more of a right angle and the space is smaller than usual. This means that the snot doesn’t drain easily. When it can’t go down, it comes up and into her eyes.
She doesn’t have a cold. She doesn’t have conjunctivitis (usually... thanks Daycare!). It doesn’t bother her, and it bothers me less each day.
I was always going to be the mother that didn’t have a snotty kid. The day she learns to blow her nose will be the greatest day of my life! Until then, we wait until she grows bigger, and her pipes grow. If, when she’s 3 or 4, it hasn’t sorted itself out, she’ll have some surgery to clear adenoids and maybe get grommets.
The issue with the snot is that it fills her head, and is affecting her hearing. It’s like she’s under water constantly and is therefore not hearing sounds correctly. It’s why she has her hearing aid that she has now discovered she can pull off and refuses to keep on. With the aid, sounds bypass the fluid and go straight to her ear bones where they’re processed as normal. She needs this clarity to hear sounds in speech, and if she can’t hear the sounds she can’t replicate them. We’re hoping her speech will come along eventually.
And that’s the story of Emma’s snot. Delightful.

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