When we first have our pregnancy confirmed—especially among first time moms—our heads immediately fill with visions of the ideal journey we’ll be taking with our new son or daughter: the first steps, the piano recitals, the sports games, and on into their adulthood’s. Whether it’s through an ultrasound or in the wake of your delivery, bad news can smash all of those hopes in an instant. Finding out your child is afflicted with a serious mental or physical affliction is going to be difficult— no matter what; however, it doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be robbed of the joys of parenthood and childhood. It will mean that you’ll have to let go of expectations, and continue ahead with a spirit of truth and acceptance in your heart. Redefining normal Once new mothers get over the initial shock of learning their child may not lead the “normal” life they had in mind, many mothers immediately go into an unrealistic damage control mode. You may have accepted the affliction is real, but the obsession to fix the problem can be an elaborate form of denial. In cases in which prospects for recovery or treatment are still up in the air, it’s good to…