All my pregnancies were difficult.  My last one was my daughter who was born 3 and a half months premature. She was the tiniest thing but beautiful with a thick patch of coal black hair.  She had some minor problems that kept her in the hospital for a month after her birth.  We were thrilled when she finally was able to come home even if it was on a heart monitor.  She was so tiny I had to buy doll clothes for her to wear.   The doctors told us that since she was premature that she would be slower at learning to do things like other babies but that she was healthy and would eventually catch up to other children.  So as the months passed  little by little they kept adding prescriptions for her to take till she was on 10 different medications.  I had put all my trust in the doctors but noticed that she was not learning like other children and was lethargic and crying most of the time.  The doctors kept saying that she would adjust to the medicines and it would pass but eventually diagnosed her with Cerebral Palsy.  They tried to convince me to put her in an institution for children like her telling me she would be a "vegetable" all of her life.  That she would never talk or walk or basically function normally in any way,.  What  cruel words to use when delivering such a devastating diagnosis.  At first I was depressed and crying feeling sorry for the life she would have,  Then I got mad that they would just assume I would give her away and not even want to give her the chance at the best she could be.  To me there was no less love for her than the love I had for my 2 sons and she was staying with us no matter how difficult it would be  When she was 10 months old we took a vacation for the kids to see their paternal grandfather for the first time.  He watched for several days as I gave her the medicines every few hours until finally one day he told us that in his opinion all that medicine could not be good for a baby much less for one as small as my daughter.  At first I was offended and took his words to mean he thought I was a bad mother.  My feelings were really hurt but the more I thought about it I decided he was right.   I decided that she was so lethargic because of the medications.  So I decided to take her off of them.  Little by little the crying ceased and she seemed to become more alert to her surroundings and we noticed she was paying more attention to what we were doing, her eyes following us around the room.  We knew I had made the right decision to take her off of the drugs.  A few months passed and she was doing so much better still way behind but much more alert.  The phone rang and it was someone from a division of my state wanting to discuss my decision to take her off her medications.  I was told that the state was contemplating removing my daughter from us for medical neglect.  I informed the man that if they attempted to take my daughter that I would have her out of the country with family before they could get her.  The state decided not to follow through with the threat and I switched doctors and was informed that the dose of medications she had been taking would have knocked an adult out and I had done the right thing by taking her off of them.   She stayed home where she was loved and given all the attention that she could handle from not only family but friends as well.     She was never put into another room and left alone.  She was always right in the middle of all family activities and treated no differently than the boys excluding things her stiff little body couldn't handle,  She eventually started saying words.  It would be only one word but it was thrilling to hear her speak.  She was about 6 years old when she started forming sentences and we all could not get enough of her talking.  Someone was constantly talking to her and getting her to answer including her brothers.  The brother  who was one year older even taught her how to drink from a straw telling her just suck on it like its your baby bottle.  I laughed but then  was surprised when she did it and was drinking from a straw in a few minutes time.  That was almost 27 years ago when the heart of this family was born,  She is still physically dependent on others to do for her but she can out talk anyone I know,   She voices her needs, opinions and at times her anger,  When I sit here as she is chattering on and I am saying in my mind "Please let's just be quiet for a little while"  I remember that tiny lethargic baby that she was and think you go ahead and talk all you want.  I have never regretted my decision to keep her home and  end the medications and believe in my heart that had I not listened to my intuition  that  she would be the "vegetable" that the doctors had said she would be.  And a deeply heartfelt thanks to my father in law for making me think.