a few years later, rachel had a second daughter. lucy was born 8 weeks premature, with spina bifida (this means there is a hole in your back when you are born and your spinal cord is sticking out) and cerebral palsy (your brain has trouble controlling your muscles). doctors worried that, because of her cerebral palsy, lucy would never be able to speak or use sign language to communicate with her deaf sister, but after the first volume was made, lucy started to sign, and later, to speak. rachel then thought that signing could be beneficial to all children.