Amber DeAnn Rojas, a mother of five from Texas, knew after four pregnancies, which included a set of twins, that something felt different with this baby, and she was right.
The Texas mother discovered Amadeus Reign Rojas was unique from her other children when she welcomed her as a daughter. Labor, she says, was slow-going until all of a sudden, it wasn’t.
She says that during her pregnancy, she could sense that something was “different” about their new little one and that the birth was “a lot harder” than her last water birth (for her fourth child).
She said: “I looked down and the next thing I knew, my precious baby was in my arms. My infant’s face revealed everything to me. I thought to myself: ‘My baby has Down syndrome.”
Rojas added: “At that moment, I totally forgot that we kept the baby’s gender a secret. Then, as I looked down, I was shocked to see a girl there! I’m so pleased we’re having another girl that I forgot all about the possibility of her having Down syndrome.”
Rojas explained: “Amber’s midwife informed Amadeus that their daughter had many of the Down Syndrome signs after doing an examination on the infant. Amber acknowledges that she knew nothing about the ailment, but she didn’t seem concerned by the information.”
“We didn’t care that she had Down Syndrome because we were all obsessed with her . . . she’s like all the other babies we’ve had! She needs milk. She sobs when she’s uncomfortable or damp. We adore her ferociously and she always smiles when she sees us! We are here thanks to Amadeus.”
“We are learning together about a whole community that we never knew anything about. God provided Amadeus for us for a purpose, and to us, she is ideal! We only see her as our kid; we don’t consider her condition or label.”
Doctors later confirmed that Ami does have Down syndrome, and the family also learned that Ami has a heart defect. So far, Amber is enjoying bonding with her baby girl. And although baby Amadeus needs to have open heart surgery on Feb. 27 to fix a heart defect that children with Down Syndrome are sometimes born with, the Rojas family is hopeful that she’ll have a speedy recovery.
“I feel like kids who are born with disabilities, their disabilities are only as big as what people allow it to be,” Rojas said. “She’s going to be stronger because she is part of this big, giant family.
“She completes our family.”
“To me she’s just like all of us,” Rojas says. “We are just doing our life the best we know how, and now are not only able to share our love for our kids, [but] to help bring awareness to families with children with Down syndrome, [and] help other families do the same.”
