Natural Birth and a Down Syndrome diagnosis- birth caught on video

I love this story, this family, and the fact that a lot of this beautiful child’s beginning was caught on camera. I asked for the story behind the story, and here it is. Natural birth and a Down Syndrome Diagnosis.

Baby number 5 was definitely not part of our “plan”… My husband and I wanted a big family at first but then went I went through my first pregnancy I changed my mind. Pregnancy takes over my whole body and it was hard for me to work and I loved my job.

Then after having our first Son, Xavier, I felt bad that he wasn’t going to have any siblings. So we decided to try again only this time we ended up with Boy/Girl twins. Our Twins Kaydence and Zayden are 21 months younger than our oldest son. 3 and we were Done right! 2 boys and 1 girl! Why would you need to try again?!? We decided to get the IUD which is why my Next Daughter was 6 years later. Ezra joined the group and we were all in Love!!!! Later being a family of 6 my husband and I started having some marriage problems and were about to call it quits. It was hard balancing a marriage, 2 jobs, and four VERY busy kids so imagine the surprise when we found out we were expecting another baby!

So many emotions!

I remember calling my midwifes and talking to my Midwife Kaitlyn and she had nothing but love and compassion for me. Reminded me I could do this and this was Gods plan. So here we go again. One more baby and only 19 months later after baby #4 …  I was so nervous to tell everyone we were having another baby especially with our marriage on the rocks. But of course everyone was so excited which gave me comfort.

Since this was my 4th and LAST pregnancy and 5th baby; and I’ve literally labored every way possible, I wanted to leave something to surprise. Something different to look forward to especially because we really were not planning to have any more. So I decided to do a surprise gender baby and my husband and kids just went along with it. It was so hard because not knowing what my baby was and hard to envision what my family was going to look like. Were we going to have to paint the house pink? Were we always going to have to leave the toilet seat up?

We all thought I was having a boy! All of us! I really thought it was a boy but I also knew that something else was different! I didn’t know why or what but I always told my husband this baby was going to be different.

My pregnancy wasn’t different but I knew something was. To this day my friend remembers me telling her that this next baby was going to be different and was coming for us because of what we had been through. My husband kept saying it was because we didn’t know the gender of the baby which is why I felt that way.

Toward the end of my pregnancy I could feel our baby breathe which was soooo different. No one but my midwives believed me, but if you have been pregnant as much as I have been you learn a lot about your body and the baby inside it. The breathing was fast and consistent. Not like kicks or hiccups. So finally at 38 weeks and 6 days I went into labor and all my kids wanted to be there. Soon after my water broke we began loading up the kids one by one! We got to the Birth Center and everything slowed down. I was so bummed because I no longer felt like I was in labor. We did all the things to move things along and nothing. Then the midwifes kicked everyone out of the room to let me rest! I rested for a few hours (which is NOT like any of my other births) and still nothing. This baby was coming on her own time not ours.

I got up and Fernando and I went for a walk around the Birth Center, we were able to hang out with the kids and my family for a bit before finally things started happening… I was finally in true labor. It was fast and hard. I could barely make it to the tub which is the way I had planned and I was determined.

I finally got there but I was only there for maybe five 5 minutes. As the contractions grew stronger everyone in the room started to fade away. It felt like it was just me and my baby. Then one last contraction took over my body and before I knew it I was lifting my sweet new fresh baby out of the water and into my arms.

I finally had my amazing clear Water Birth like I always wanted! What a way to end my pregnancy journey.

Then I saw it in my babies face.

I thought to my self… I think my baby has Down Syndrome. Then as my family started to reappear they screamed, “Boy or Girl?!” I totally forgot we didn’t know, and to my surprise it was a girl! I was so excited, my thoughts of her having Down Syndrome went away because I was so excited we were having another girl! Now Ezra was going to have a BFF to grow up with like our Bigs (older ones) do….. but I’m a planner and I love education and I knew I knew nothing about kids with Down Syndrome.

After getting out of the tub and nursing her I could feel that she felt differently then all my others. She felt really limp, and her eyes were very different. We all have small eyes but hers were small in a different way. I kept thinking why isn’t anyone saying anything. Then I saw her breathing and it was just like I felt in my stomach (now I know it’s due to her heart defect) fast and consistent. No one said anything so then I thought I was crazy and I was over thinking things….

So as they were going over her exam and we were probably an hour before we were to leave, my Midwife, Angela, seemed more serious than I had ever seen her.

Almost nervous.. Not like her AT ALLL! She’s the funniest person I know. She said so softly, “ I don’t want to worry you but your daughter has a few Down Syndrome markers” and in that moment I was like I knew it! I KNEW IT! I was not going crazy! I was wondering if I was the only one who saw it.

Finally I didn’t feel crazy!! I knew I was right! I knew something was different when I was pregnant and then immediately became a worker Bee and I hung on every word that came out of their mouth. I wanted to know everything they knew about Babies with Down Syndrome so I could best care for my daughter, Amadeus.

We didn’t care that she had Down Syndrome Because we were all obsessed with her and all her chromosomes!  But unfortunately I didn’t get my regular maternity leave. She had a low resting heart rate so we weren’t headed home but we were now headed to the hospital to get her checked out. On our way to the hospital our car was never so quiet. My husband and I were both in deep thought. I remember telling him to get ready for her diagnosis because it’s coming because she did have Down Syndrome.

He told me not be negative and we would just have to wait to see what the doctors had to say. The hospital didn’t love that we had a baby with Down Syndrome at Birth Center and treated us like we were unfit for our new baby. They began to tell me all the things she wasn’t or couldn’t do… My midwifes prepared me for this before we left. They knew we were about to be treated with negativity which was far different that they treated us.

It took 3 days for them to give us her confirmed diagnosis that she did have Down Syndrome and a small hole in the heart that would need to be repaired at a later date.

I was far more concerned about her heart than I was about the fact that she had Down Syndrome.

To this day I will never forget how the Doctor told me the news. The doctor came in as the cardiologist is explaining her repair and the other doctor patted my shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, your daughter also has Down Syndrome”

I was shocked! I’m sorry…. I’m sorry. Those are words I’d expect to hear if I had lost my daughter, not one that was sweetly sleeping in her bed. I’m sorry is used when something bad has happened! Nothing bad had happened. My daughter was here, healthy ,and beautiful.

Then to their surprise, we left in a week after them running what seemed like a million tests with our precious healthy baby girl. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her. To us she’s like all the other babies we have had! She needs milk. She cries when she’s wet or uncomfortable. She smiles when she sees us and we love her fierce! God gave us Amadeus for a reason! Our family was going a million different ways and Amadeus has brought us back together. We are learning together about a whole community that we never knew anything about!

At the end of the day she IS our baby and we are her FAMILY! To us she is perfect! We don’t see her Diagnosis or her Label… We see Amadeus Reign Rojas 

Amber says the following about herself: I’m a Holistic Jesus loving mama and wife. I’m also a hairdresser and have been for 17 years. I love wine, working out, and to dance. Before kids and marriage I played soccer in college at Texas A&M Commerce. Now my family is my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world! You can follow Amber and her family on Instagram @justwhenyouthinkshesdown