Erick: Down syndrome

Inspiring life despite a diagnosis

Erick found out shortly after birth that his daughter Erika has Down syndrome. Erick believes that Erika has made him a better, more patient person and parent.

Finding out your daughter has Down syndrome

Erick didn’t find out about her diagnosis until after she was born.

Erick said, “Maybe five minutes in. I remember the doctor, she actually said “I don’t know but it seems like your daughter might have Down syndrome. I have a feeling from what I’m seeing.” My reaction was “okay, she can be wrong, or she can be right, but she looks healthy so that’s fine.”

But then, when it really hit me was when I looked at my wife and I saw her face. She was freaking out, she was silent. She is really good at controlling her emotions, but yeah, I still remember her eyes when she looked at me and that really hurt. That hit me like a ton of bricks, that is when I realized yeah, we may have a problem here.”

Ongoing medical issues

Erick’s family was very supportive. They didn’t care if Erika had Down syndrome or not, the problem wasn’t her Down syndrome but her other health challenges. Erick explained, “The issue was that she was not digesting her milk. So basically, she was regurgitating constantly, and we were like “why is she doing that?” and she started losing weight and it got to the point where the doctor told us “Something is wrong.”

He continued, “They ran tests, and they were pretty blunt, they told us “She might die.” Erika had a successful microsurgery that cleared a blockage in her duodenal passage that allowed the milk to be absorbed. She continued to have health problems as time went on. Erika developed something called Thrombocytopenia. Erick said, “there is this agent in the blood that she lacked at the time. That agent basically keeps you from bleeding through your pores. So, it seems like she had a little rash, when I reality she was basically bleeding at a microscopic level.”

That has since cleared up, but she now has hypothyroidism.

How their other children have been affected

Erika is Erick’s third child. Erick explains how Erika’s birth affected her older siblings.

“Well Wendy was one year older than Erika was so Wendy didn’t understand. Wendy was born with Asperger’s. At the moment, we had no idea that she had Asperger’s. But Keira the oldest she was in love with her. I still remember she brought her this little plushie pink baby toad and it reminded me of her. When Erika was born, she had this pinkish hue to her skin, so we said, “Oh this kind of looks like you.” And we were always playing with her. But she loved her little sister and even to this day you know she takes care of her, and they have a good bond. It is a beautiful thing.”

The joys of a Down syndrome diagnosis

Erick said, “Everything collided in this harmonious way. A lot of things that were amiss, and situations with other family members, everything came together. She brought that type of harmony into our home and to this day she is the light of this house. She is always making us laugh, she sees that, and she is pretty intuitive. If she sees that someone is sad or something, she will approach you and do or say something just to make you smile.

Advice for a parent with a Down syndrome diagnosis

Erick wants people to experience being with a beautiful person who is full of joy and love.

He said, “If I were able to build a time machine I would go back and tell myself, “Brother you have won the lottery.” And I would love to tell people watching us right now that these children will bring more joy to your life than anything negative that you might be thinking in your mind. Let the fear go. Because this situation is only going to make you a better human being. It is only going to make your family come together as nothing else can. The moment that you don’t see your child even if it’s because you’re on a trip or a business trip or whatever, you miss them so much.

He continued saying, “If you are a parent that is actually thinking that maybe you shouldn’t have this child and you are scared, which is normal, don’t be. Just let them come. They will change your life for the better. Don’t miss out on that opportunity because you will regret it if you do and as a friend I really hope that you don’t have to go through that pain, the pain of knowing that you could have been surrounded by a beautiful being that is full of joy and love and nothing will be able to basically supply that source of happiness and have that baby, take care of them.”