The Amina Series 2/6: Kimberly, Mom

(THE AMINA SERIES 2/6: Kimberly, Mom)

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I stood over my daughter’s crib and prayed to God, please, please don’t let my baby have Down syndrome. In the weeks that we awaited to confirm Amina’s diagnosis I pleaded with God not to do this to her, our family, to my Julian.

In those early days I worried so much about what it would be like for Julian to have a sister with Down syndrome. Would he be embarrassed of her? Would he resent her and us? Could they ever have a real brother/sister bonding relationship?

Daily therapy was overwhelming at first because of Covid all the sessions were at home. Julian saw how hard Amina worked during her sessions, always helped out, and even dubbed himself “Amina’s other doctor.” We learned to celebrate the big, small, and in between and Julian became Amina’s biggest cheerleader.

I will always remember the first time Amina crawled independently. It was a milestone we had been working on for a long time. Julian set up blocks on the opposite side of the room, crawled over on hands and knees and knocked them down. He then reset the blocks and laid on the floor and cheered, “Go Mina, go!” repeatedly. When she made it to the other side, Julian grabbed Amina in a bear hug yelling, “You did it, I love you!” I scooped Amina up and we all jumped up and down, laughing and yelling, “She did it!!” It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Today it is very clear that all the fears and doubts I had about Julian’s role are so far from reality. He is a better, kinder, more empathetic person for having his sister in his life. Their love is truly something magical and I can’t wait to watch them cheer each other on forever. Now when I pray I thank God for bringing Down syndrome & Amina, just the way she is, into our lives.

#TheLuckyFew #TheLuckyFewFoundation #DownSyndrome #ThisIsDownSyndrome