This Mom Realized She Gave Birth to a Baby With Down Syndrome in the First 10 Seconds – and Her Response Is So Emotional

By Murphy Moroney

Updated on 12/26/2018 at 10:35 AM

Birth Unscripted

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. After a short labor, Amber gave birth to a daughter, Amadeus, who she quickly realized had Down Syndrome. She told POPSUGAR that she came to the realization almost instantly:

I didn't know why or how, but I always told my husband this baby was going to be different. My pregnancy wasn't different but I knew something was. The next thing I know, my sweet baby is in my arms and [I felt] so many emotions. As soon as I looked down I saw [that she had Down Syndrome]. I saw it on her face. I thought to myself: "My baby has Down Syndrome." At that moment, I totally forgot that we kept the baby's gender a secret. Then I looked down and to my surprise, it was a girl! I'm so excited, my thoughts of her having Down Syndrome went away because I was so happy we were having another girl!

After Amber's midwife gave Amadeus her newborn exam, she explained that their daughter had many of the Down Syndrome markers. And even though Amber admits she didn't know much about the condition, she wasn't fazed by the news.

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 cries when she's wet or uncomfortable. She smiles when she sees us and we love her fiercely! Amadeus has brought us together. We are learning together about a whole community that we never knew anything about. God gave us Amadeus for a reason and to us she's perfect! We don't see her diagnosis or her label, we just see her as our daughter.

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.