ROBERTS, Wis. (WEAU) -One year ago, Alex and Zach St. Aubin, welcomed their first son, Bennett Duke into the world.
“Her water broke basically two weeks early, and so it was really unknown at the time as far as when Bennett was going to be born...” says Zach.
Thirty-six hours later, their newborn son was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
“...and it just happened to fall right on World Down Syndrome Day,” says Zach.
Bennett’s mom, Alex says at that point, they felt ready to take on the challenge.
“I remember we got back and we pulled into the garage and Zach and I just kind of sat there with Bennett before we walked in and we just said you know what, we were made to do this and we’re going to walk into that door and not look back,” says Alex.
The two say they expected life with a newborn to have its ups and downs, but add in a global pandemic and their child’s diagnosis, the new parents had their hands full.
“I like to describe it as overwhelmingly beautiful, because those first couple weeks we were shocked with—we felt so alone right when we got home, between the pandemic, and having a shock of a diagnosis with us, and we didn’t really know anyone at the time who had a child with Down syndrome,” says Alex.
Suddenly Bennett’s diagnosis opened up the St. Aubin’s to a whole new world.
The new parents say they were inundated with families across the country, reaching out over social media to share their own stories.
“How to navigate different scenarios or issues, maybe him not eating as much or just different things or being more delayed and just accept his progress in his own unique way,” says Zach.
“Every new parent or especially like dads, kind of grow up or dream about what your little boy is going to be able to do playing sports, or watching them chase around a basketball in the driveway type of deal, and getting this diagnosis and finding this community is something we never thought we were going to be a part of,” says Zach. “But we’re glad we are and we’re going to take every step that Bennett takes right alongside of him just to make sure he’s accepted and that he’s included in everything he does.”
“To look back from last year to today, on what we feel it’s truly incredible I can’t even really describe it,” says Alex.
With the support of the community behind them, the St. Aubin’s hope Bennett’s story can continue to inspire others and let other parents with children who have Down syndrome know they are not alone.
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March 22, 2021 at 06:18AM
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New parents celebrate World Down Syndrome Day - WEAU
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