{"id":271035,"date":"2022-06-29T12:44:44","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T17:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=271035"},"modified":"2022-06-28T15:33:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T20:33:15","slug":"because-of-beckett-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/because-of-beckett-down-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Because of Beckett: A world made better by one little boy with Down syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The brief earthly life of<\/span> one beautiful little boy<\/span><\/a> in North Carolina will have an outsized impact on generations to come. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beckett Martin Weinert\u2019s<\/span><\/a> birth via emergency C-section on October 26, 2019, concluded mom Stephanie\u2019s<\/a> eighth pregnancy and marked her fifth live birth. Though Stephanie had multiple ultrasounds during her pregnancy for various reasons, none suggested any medical issues with her baby until a 38-week ultrasound showed no amniotic fluid and led to his emergent birth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the day she and Beckett expected to go home from the hospital, the pediatrician came in to do one last routine assessment on Beckett, and shocked Stephanie and her husband Peter with surprising news: their baby had some type of heart problem, <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> he had several markers for Down syndrome. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of heading home, Stephanie and Beckett stayed so that Beckett could undergo a battery of tests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Weinert family in 2020 (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Weinert)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Weinerts would learn over the following weeks and months just how serious Beckett\u2019s medical problems were. Their long-awaited, smiling son didn\u2019t just have the significant heart issues that are typical of babies with Down syndrome. He also had advanced lung disease, meaning that his little body struggled mightily to tolerate the surgeries he needed to fix his heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And while Beckett had a somewhat medically calm first year of life, by his first birthday he required full-time oxygen through his nose along with other round-the-clock care. His progressively worsening lung disease led to a prolonged hospital stay at 18 months old in April of 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout young Beckett’s life, the Weinerts had purposefully shared<\/a> \u201cthe raw and the real\u201d joys and challenges<\/a> of their everyday journey with him on <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a>. In the same way,\u00a0they also intentionally chose to allow the world into their time of deepest suffering as his health rapidly declined over the following weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n

On May 11, 2021, Beckett\u2019s little heart beat for the last time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s okay to acknowledge our fears around special needs parenting<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the year since Beckett\u2019s death, the Weinert family has been consoled by countless stories of the ways their son\u2019s life changed other lives. Stephanie spoke to Live Action News about Beckett\u2019s impact and how to show support for families with special needs. She also noted her response when people say \u201cI could never be as brave as you\u201d or \u201cI could never do what you did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephanie said, \u201cWe all know that our percentage of having a child with special needs goes up as our age goes up, but I don\u2019t think we talk about in public like we should the fears that we have about that happening\u2026 we\u2019re ashamed to have those back-of-the-mind thoughts \u2014 \u2018please, just let me get through that 20-week-ultrasound.\u2019 I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve thought \u2018as long as he\u2019s healthy, that\u2019s all that matters.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:<\/strong>\u00a0Separated by adoption, these sisters were reunited after 55 long years<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

She acknowledged, \u201cYes, it\u2019s so hard to parent special needs and to welcome special needs into a family that you already have. Everyone just learns and grows and suffers. And that\u2019s a very real thing. But what we\u2019re also able to show is the joy, the goodness, the beauty. And that\u2019s something the world just doesn\u2019t prepare you for or tell you about, when you\u2019re hearing all the medical things that could go wrong with your child, or about what could happen if you get pregnant at 38 or 42.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n