{"id":280687,"date":"2022-12-01T14:44:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T20:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=280687"},"modified":"2022-11-30T16:47:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T22:47:51","slug":"jacks-basket-nonprofit-celebrate-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/jacks-basket-nonprofit-celebrate-down-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofit delivers thousands of celebration baskets to parents of babies with Down syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cWhen you have a baby with Down syndrome, people don\u2019t say \u2018congratulations.\u2019 Instead, they say, \u2018I\u2019m sorry.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Carissa and Chris Carroll of Minnesota experienced this firsthand after the abrupt birth of their second child \u2014 their\u00a0second son, Jack, in March of 2013. <\/span><\/p>\n

After an uneventful pregnancy that felt largely similar to her first, Carissa was told late in the third trimester that baby Jack was measuring a few weeks behind. She\u2019d had multiple normal ultrasounds, and was told that he would likely just be a smaller baby. She went into labor close to her due date and Jack was born via emergency C-section after fetal monitoring equipment detected a sudden drop in his heart rate. Chris wasn\u2019t allowed back in the operating room with her, so he waited for news as Carissa gave birth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris was completely unprepared for the <\/span>words a nurse practitioner spoke<\/span><\/a> when she and a nurse brought Jack to him while Carissa recovered in the operating room after the delivery. The nurse practitioner asked, \u201cAre you aware of Trisomy 21?\u201d Seeing Chris\u2019s confused look, she went on, \u201cWere you aware that he could have Down syndrome? We think he does, but we\u2019re still running tests.\u201d With that, she left Chris to his surprise, confusion, and grief. Carissa was similarly devastated when she returned to the room and Chris told her the news.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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But in the days that followed, the Carrolls would learn the difference between the worst-case-scenario fears that followed from the grim, cold delivery of Jack\u2019s diagnosis and the hope-filled truth of their reality: they had been gifted by God with their son Jack, and his life was good. <\/span>Chris came to see \u201cI <\/span>get<\/span><\/i> to raise Jack. He is fearfully and wonderfully made, and I get to raise him.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Carissa said similarly, \u201cWhen we met Jack, I realized how much my own plans were limiting what God can do, because I was so stuck on what I wanted. And when we finally just surrendered, like, \u2018this is God\u2019s plan for us,\u2019 we were truly able to live in what He planned for our family.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Carrolls wish everyone understood that \u201c<\/span>[e]very<\/span><\/i> child should be celebrated. <\/span>Every<\/span><\/i> family should be congratulated.\u201d To that end, on Jack\u2019s first birthday, they hand-delivered two baskets to the hospital where he was born, asking staff to present them to other moms who welcomed children with Down syndrome. The baskets contained a letter from Carissa sharing things she\u2019d learned in Jack\u2019s first year of life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Carissa told American Life League\u2019s \u201cCelebrate Life!\u201d magazine that she was personally contacted by one of the mothers who received a basket, who told her \u201cThe basket meant the world to us. It was the only congratulations we got while in the hospital.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Jack’s Basket (@jacksbasket)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n