What a family – there are literally no words to describe the love and warmth that oozes from this family. The loving and giving nature that sees through a pure lens, they see no different. A story of an expected diagnosis which opened up a whole new world and led them down a blissful path of adoption – a path that never would have existed had they not given birth to Bree. I wish more people like the Coxes existed.
Below, Kecia shares their journey.
We are the Cox family. Kecia and Kris, our children Kyra (15) Adrie (12) Bree (10) Mia (10) Claire (5) Livvy (5) and Noah (2). Our story started out as many do, we met in college, got married, graduated from college and started a family. It was when our 3rd daughter was born that our story took a different turn then what we had envisioned.
I was 27, young and healthy, I was not “at risk” for having a baby with down syndrome so this wasn’t supposed to be “my” story, it was supposed to be “someone else’s story”.
When Bree was born via c section I only got to see her cute round face briefly before they whisked her away. My baby was taken to the nursery for oxygen and I was taken to recovery only to watch as doctors and nurses whispered in the hallway…..the news was finally delivered…..”We think your baby has Down Syndrome”.
My first reaction came with intense fear and I prayed they were wrong. At first I only thought of the future and how my world as I knew it was crashing down around me. I spent the first 24 hours of Bree’s life in tears, without her in my arms…and the moment I was finally allowed to see her in the nursery was the moment that changed me forever. The moment that started a chapter of my story I may never have written, but that I ABSOLUTELY needed to be in MY story.
As she wrapped her tiny fingers around mine, I knew it was all going to be ok. This new world we had just stepped into was going to be ok. As I held her tiny hand I knew that she held hands with God and that walking by her side in this life was a blessing, not a burden.
I knew from the very beginning that Bree was going to change my life, but what I didn’t know was just how many other lives she would also change.
We had no idea when we started our path with this little miracle that because of her and her extra chromosome, because of her influence in our lives, because of the way she loved, and in turn taught us to love, we would travel around the world to a foreign country to rescue a little 4.5 year old girl (Mia) from an orphanage and the fate of dying in an institution, and then 5 years after that, after miraculously having twin girls, we would travel across the world again to scoop up a tiny baby boy (Noah), who also was destined for the same fate, and bring him home to our family. Three of our seven children carry that same extra chromosome but just like each of our children, special needs or not, they are each their own miracle, leaving their own mark on the world as they teach us all what matters most….love.
Through the course of our family’s story we have witnessed love making miracles.
We have witnessed tears of fear and sadness for the life we thought we were losing because of special needs, transform into tears of joy and gratitude for the unexpected miracles of this journey.
Down syndrome changed us in ways we will forever be grateful for. We may spend all our days teaching and caring for Bree, Mia, and Noah, but when all is said and done, the things we give them won’t hold a candle to what they will have given us.
For World Down Syndrome Day 2018, I’ll be sharing 21 different stories to raise awareness! If you loved this story, you may love the others, you can find them here.
