- [Timmy] It's good! Mmm mmm.
(Timmy laughs)
- [Dad] Oh, good (indistinct). It's been a while.
They both stood up and they went,
"Timmy's gonna be awesome!
Timmy's gonna be amazing!"
(swooshing music)
Well, we found out that he has Down syndrome at 12 weeks.
I've gotta be real and say, we struggled with,
what does this mean?
And struggled with the questions of,
does this mean he's defective
or does this mean that he's broken
or not completely whole, or...
We struggled with it.
Kids started learning about, okay, what is Down syndrome?
What does this mean for him?
What does this mean for us?
Treshia, actually, was meeting with her doctor
and he took her blood pressure and it was very high.
She checked in the hospital
and within two hours of her being checked in,
the doctor there took a look at her
and I will never forget the words.
He said, "You will not leave this hospital pregnant."
It's not like we were a week or two.
This was two months before his due date.
I dropped the kids off at school on my way to the hospital
'cause she was having an ultrasound
just to check and see how Timothy was doing.
And that's when the doctor walked in,
looked at the results and had that look on his face.
And he said, I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Kuiper
but you're having this baby this morning.
Five or six nurses rushed in
and kind of pushed me out of the way and got her ready
and within a half hour he was born.
(gentle music)
- Mommy. (Mr Kuiper laughs).
(Timmy babbles)
- [Treshia] While our kids accepted,
I mean, they were so great about it,
still there was a weight
'cause we just didn't know what that meant,
what it means to have a child with Down syndrome.
- And I'd had a video that I'd found,
two friends, one a typical kid and one with Down syndrome
and they're best friends, talking about their friendship
and how the one with Down syndrome
was just like the typical kid.
Yeah, there are other challenges, but I'm just like you
and it was the most beautiful video.
And we showed it to our kids, not knowing,
what else are we gonna do, how else do we explain this?
And our kids led the way because Abby and Zach,
when the video was over, I expected them to turn around
and run in my arms and sob and cry together.
And instead they both stood up and they went,
"Timmy's gonna be awesome. Timmy's gonna be amazing.
Oh my goodness, this is gonna be awesome."
And they literally danced in the living room
and I get tears in my eyes now,
because it was like God just said,
"You're gonna be fine
and I'm gonna show it through your kids.
You're gonna be fine and Timmy is gonna be awesome.
Timmy's gonna be incredible."
And that started the journey with our Timmy.
- [Treshia] As we processed that,
our family became more aware.
So you start seeing more people with Down syndrome.
You know, and you start engaging a little bit more.
- When you move into the sphere
you begin to see others that are also in the sphere,
that are living the exact same lives.
And you have so much more empathy
'cause now I can look at that person
and that mom that may be struggling,
I've been there, I know exactly what she's going through.
Or that mom and that child
and that child may not have Down syndrome
but I can relate so much more and I have empathy for them
and now I wanna fight for them.
I like my comfort and I've always have
and I've always learned to kind of live in that safe spot.
Well, the safe spot doesn't really grow.
It just exists.
And I think with Timmy, especially over this last year
I have found that passion inside of me
that I can't sit still anymore.
I can't sit on the sidelines, I can't just exist.
I wanna get involved.
(gentle music)
(swooshing music)