Meet Michael White
Meet Michael White
On July 9th, 2010, Ashley and I committed to each other, "'til death do us part." Over the last nine years of marriage, there were times where we felt like death was imminent. Before I say why, I will preface with this. The life we have today has completely turned our world right side up.
February 8th, 2013, Beckham Anthony White came into this world. It came as a shock to both Ashley and me when the assisting nurse confirmed a positive diagnosis of Down Syndrome about three minutes after he was born. She not only confirmed it, she “nonchalantly” let the words spill out of her mouth, as if it wasn’t a life-changing thing to say. Weeks later, we discovered it was the doctor’s job to have a one-on-one educational conversation with the parents about the quality of life ahead. I had a waiting room full of family and friends longing to hear the good news of a healthy baby boy. I sent everyone home. The panic, fear, and mourning we had for what was ahead of us was overwhelming.
As any new parents would, we absolutely fell in love with our sweet Beckham. We began to see his character come to life. The joy people speak of with raising a child with Down Syndrome is real. He’s the light of our lives. Raising a child with special needs requires extra time, patience, help, not to mention, occupational and physical therapists. It took almost three years for Ashley and I to decide if we wanted to have more children.
At 11 weeks into our next pregnancy we discovered that Ashley was pregnant with twins. TWINS! Panic ensued. Twins AND a special needs child? We felt like our lives were over. How would we manage?
On July 11th, 2016 at 35 weeks and 5 days, we welcomed Clark Michael White and Liam Asher White in the world; a mere two minutes apart. The boys spent seven and nine days in the NICU and came home to a house that has been chaos ever since.
How in the world can two people raise a special needs child and twins? Today, I still don’t know! But, I can tell you we learned pretty quick how to put others before ourselves. As is anything like this, it’s still a challenge for us. We daily ask God to give us the strength, the patience, the help, and the knowledge to raise an army of God-chasing men. We are thankful to be planted in a community of friends and family that are walking through this stage of life with us and we can’t wait to see what God has in store.
February 8th, 2013, Beckham Anthony White came into this world. It came as a shock to both Ashley and me when the assisting nurse confirmed a positive diagnosis of Down Syndrome about three minutes after he was born. She not only confirmed it, she “nonchalantly” let the words spill out of her mouth, as if it wasn’t a life-changing thing to say. Weeks later, we discovered it was the doctor’s job to have a one-on-one educational conversation with the parents about the quality of life ahead. I had a waiting room full of family and friends longing to hear the good news of a healthy baby boy. I sent everyone home. The panic, fear, and mourning we had for what was ahead of us was overwhelming.
As any new parents would, we absolutely fell in love with our sweet Beckham. We began to see his character come to life. The joy people speak of with raising a child with Down Syndrome is real. He’s the light of our lives. Raising a child with special needs requires extra time, patience, help, not to mention, occupational and physical therapists. It took almost three years for Ashley and I to decide if we wanted to have more children.
At 11 weeks into our next pregnancy we discovered that Ashley was pregnant with twins. TWINS! Panic ensued. Twins AND a special needs child? We felt like our lives were over. How would we manage?
On July 11th, 2016 at 35 weeks and 5 days, we welcomed Clark Michael White and Liam Asher White in the world; a mere two minutes apart. The boys spent seven and nine days in the NICU and came home to a house that has been chaos ever since.
How in the world can two people raise a special needs child and twins? Today, I still don’t know! But, I can tell you we learned pretty quick how to put others before ourselves. As is anything like this, it’s still a challenge for us. We daily ask God to give us the strength, the patience, the help, and the knowledge to raise an army of God-chasing men. We are thankful to be planted in a community of friends and family that are walking through this stage of life with us and we can’t wait to see what God has in store.
Posted in Faces of Faith