Santino, You Make Me Better
When we first heard the words “Down syndrome,” there were a lot of questions, a lot of fear, and honestly, no idea what our life was going to look like.
Santino came into the world earlier than we expected, born prematurely and already showing us just how strong he was. And in the beginning, we weren’t even sure if he actually had Down syndrome. We had the possibility in the back of our minds, but we had to wait for the testing after he was born to know for sure.
Then the results came back, and it was confirmed.
Santino has Down syndrome caused by a rare Robertsonian translocation, where the extra chromosome 21 material is attached to chromosome 14. So while he has Down syndrome, his chromosome count is 46 rather than the typical 47.
And honestly, that diagnosis became so much less scary once we stopped thinking about a diagnosis and started looking at the little boy right in front of us.
Because Santino isn’t a diagnosis.
He’s our son.
He’s this sweet, stubborn, funny, strong little guy who’s already teaching us so much more about life than we ever expected.
Before Santino, we probably didn’t realize how much we took the little things for granted. Now, a smile can feel like the biggest accomplishment in the world. A new milestone feels like a reason to celebrate. A good feed or one of those little moments when he surprises us has us looking at each other like, “Did you see that?!”
Those little things have become some of the biggest things.
And for us, Santino hasn’t just made us parents. He’s made us better.
More patient. More appreciative. More aware of what really matters. He’s taught us that progress doesn’t have to happen on anyone else’s timeline, and that sometimes the smallest victories deserve the biggest celebrations.
He’s also brought Josh and me closer as a team. We’ve had to learn, grow, worry, laugh, and figure things out together in ways we never expected. And somehow, through all of it, this tiny little boy has made our family stronger.
Looking ahead, we don’t know exactly what every chapter will look like.
And that’s okay.
We don’t need to.
We just know we get to watch Santino grow, discover who he is, and show us all the things he’s capable of.
And if someone says, “I’m sorry, your baby has Down syndrome,” we can’t help but think…
You don’t have to be sorry. You just haven’t met Santino yet. 💙💛
Because once you meet him, you’ll understand.
Our little guy has already made our world better.
And we’re pretty excited to see how much better he makes it as he grows.
-Georgina, Santino’s Mom (Ohio)
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