{"id":984,"date":"2017-06-21T06:59:41","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T10:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/?p=984"},"modified":"2017-06-20T13:58:07","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T17:58:07","slug":"gigis-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/gigis-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why GiGi’s: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! \u00a0In the second edition of our “Why GiGi’s” series, we hear from our President, Samantha Nunez. She shares her daughter’s diagnosis story and how she came to be a Founding Member then President of GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Myers. \u00a0She’s working VERY hard as we move toward our Grand Opening. \u00a0Here’s why:<\/p>\n

Why GiGi\u2019s<\/strong>
\n By Samantha Nunez<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sofia\u2019s presence in this world was felt instantly. There was an overwhelming rush of love and affection that I had never experienced. She was 5 weeks early, arriving on her daddy\u2019s birthday. It was certain from the start that Sofia was going to do things her way, and at her own pace.
\nMy husband and I own our own business, so he had to run off right after Sofia was born. She was instantly placed in the NICU since she arrived early, and I was finally taking a much needed nap. The doctor came in and gently woke me up. To this day, it\u2019s still hazy. I try now to retrace everything that was said and done, but I find myself unable to pull it all together. \u201cChromosomal Abnormalities\u201d \u201cDown syndrome\u201d \u201cTesting\u201d \u201cWhere\u2019s your husband?\u201d \u201cDo you have any family in town?\u201d Is all I can remember, and all I heard during that first conversation.
\nWhat preceded was a whirlwind of emotion, thoughts, family, discussions, honesty, questions, facts, and of course Google. It seemed the more I tried to find, the more questions I had. Many questions couldn\u2019t be answered, or questions were answered differently by different people. There were mumblings under the nurses\u2019 breath, under the doctors, under the cardiologist, and the oncologist, and the gists that just kept coming. But there wasn\u2019t a mother\u2019s answers. There wasn\u2019t someone who called me or that I could call to have my breakdown. I needed to have my breakdown with a mom who knew what I was going through. Instead, I had it on Google. Trust me when I say there isn\u2019t a blog, a website, a book that I\u2019m not aware of or have read. Much of it outdated, incorrect, or just nasty.<\/p>\n

\"\" GiGi\u2019s Playhouse is a place of hope. A place where I could have gotten real answers by real parents. I would have started this journey off so much stronger, knowledgeable, and grateful. It\u2019s a place where my daughter is going to grow to be the best version of herself, which is what I want for all my children. It\u2019s going to give her an opportunity to reach her goals, to build lifelong friendships, and prepare her for college and a career. It\u2019s where she will jump for the first time, read for the first time, maybe find her \u201cone and only.\u201d It will also be a place for my family to connect with others -to be the shoulder to cry on, or bounce ideas off of, or celebrate a victory. Yes, it\u2019s a place for free outcome-based programs which in themselves will have a huge impact on people\u2019s lives, but it\u2019s so much more than that.
\nThere\u2019s so much potential for GiGi\u2019s Playhouse in our community, and I\u2019m so excited and honored to part of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thank you, Samantha, for sharing your story and for your continued work to make this dream a reality!<\/p>\n

If you would like to submit your own \u201cWhy GiGi\u2019s,\u201d we\u2019d love to hear it and may even include it on the blog!<\/p>\n

Comment below or send your \u201cWhy GiGi\u2019s\u201d story to us at fortmyers@gigisplayhouse.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! \u00a0In the second edition of our “Why GiGi’s” series, we hear from our President, Samantha Nunez. She shares her daughter’s diagnosis story and how she came to be a Founding Member then President of GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Myers. \u00a0She’s working VERY hard as we move toward our Grand Opening. \u00a0Here’s why: Why GiGi\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/fortmyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}