{"id":130789,"date":"2019-06-14T14:05:15","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T18:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/?p=130789"},"modified":"2019-06-14T16:37:17","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T20:37:17","slug":"meet-the-diaz-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/meet-the-diaz-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Diaz Family"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this new series, we will spotlight how GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough\u00a0is a place of hope for families with children of all ages\u2014from newborn to adult. Whether your child is 46 DAYS old or 46 YEARS old (or younger….or older!), GiGi\u2019s provides a range of purposeful, enriching programs meet your needs while also serving as a place of support and education for families. <\/em><\/h5>\n

\"\"Noah Diaz will never remember his very first visit to GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough.\u00a0 But his mom, Melissa (who was carrying six-week-old Noah in her arms), will never forget it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked into the Playhouse one way: overtaken with tremendous fear, uncertainty, and even depression. And then I came out completely changed: with feelings of positivity, optimism, hope, and even excitement for what the future could hold for my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

This a stark difference from how Melissa was made to feel when she was 18 weeks pregnant and it was confirmed that her baby would likely have Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to many other women who had a positive experience with their Down syndrome pregnancies, but I did not,\u201d she says. \u201cHonestly, there was a 6-week period, from my 18th<\/sup> to 24th<\/sup> week of pregnancy, where tremendous pressure was put on me to get an amnio so I could confirm 100% if there was Down syndrome and then \u2018decide what I wanted to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told over and over things like: your child is going to have a ton of medical issues, medical care is going to very expensive and will cause financial trouble, your child won\u2019t be able to do so many things, having a child with Down syndrome will put a big strain on your marriage, and the list of scary things went on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily, Melissa met two doctors who not only gave her much-needed support but also told her of a little place in Hillsborough called GiGi\u2019s Playhouse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Melissa didn\u2019t reach out to GiGi\u2019s right away. Then, after the birth of Noah, she found herself still in a very depressed state. \u201cI loved my son so much, but I couldn\u2019t shake all the fears I had.\u00a0 Growing up, I had two family members with Down syndrome, and their lives always seemed difficult to me. I was afraid of how this all would impact my daughter Emma, who is 18 months older than Noah. I couldn\u2019t help but think about the long-term: when I die, who will care for Noah? I worried about Noah being bullied in school, being teased. I worried about my ability to give him all the support and help he would need. I worried about finances, my marriage. I worried about Noah\u2019s health. I just worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Melissa\u2019s husband, Keith, who made the initial call to GiGi\u2019s to convey what they were going through and find out how GiGi\u2019s could help.<\/p>\n

\u201cErin Morris called me soon after,\u201d Melissa says. That woman. She saved me. Saved me. She invited me to the Playhouse. We brought Noah in; he was just six weeks old. For the first time I learned and saw first-hand all that my son would be able to do if he had the right supports.\u00a0 I was filled with hope that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Noah is now two years old. He has enjoyed the Happy Hands, LMNOP, and 2 & Under Playgroup, while\u00a0\u00a0 Melissa enjoys the opportunities GiGi\u2019s provides for parent-to-parent communication, knowledge-sharing, and emotional support.<\/p>\n

Melissa not only wants to continue to participate in more programs at GiGi\u2019s, but she also wants to be a part of the GiGi\u2019s mission to help change the way the world views individuals with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to be there for other parents in my situation who receive that diagnosis and feel nothing but fear,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause of GiGi\u2019s, I now know that Noah can achieve many things in life. I want other parents to know this too!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this new series, we will spotlight how GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough\u00a0is a place of hope for families with children of all ages\u2014from newborn to adult. Whether your child is 46 DAYS old or 46 YEARS old (or younger….or older!), GiGi\u2019s provides a range of purposeful, enriching programs meet your needs while also serving as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,6,77,36,3,78],"class_list":["post-130789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-central-new-jersey","tag-down-syndrome","tag-family","tag-gigis-playhouse","tag-gigis-playhouse-hillsborough","tag-prenatal-diagnosis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}