When Monica Mangiacapra’s youngest baby, Isaac, was born in March 2022, he got here into the world stuffed with surprises — some anticipated, some not.
The primary shock, the one the household anticipated, was that Isaac was a boy. His dad and mom had opted to not be taught his gender earlier than his delivery and had been wanting ahead to discovering out.
The second shock, which no one had anticipated, was that Isaac had Down syndrome.
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“No docs or nurses talked about it” after her son’s delivery, Mangiacapra, a resident of North Texas, informed Fox Information Digital in an interview this week.
“My husband was the one who acknowledged he had some Down syndrome markers whereas we had been in restoration from my emergency C-section,” she mentioned.
Monica Mangiacapra was impressed to write down “Totally different by Design” after failing to discover a e book that was primarily based in scripture and featured illustrations of incapacity. Her youngest son, Isaac, was born with Down syndrome. (Jessica Cernat Pictures)
She thinks, maybe, that docs and nurses throughout supply assumed the household already knew their son’s prognosis. However regardless of “no less than eight” ultrasounds throughout her being pregnant, no one noticed something that might counsel Isaac had Down syndrome, Mangiacapra mentioned. (Prenatal screenings for Down syndrome normally embody blood assessments plus ultrasounds throughout being pregnant, based on the NIH.)
In honor of her son Isaac and all others with particular wants, Mangiacapra wrote the e book “Totally different by Design.” The scripturally primarily based image e book helps clarify disabilities to kids.
“How will we clarify one thing that we do not actually even perceive ourselves?”
She was impressed partially by her personal experiences, she mentioned. After their son’s delivery, Mangiacapra and her husband had been instantly thrust into the world of parenting a toddler with particular wants.
“We had no hyperlink to disabilities or particular wants earlier than his delivery. I solely knew of a few acquaintances who had kids with Down syndrome, however they had been extra ‘associates of a good friend,'” she mentioned.
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Uppermost in her thoughts was how she would focus on Isaac’s prognosis along with her two older kids — a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.
“The very first thing I considered was, How will we clarify this? How will we clarify one thing that we do not actually even perceive ourselves?” she mentioned.
Creator Monica Mangiacapra, whose husband and two of her three kids are proven right here, mentioned she was scared about how her older kids would react to their brother. However “they had been in full awe” of him, she mentioned. (Jessica Cernat Pictures)
Along with Isaac’s prognosis, Mangiacapra was recovering from a “scary delivery” during which her uterus almost ruptured.
Throughout her restoration, she discovered solace in scripture, notably Psalm 139: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me collectively in my mom’s womb. I reward you as a result of I’m fearfully and splendidly made; your works are fantastic; I do know that full effectively.”
“We knew God did not make errors, so we wished to clarify that to our older youngsters,” she mentioned.
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It was Psalm 139, she mentioned, that might change into the spine of her e book.
Even earlier than she left the hospital, Mangiacapra started to search for “a e book with scripture, but additionally associated to incapacity” that was not making an attempt to push another form of ideological agenda, and was not centered solely on bodily variations.
“We’re all completely different, simply as God designed.”
Her search got here up empty.
Seeing the hole available in the market, together with doing a number of praying and receiving encouragement from her associates, Mangiacapra wrote “Totally different by Design.”
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The message of the e book is that “we’re all completely different, simply as God designed,” even when these variations are a incapacity.
The e book options illustrations that “characterize as many seen and invisible disabilities,” she mentioned, together with autism and communication problems.
“Isaac was going to be completely different, however we’re all completely different. He could be a bit of extra apparent,” writer Mangiacapra informed Fox Information Digital. Child Isaac is proven between his two siblings. (Jessica Cernat Pictures)
“No matter how one communicates, God is aware of our hearts, and we do not have to verbalize a phrase for Him to listen to us,” she mentioned. “I additionally wished to indicate completely different pores and skin, hair, eyes, heights and sizes.”
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As Isaac now prepares to have fun his second birthday, Mangiacapra mirrored on her time as a mum or dad of a kid with particular wants.
“I simply wish to encourage households who might obtain a prognosis that pleasure and grief can coexist,” she mentioned.
The 5 members of the Mangiacapra household. “We’re all higher due to the enjoyment we get to expertise with him,” the writer mentioned of her youngest baby. (Jessica Cernat Pictures)
“God hates struggling,” mentioned Mangiacapra, regardless that “His personal son, Jesus, suffered essentially the most ugly demise. He understands struggling.”
She continued, “God has used Isaac’s Down syndrome prognosis to melt our hearts in ways in which wouldn’t have occurred in any other case. We’re all higher due to the enjoyment we get to expertise with him.”
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“Isaac was going to be completely different, however we’re all completely different. He could be a bit of extra apparent,” Mangiacapra mentioned.
“However no matter how Isaac does or does not do issues, God created him with no errors.”
The brand new e book “Totally different by Design” is accessible on Amazon or at Mangiacapra’s web site, “A Joyful Advocate.”
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