From Viral Births to Healing Hearts: A Journey of Love and Power with Amber Rojas

This episode is a part of the T21 Alchemy Series, where we blend the magic of diversity, special needs, and conscious parenting to create a brighter, more inclusive world.

Embark on a riveting episode as Amber Rojas unfolds her amazing journey including extraordinary impact of her daughter's birth video; which went viral. We explore the layers of strength, healing, and the profound power of love in the face of adversity.

From Viral Births to Healing Hearts: A Journey of Love and Power with Amber Rojas

Key Discussion Points

1. Viral Births and Beyond:

Amber shares the intimate story behind the viral video of her daughter Amadeus's birth. Delve into the emotions, challenges, and unexpected moments that defined her multiple birth journeys.

2. Navigating a Heart Operation:

Hear firsthand about what it took to navigate a child's heart operation. Amber takes us through the highs, the lows, and everything inbetween

3. Handling Haters with Grace:

Being in the public eye, Amber discusses the challenges of handling the negativity from detractors and social media haters . Discover how she manages to rise above the noise, maintaining a positive outlook focused on what's best for Amadeus and the rest of her family.

4. Balancing Motherhood:

As a single mother raising five children, one with Down syndrome, Amber sheds light on the distinctive challenges and joys of motherhood. Discover her insights into creating a supportive and nurturing environment for all her children, especially Amadeus.

5. Lessons in Advocacy and Community Building:

Amber is a beacon of support within the special needs community. From cohosting virtual events to launching the "Diversity and Down" podcast, discover the lessons she's learned about advocacy, fostering community, and the transformative power of "getting comfortable by being uncomfortable."

Tune in for an emotional and empowering conversation that transcends the ordinary, as we explore the depths of Amber Rojas' journey—a journey marked by viral moments, heartfelt challenges, and the triumph of love with her beautiful family.

Follow Amber @justwhenyouthinkshesdown
Jingles by @jb.rose.singing.vegan.mum

Episode Ad libs by Apedemak Sankara

Stay connected with Purpose Pod themes as they expand and unravel by following on instagram @thepurposementor and @t21alchemy.

Transcript

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah.

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Oneness Sankara: Peace, love, and blessings, and welcome to the purpose. Pod. T. 21 Alchemy series. And I'm your host, Oneness Sankara, and it is my pleasure to introduce this conversation that I'm going to be having with a very extraordinary a woman.

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Oneness Sankara: She goes by the name of Amber Rohass. She is a lifestylist, a podcaster and influencer. She is a single mom of 5. I feel like that needs a kind of like Dj.

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Rewind and come again, select, or a single mom of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and a founder of diversity and down podcast which is a safe space for black and brown families within the disability community. And there's more I could say about her. But why? Why would I say it when she's sitting right here so welcome, amber welcome.

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Amber Rojas: I'm so excited to be here, and I feel like you should go on with your accent, because my accent doesn't do. I feel like my intro justice might, if I were in just as good as the way you just done it like better. And then you said extraordinary! Now I'm like jeez I better? I better live up to that.

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Oneness Sankara: You are. You're completely extraordinary. But actually, yeah, in in your words. Introduce yourself. Who? Who are you? Who are you, Amma? 

Amber Rojas: Well, you did so wait. So great. I want to add to it. So yeah, I'm a single mom of 5. Obviously, that's not that was not planned, the divorce nor the 5 kids. Nothing was planned but

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Amber Rojas: I think I think my life is best unplanned, and it's been shocking, and it's been great, and it's been. You know, it's been good. It's been bad. But yeah, the 5 kids keep me extremely busy, and I work full time. And the podcast is like a passion project.

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Amber Rojas: That I share our lives openly and other people's lives openly. It's been, it's been really great. And there's been so many opportunities, my youngest, with down syndrome. She is now 6 years old, and I can't even believe that I'm saying those words, because I remember when she was born 6 years old, felt like an eternity so like, you know, so far away, I was the I was barely living day one, and I can't imagine

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Amber Rojas: here now saying she's 6 years old. But it's because of her. Our life has changed and transit transition into so many things, so many projects has fallen into our lives. We're really lucky to be able to do what we do.

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Oneness Sankara: beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and so before we even get into. Get into the juice of it all. What is a lifestylist? A lifestylist, it I love it. I love it. What's a lifestylist?

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Amber Rojas: The fancy way of saying I do hair. And the reason why I say lifestyles is because so I've been doing hair now for 21 years.

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Amber Rojas: And in doing that I feel like that was the work, the universe's preparation of what I do now, being able to speak to so many people so openly, without judgment. And so a lot of times some of the things that you by as a role that falls into your life as a hairdresser, you are a mentor. You are a

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Amber Rojas: best friend. You're a mom, your sister. So with that I get, of course, I always shared their lives openly. A lot of them were like, I would love if you could record our conversations. But I'm like, not everybody wants their stuff recorded whole world. But yeah, so basically, that's it. I have style people as far as clothing as well and feel like photo shoots. And you know, I get to be a part of people, weddings, people's baby showers.

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So many parts of

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Amber Rojas: there are big major life changes. I get to be a part of that. And it's it's pretty amazing. 

Oneness Sankara: You know. What really resonated is that feeling that? And I definitely feel that with, you know, we have your youngest, the same age as life on

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Oneness Sankara: and I feel like there's so many things in my journey that prepared me

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Oneness Sankara: to be his mom. Yeah, when you look back. So we were talking about like your journey as a hairdresser. It's nothing. It's like the way in which how things aren't, what you imagine. You know. If you thought what is my my my role as a hairdresser, as a lifestylist preparing me for you wouldn't necessarily think it was that outcome. But actually, all of those skills and stuff that were being honed.

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Amber Rojas:: Yeah.

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Oneness Sankara: were the perfect thing for you to land exactly where you are right now.

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Oneness Sankara: I just think it's I think it's phenomenal. I think it's phenomenal. So let's rewind, because mother of 5

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Oneness Sankara: is a grand title.

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Anyway, 
Amber Rojas: right?

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah. In in in 2023, I think maybe when I look back at like my parents generation, my grandparents generation like people we have in lots and children. 5 will need to be considered many, you know. But in 2023 Beyonce I'm a survivor. 5

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Oneness Sankara:  children. Yes. and then 5 children solo parenting. Thank you.

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How do you do all the things that you do?

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Amber Rojas:: Well, I don't sleep I'm just kidding guys I do get sleep.

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Amber Rojas: I did. I think they occasionally let me sleep. Kind of like what you said, going back to our lives for parent that's actually came from a really big family. But big is like what you're talking about. Those really large families in the past.

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Amber Rojas: I'm one of 18 as far as grandkids, and we grew up. All our all our moms were really really close. And so just a regular birthday party. We had to rent out these big giant videos just to just the house, the amount of cousins which was my generation to come. And then

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Amber Rojas: I just like to be really busy, you know. I think that

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Amber Rojas: I laugh like even my kids. I laugh now like if one of my kids, it goes and spends a night with somebody. And I mean I'm down to 4 kids still. So there's still a house full of people. I'm like pounding like I'm bored, and I just I don't know it's so weird. I feel like a piece of me is missing. I get my life being predestined. I just am a really really busy person and just having. And I don't mean to say just having one kid, because I actually feel one kid may be harder than 5,

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Amber Rojas: only because mine's 5. Keep each other busy, you know. So I'm able to like watch watch. So and so so I can go to the grocery store. You can't do that when you have one, kid, you have to break

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Amber Rojas: the grocery store, and I remember having one kid, and that was pretty difficult. But yeah, so I think I was predestined to have these 5 kids also. And just because I'm just a busy, busy person, and I can't even

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Amber Rojas: think about what life is gonna be like when they all move out. I'm not gonna have any more kids. By the way, that's done, I am done, done done that part of my life. I feel like I've done my service of of pro creating, but I just I mean, I'm I'm kind of close to that. I have a sophomore in high school. So that means

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Amber Rojas: 3 more years in the house before he moves away, and it makes me sad to even think about what that's gonna be like. I feel like a part of me is going to be missing, even though I know he's gonna be doing great things. I just don't know what life is gonna be like when I'm

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Amber Rojas: graduating these kids. And you know the but I don't. I'm okay if they don't. 

Oneness Sankara: When when you say when you said like, I'm not having any more, I think about these, I think about don't even some relatives of ours, and they thought like in the Caribbean everyone tends to have like their name, that they're given, and then another name.

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Amber Rojas: and so I know, like so like nicknames, nicknames right? And so there's 2 people, and I know them is Nomo.

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Oneness Sankara: And Larsen right and I was like, Oh, yeah, you know, where's the name from thinking that, you know, Nomo, is this really exotic? I don't know, like, I don't know ancient name, and it was like No, it means no more like he was the last of many children, and he was called No More.

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Oneness Sankara: But then, after Nomo was Larson which is last one, 
Amber Rojas: gosh! I love these! 

Oneness: So so just to say that she had 2 more after there will be no more so in in journey of your like your children are, you know I'm saying your children are amazing. Obviously I know them through the screen, through the the black mirror right? But I've been following your family for the last 6 years.

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Oneness Sankara: and what brought you into my sphere of consciousness was that I gave birth to a beautiful little boy who had the diagnosis of Trisomy 21 Aka down syndrome. And so I was like, Okay, I didn't have a prebirth diagnosis. Had a post birth diagnosis. So I'm like, right, okay, I wanna

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Oneness Sankara: what's this journey going to be? What's what's happening? And I started to, you know, Google. look up, you know, down syndrome. And then I was like, Okay, I'm only seeing white people

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Oneness Sankara: black down syndrome and then I came across your beautiful. I don't know how you would describe yourself. Black, brown, family, melanated family, and and witnessed.

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Oneness Sankara: a really beautiful water birth.

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Amber Rojas: Right? 
Oneness: So yeah. So that, and that feels like the beginning, as you said, like her birth

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Oneness Sankara: was the beginning of a whole new journey. and I've got few questions to ask you about it that I've never I've never asked you. did you film all of your children's best?

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Amber Rojas: No, I so no. Well, you know the first birth I was in my twenties. 25, I think, No. 26, I think. Xavier, who's my oldest, who I spoke of.

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Amber Rojas: I was terrified of us. I wanted to order like a an epidural, when I found out I was pregnant like a birth terrified me at that age just because I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared and then, and then I had him, and then I had. My next 2 were a set of twins, and so had them in the hospital as well. Just

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Amber Rojas: you know it was. That was a very different time for me. I think I was just terrified movies showed birth as these women screaming, and they're yelling at my husband, and they're cussing, and

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Amber Rojas: so terrified of what that looked like. And then but I also thought my family was done. So I'm you know single boy, Boy girl twins, no more kids. Then Ezra came. She's number 4, and she's now 7. We didn't film her birth, but we did photograph it, and she was my actual first non medicated birth. 

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Amber Rojas: its's funny to to say it this way, and I don't mean to say it in the negative way, because there's nothing against Ezra. We love her.

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Amber Rojas: I did it. I chose to do a non-medical birth for her, because a I was

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Amber Rojas: in a way punishing myself, and I don't mean say it in a bad way. What I mean by that is, I feel like I stole what motherhood was about. I didn't get to feel what it felt to have a child or to bring a child into this world. And so whenever I found out I was pregnant, I was like, you know what

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Amber Rojas: I need to feel this child being born, I need to. I wanted to feel every, all parts of it, because, you know, our kids go through a lot of things.

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Amber Rojas: Childbirth is supposed to be one of the most amazing, beautiful things that women be are able to go through. And I felt like me doing what I did with medication. I kinda ran away from some of the pain and the process of becoming a mother. And so with her, I was like, I'm gonna have an unmedicated birth, and I'm gonna nurse until I can't. And everybody was like, Have you lost your mind in America? Like

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Amber Rojas:in America? You don't nurse anymore. You do now. But back then it's like, no, you didn't tell people nursing, and you definitely didn't see anybody, you know, signing up to feel pain. And so with Ezra's, I photographed it so just still Photoshoot photo shoot

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Amber Rojas: for that. And then, when I got pregnant one more time, I was like, you know what this is it? I'm really done at Number 5 and my older kids. At that point I think Xavier, my oldest, was 10, and the twins were

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Amber Rojas: ate, and they wanted to be a part of it. And so, because they wanted to be a part of this, I was like, I need to film it because there's also so many

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Amber Rojas: parts of labor, especially when you're bringing kids into the world with other kids around you, miss.

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Amber Rojas: There's you missed their picture that are their faces, and you miss your face for they you can't see your face really. Well, I couldn't my eyes were closed.

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Amber Rojas: There's so many little parts of birth that I just wanted to be able to look back and capture. Obviously her being born with Downton was not something that I expected, because she, too, was a birth diagnosis. So the photo, the the video ended up being a lot more than we expected, because then you have us first

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Amber Rojas: realizing that she, you know, had down syndrome. So no, I did not photograph or video any of my other births Just hers.

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Oneness Sankara: But you know what it's a really, it is a really like a big thing in terms of how especially pre social media, how birth has been portrayed. And so it is like this horrific thing where you know you're gonna scream and you're gonna shout. And you know you're gonna swear at your partner. And you know, you're gonna be on your back. And it's gonna be all of this.

Amber Rojas: and blood

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Oneness Sankara: you know. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like, you know, it has been depicted in the past as a kind of

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Oneness Sankara: somewhere between a comedy and horror. And I say that because the the butt of the joke is usually the Mum , who, you know, she's being hysterical.

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and about all of this this pain. And then, like, you know, the the the horror of the pain and the blood and the rest of it. So it's not strange, especially as

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Oneness Sankara: being a younger woman in a different time, that. That's how he felt, because I feel like, if I'd given birth in my 20'S would have been like the ideas that I had around. It was like.

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Hail no, you know. So it so it makes sense. And and for you to have gone on that that journey which I'm really thankful that you went on that journey because that

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Oneness Sankara: that birth meant so many things to so many people. It was. It was beautiful. And I say this in the sense that I've been given a, a, a diagnosis. I've been given a diagnosis, not as congratulations like I've been given it as like a a doom and gloom story in my heart and soul

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Oneness Sankara: I knew that it wasn't.

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Oneness Sankara: And so to see your birth, and to see Down's syndrome, and to see encapsulated in this. It was the beautiful love story was just

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Oneness Sankara: was was exactly what it was almost like, and like a sign from the universe that what I feel inside was correct.

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Amber Rojas: right? I would

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Amber Rojas: what they were saying to you was incorrect you you know what you know,. 

Oneness:Amber Rojas: And so what made you decide to share it.

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Amber Rojas: That's even funnier. None of this has been planned, everything just kind of just took off.

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Amber Rojas: And so the photographer, who actually did Ami's Amadeus video. She also photographed me, pregnant because their birth centre in America. I live in Dallas, Texas. Not a lot of black women or brown women either, just because the the ratio of women passing, you know, in the black and brown community is really high. There's not a lot of people who also give birth.

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Amber Rojas: Naturally, here in in the States. Well, they do again. all a lot of it's changed here. But they actually they wanted a model. And it was funny. The the mid! My midwives are all white, all of them. There's there was 4 of them, and they were ever. We really want to take a picture of you before you have a baby, and this is literally 3 days before Amy came, and she actually came 2 weeks early. But they wanted to photograph me, being pregnant and being brown, basically because they wanted to.

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Amber Rojas: They wanted to brown up their their birth centre because they were like, you know, there's so many

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Amber Rojas: black and brown women that come into this person er and you will like you said, capture this beautiful, pregnant person having a baby who looks familiar and looks similar to you, and they just didn't see that. So they talked me into in these really terrible positions, you know, when you're pregnant and you're just giant. And you dont like these positions.

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Amber Rojas: but I did it anyways, which I think maybe is what kind of brought Amy along earlier. And so then we had Ami's birth, and then they edit, edited her video, which takes about 6 weeks, and then

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Amber Rojas: when they decided to release it. It happened to be the day of army open heart surgery, so it wasn't even near her birth. It was actually near her open heart surgery and the photographer's mentality around that was, you know, your daughter is about to undergo this really

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Amber Rojas: intense 8 h open heart surgery.

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Amber Rojas: I will release your video in hopes that maybe other people will see this video, and you'll have more people praying for you and your daughter when she goes and goes goes to have the surgery. And I'm like, of course, I want more people to, you know, to pray when we do something so difficult. And then she released it. And the next thing I know it literally went viral. And I'm getting messages from people, magazine from

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Amber Rojas: parents magazine. All of this stuff. We just went everywhere, and it was so beautiful to see people who don't know me. I wanna get emotional, of course, people who don't know me, and people who don't know my daughter praying for us in that moment. You know, one of my best friends came and sat with me when I say 8 h surgery. It was an 8 h surgery which that's a long time to, you know, to do anything and

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Amber Rojas: but to constantly have these messages from people all over the world different time zones, different languages. I was having to Google translate all these prayers that were coming in, and I didn't care, because it just kept me focused on. You know, Amy was gonna be okay. She was going to come though.

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Amber Rojas: And so it just it just went viral after that so? And that was completely unplanned, and especially to go viral on a day. That was the day that I just

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Amber Rojas: I remember my friend. She was like, can I come sit with you? And I'm like, sure she was like, Are you gonna want to eat, drink anything? I'm like, you know what? I don't know what I'm gonna be doing. And the fact that that went viral on the day that it did, and I was like, able to read all these blessings and these prayers, and then just want me to be lifted, and prayer for a full 8 h, when I couldn't pray myself and I couldn't find Some great thoughts. People were filling me with all this positivity around her. It was pretty impressive, so we got lucky.

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Oneness Sankara: beautiful, beautiful, so beautiful, and so in terms of her her journey. When did you find out that there was like? What was the the challenge with her heart? When did you find out about that?

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Amber Rojas: The day she was born. So we found out not only that she had down syndrome it was actually her heart. Defect is what put us into the hospital. Her heart wasn't bad, but they could tell that the way that her, the rhythm of her heart, was being a little different. And so the midwives just recommended that we went to the hospital to go get it checked out. And so when we did, we went in there, and that's when they start doing all the checks.

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Amber Rojas:and her heart defect is not something that you can actually tell before they're born. Amy's

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Amber Rojas: heart defect. It's because the valves whenever you know the babies are in utero our babies. you know. Everything they get is from the placenta, and her heart was basically the same. And so whenever she was born, babies who don't have trisomy 21 or down some of those valves close. So when Ami was born, the valve did not close. So that's why hearty heart effect was

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Amber Rojas: found after birth. So we found it was actually, I would say, birth. But it was 3 days, she was 3 days old, when when we found out that she, in fact, did have trisomy 21, and that she did have a heart defect that would require open heart surgery.

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Oneness Sankara: And how did you like? How did you explain that to the other children?

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Amber Rojas: It's funny that you mentioned that, because on the way. you know. So they remember Number 4, Ezra and her birth was. I delivered her in an hour, and then within that hour they checked her. We went home, and we were able spend those days, those days of her being a new baby all at home together. Her birthday. Actually we have spring break here, and we have a whole week. And so

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Amber Rojas:: she was actually born in spring Break. So we get to be here just to celebrate the birth of Ezra when she was born so to come home to celebrate a newborn, and then to go to the hospital was very different cause they were like this is not. This is not what we did last time. We don't remember this

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Amber Rojas: And so I remember in my head, just playing with the idea, because, you know, they can't confirm. Trisomy 21, or down syndrome either. You know that you that requires a blood draw the midwives basically just they could look at her and tell that she had

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Amber Rojas: some resemblance of somebody who had down syndrome, so they were like can't confirm. But we go to the hospital you get confirmation of a heart defect, and if she does or does not have down syndrome, and but I knew she did. I could already see it in my and her face. She once you when you deliver 4 kids, and then you deliver a fifth and the fifth one looks a little different than the other ones you kinda tend to be like, okay, these eyes are a little different than the other ones.

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Amber Rojas:: which is what the first, the first indication that I saw that Amy was going to have down syndrome

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Amber Rojas: and I didn't say anything to them, you know, for about on me having Down syndrome on the ride over to the hospital, nor did I say anything about the heart defect until later, and I do remember my husband at the time I did tell him. You know I was praying about the heart surgery. That wasn't a thing like I was praying that her, maybe something else.

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Amber Rojas:And it's just

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Amber Rojas:: maybe they heard something they didn't hear. Cause that happens often, you know they happen that they have a small hole in their heart, and that actually repairs itself. So that's kind of what I hoping for

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Amber Rojas: with Ami. So when on our way to the hospital, I remember telling her, Dad, you know, be prepared. She has down syndrome, and he was like, Don't be so negative, Amber. And I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm not being negative. I just want you to prepare your heart, for the doctors are about to tell us, cause they're gonna tell us that she has it and then it took a while for me to even tell my kids that she had down syndrome, and then

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Amber Rojas: the heart defect, cause with the heart defect. They were saying that her surgery she may not have to have it

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Amber Rojas: until she's maybe 3 years old. So I'm thinking, wow, we have 3 years to prepare ourselves to have this heart surgery, and that's a long time a lot of things can change, you know, within that time. Yeah.

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Amber Rojas: you know, she's in the hospital. She did. Great. We were there, I think, a week, and we came home, and I wasn't gonna tell them again. It never wasn't that I was gonna hide information, you know, from them. I just really wanted them to

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Amber Rojas: learn her the way and and think about her the way that they would. I didn't want to have to, and they were little. And I didn't even know about Down syndrome.  I know what Down syndrome looked like. But I had no idea what it meant. Yeah, I know

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Amber Rojas: Googled it. I didn't like the outcome on Google. So I definitely wasn't gonna share that information. And like, when I went into the hospital the doctors apologised, you know, for her diagnosis. So I didn't want to say anything that was going to

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spoil my kids vision of her I told them about down syndrome, because, you know, our kids are low tone and their muscles are little. They're like little floppy babies. And I remember my kids holding her and trying to treat her the way that they did Ezra cause that was, she's only a year before, you know, older than Ami.

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Amber Rojas: and I'm like these kids are. Gonna rip her limbs off. She's a little floppy I you might want to hold her a little tighter. Be careful that arm is twisted completely backwards. You.

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Amber Rojas: So I finally got. I had to tell them that you know that she had down syndrome, and even the things that I say. And even now, if you ask, people are like, you need to interview your kids

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Amber Rojas:: even now, when I ask them, you know. What does down syndrome look like to you? And they're like, we have no idea what you're talking about. We just see Amy. We just see Amadeus, and so it's so great. The heart defect was a little different. She ended up getting Rsv. Which almost took her life. She was in the hospital for 20 days.

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Amber Rojas: and I don't know if you guys know much about Rsv, but Rsv. Kids who don't have down syndrome. It takes a lot of lives. It's a respiratory infection that they get when they're younger, and she got it.

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Amber Rojas: and she actually coded blue here at the house, and so whisked to the hospital. She was in the hospital like, I said, for 20 days we actually celebrated Christmas in the hospital, which is very different, very weird, space to be very lonely space to be for holidays. And it was then who were when I finally told them. You know about her heart, just because I them wanted to understand.

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Amber Rojas: You know, I had to be at the hospital. I didn't leave but for 20 days, and it's so hard for a mom I wasn't but to be away from. You know their kids, especially at such a family time. You know, holiday Christmas trees are going up and people are going to see Christmas lights and our Christmas looks nothing like we had ever seen, and so I had to explain to them about the heart, and I remember Cadence. She's my twin daughter, who is now 14.

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Amber Rojas: When I explained all these things to her about her having down syndrome, and then her having have to have open heart surgery. It's a very scary thing to share with kids who don't really understand it, especially cause I don't. I'm not. I'm not a medical professional. So I'm I'm going off of basically what I know. And

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Amber Rojas: she said that she wished Amy could be born different. She wishes that Ami could be born without it. And it wasn't that it didn't come from a negative space. It came from a protection space. She just  wanted her sister to be Okay. She wanted her sister to live, and this is something that most of us have never gone through. You surely don't prepare for it, you know that it's

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Amber Rojas: very. It was very scary. But she made it through RSV. We came home, and then it was kind of like what everybody did with Cor0 navirus, for people were wearing masks. You didn't go places our lives literally shut down for

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Amber Rojas: about 2 months in order to get her to her open heart surgery, and finally she made it to her open heart surgery, and she was one of the biggest babies there. They were actually really impressed with her weight gain. And like I said, sometimes, you know a lot of a lot of us who have kiddos with a disability or down syndrome. You have a lot of surgery, Amy has one. She's one surgery, and so I'll say she's only had open heart surgery, which is very dismissive.

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Amber Rojas: and she's really amazing that she had this big, grand

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Amber Rojas: heart surgery. But this heart is what is what's gonna give her longevity to her life. And so I'm so thankfull for this, because now we get to share her a lot longer with everybody else

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Oneness Sankara: beautiful. There's so so many things in there, because yes, I remember like I mean, just such a powerful, powerful, powerful, powerful testimony. Just to

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Oneness Sankara: the the miracle of life. You know. And you know that this little baby went and had this 8 h surgery. Now, my my son had eye surgery when he was about, I think 3 months.

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and that was not 8 h.

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Oneness Sankara: and my heart was in my mouth.

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Oneness Sankara: You know I don't even do you know, I actually don't even know how long it was. Maybe it was 2 H I don't know but it wasn't 8, you know and so to

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Oneness Sankara: to to be through this miracle. And I really understand that thing of of siblings as well. Telling siblings and telling family members, especially the young ones, because

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Oneness Sankara: you're it's like you. You get this information. You get it from a negative space. You know that there's more, even if you don't know the information. You know that that's not the the entirety of the truth, and that's not what you want to give them, and that's not the lens that you want your child to be viewed through and yet you're still

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Oneness Sankara: like trying to find the language yourself. 

Amber Rojas: Right exactly

Oneness Sankara: so that your child's life is in the affirmative. and you know, and not so it's sort of is sort of understandable. Why?

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Oneness Sankara: why, why, it's not communicated. And and I think I think about my my bonus son, my bigger son, and he.

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Oneness Sankara: when somebody else presented what they understood down syndrome to be, he didn't even know what they was talking about because of how we'd explain it. They explained it like to the point where at 1 point he was like.

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Oneness Sankara: Oh, I think I want an extra chromosome, because

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Oneness Sankara: oh, my gosh! Like my brother's amazing! Do you know what I mean? He's amazing. He's got this chromosome Oh, he's so lucky! I want to! When somebody outside had presented like, oh, oh, dear! Your brother's got down's syndrome. Oh, he's probably not gonna be able to do like this, that and the other. He came back like distraught, and was like.

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Oneness Sankara: you know, this person said that he's not gonna be able to like walk his or be able to talk. He's not gonna be able to, you know. And he was in this real sort of like, how they had been like, yeah. And he was like, Why didn't you tell? Why don't you tell me about that? I feel so sad like that. This is gonna like, happen to him. And I was like.

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Oneness Sankara: Slow down, slow down, slow down, and you know, just get it. And then, after he was like, Okay, and I think I actually even in there, might have shown him your daughter and showed him like different people went online, you know, he saw gymnasts. He saw just different people with an extra chromosome like

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Oneness Sankara: killin the game at night, you know. Yeah. So he was like, Oh, okay, all right, it doesn't. Alright. Okay, all right, I'm I'm I'm back to my centre, you know. But it was almost like a different

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Oneness Sankara: diagnosis

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in terms of how it was received because of how

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Oneness Sankara: we had framed it. as such as adults.

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Amber Rojas: We're protecting. And we're learning, you know. I tell people that all the time you're not gonna open a book. I don't care what book you read. You're not gonna read her book. Her book on these book is

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Amber Rojas: being written, and it's being written by her like nobody. Nobody's gonna write it

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Amber Rojas: better than her, and you know, like to talk about your older son. So, my daughter, all that to say, you know, in the beginning she was. She wanted Amy to be born different.

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Amber Rojas: She went on, to get a little older, and she then she wants all her kids to have down syndrome. So I'm like, Well, I don't think that's possible. We may have to adopt

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Amber Rojas:and then now she actually does want me to have another baby, but she only wants me to have a baby who has down syndrome. So I'm like, no

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Amber Rojas: stop is closed. So the good news is just to kind of even see, you know through Ami's birth. Her change in her transition of, you know, not wanting her to be born this way to now she wants me to have more children, and or have her own children who have down syndrome. So Ami has. She's changed a lot of lives, and it's so. It's wild to think it's only been 6 years. I can't even

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Amber Rojas: 6 more years from now. How many more lives that she's gonna change? And I'm and I'm thankful I always say I get the front row seat to see and to witness this.

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Oneness Sankara: And she's changing lives. And you are changing lives. you know, like you are. Because, you know, like, I just love her. She's amazing. And when, like, you know, I see her like lip syncing online and like, she's so, you know, she's so sassy, and you know, like beautiful. I mean all of the children, all of the children. But she definitely like.

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Oneness Sankara: you know what that security of the youngest, you know, like like she just doesn't care she doesn't care like. Listen, world, you better get ready for me, you know just all of that going on and it, and but you have held space in order for her

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Oneness Sankara: to do that, and I don't know if you consider yourself this. But I would. I would call you call you an advocate, you're an advocate as well for 

Amber Rojas: I already have a lot of jobs. So I'm like, Hey, I'm just a mom.

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Oneness Sankara: what the the podcast the podcast and the, I'm gonna say, the activism that you've been doing online through through the interviews and through this, the sharing of your your story and sharing of your family. Because I think it's not just you know your online telling people your business. You know, you're actually like

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Oneness Sankara:  showing you. visibility and representation is so important, as you know, I mentioned before. I was like, where am I? You know I where. What do you mean? I need to see me, you know, and you're providing that for people on a number of levels of of identity spectrums, you know. So what?

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Oneness Sankara: After? After the video went? Viral.

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Oneness Sankara: what made you say, okay, I'm gonna

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Oneness Sankara: I'm going to really go for this journey like, were you sharing the family before then, or did it, or was it? And with the the birth of ami?

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Amber Rojas: Well, I was. I was sharing more kind of which is kind of what I do now. I feel like I haven't changed as much, except for she's the star of the show. The star wasn't here yet. So I did a shared just because I'm a busy mom, you know, and I feel in so many spaces like you said, moms, get this this label, you know, put up on us. And

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Amber Rojas:: moms can't work, and moms can't do this, and moms can't do that. You know, moms can be. We can be whatever the heck we want to be. To be honest, you know, we don't want to work that don't work. If you do want to work work, you know you'll Figure it out.

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Oneness Sankara: And that's kind of what I did before, because that's still, you know, 4 kids still a lot to be a full time, you know, hairdresser. And then it just was this natural transition when Amy

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Amber Rojas:: came and it wasn't.

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Amber Rojas: I wasn't gonna stop doing what I was doing just because she was here. I've had other people reach out to me and say that their daughter, their spouse, stopped sharing when their child with a disability was born, and I thought it was even more important that we were more present because of  Ami that we didn't stop in our lives to prove that basically, our life was the same before. And it's gonna be the same with her. And after.

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Amber Rojas: And life goes on just because you have a child with a disability may look a little different, but it still goes on and sharing.

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Amber Rojas: You know you. You mentioned us being like an advocate. I don't feel like I go out on my day to be like, all right. Today. We're going to do something new. You know, those people are getting paid

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Amber Rojas: crazy amounts of money on Youtube to like open open gifts. And to you know, I that's not something that I do is I don't stage our life. We just live, and I feel like that's what has caused Amy to grow in the space that she has is because we allow her to do everything that we're doing. We don't stop her.

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Amber Rojas: And in that moment I hope to God that I have my phone and my camera on when she's doing

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Amber Rojas: great things, because I miss a lot, you know, like I'm I'm we're because we're truly living. We're not going out of our way to show our lives in a different space. We are, I mean, and you know, I've shared some really hard topics and that wasn't part of the plan either, and having to share those things openly

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Amber Rojas:: and

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Amber Rojas: not know how people are, gonna receive all of this. And it's been received in all different ways. And so you know, being open with your life on social media is not always what it's cracked up to be, and a lot of times when you are sharing hard

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Amber Rojas: parts and hard topics.

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Amber Rojas: Some people want to find identity in it, so they want to kind of see what the end may look like, and some run away from it because it looks too familiar, you know. They don't want to relive it, so they want to see us stay

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Amber Rojas: where it's all positive, and it's all shiny. I Try to bring mine back, shiny and positive. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to be positive, but we do just share our real.

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Amber Rojas: our real life. What life is like with Amy, and

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Amber Rojas: like I said it didn't. It may have been redirected, but it didn't change. 

Oneness Sankara: I mean, II definitely agree in terms of, I never used to share share children

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Oneness Sankara: online. And so and you know, having God children, nieces and nephews, I've always been around lots children, and I never used to. I actually had made a point if I didn't share them online. And then, when apedamak was born.

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Oneness Sankara: That's where I had the first dilemma about sharing online. But it was more because I realised the situation that I was in when I was looking

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Oneness Sankara: for reflections of myself and felt like, Oh, actually, now, it's probably more important to share him online, you know. So

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Oneness Sankara: so yes. So I get that. I get that. And the the other thing which I really appreciate, or, as my RastaFari teachers would say, appreci love is

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Oneness Sankara: is actually that you've shown

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Oneness Sankara: the the the real raw story, because you know, I when I first saw your story and I saw you I believe your ex husband and the children. I mean, it was like, you know, I don't know my family modern day, Cosby show, you know, like, you know, advert. You know, you guys, you guys go, and you know, advertise sofas and kitchens and dream homes, you know, like it was. You know, it was like that. Cause you don't know what's going on

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Oneness Sankara: behind the scenes, you know. And then you have this little miracle baby, and as well, you know. And this is this is the story, and and I think and and I don't think that there's any power taken away from that, because I think

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Oneness Sankara: your family in its form now is still as beautiful. But you know. But it was like, you know, it fit. That kind of picture perfect

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Oneness Sankara: world, and then you were like. well, actually. you know. Yeah, it's it's it's not what you might think it is.

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and as much as.

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Oneness Sankara: And there was something

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Oneness Sankara: not refreshing in the fact that if if you had a hard time, and that your family were going through what you were going through, but the just the realness of it, because I don't think that anything looks like that, you know, like everybody's like, Oh, my God, Will and Jada they're not

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Oneness Sankara: not Mary and Joseph, after all. You know, it's like we are humans. And , humans are complex on their own. And then you put them in the context with other humans. And then they make more humans.

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Oneness Sankara: There's a lot to navigate. 

Amber Rojas:There's a lot. And then everybody

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Amber Rojas:right? And so, yeah.

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Amber Rojas: everybody's watching. So it's very different to. And I and I look back on some of those photos, and I still love them, you know. And I was afraid, with Amy's video, that I wasn't going to love it, you know, once we started sharing a lot of our things. Once I started sharing the truth. But the truth is, I still love it just as much as I did that day as I do now, even though our family like you, said a picture perfect. That's how I feel. And I sometimes I look back, and I feel I'm so sorry that

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Amber Rojas: you look. You know you go go to the grocery store, or whatever, and you buy a picture frame for your house, and it may be a picture frame that is for plant. I don't know. But inside that picture is that picture perfect family that everybody wants to be, and you want to portray. And that's what we looked like on the outside. And then, you know, sort of sharing the other stuff. It was kinda like, Whoa, that is not what we? That's not what we saw when you look at this amazing photo.

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Amber Rojas: the goodness is that even though what I've gone through, even with having a child with a diagnosis. We're still

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Amber Rojas:: doing great things, and we're still sharing. There's so still, even though your life is hard, it doesn't ever mean you're not gonna have goodness inside of that. But it's the hard stuff is what we that's it's basically it's like getting us to the goodness. If we don't go some of these through these hard parts.

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Oneness Sankara: then it can't ever be great. And it's just like it's basically it's like when you go training right when you're running for a marathon. No one starts training for a marathon, and it's like this is the best workout like it sucks. You do that preparation for the finale, for the end to cross the finish line, and so

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Amber Rojas: all that to say we had to. We've had to go through. And that's like I said, it's life going through. It's not always gonna be picture perfect and being able to share that. And and I don't ever share anything in the moment, just because I have to process things.

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Amber Rojas: and I just know people are gonna come back

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Amber Rojas: with who knows what they're gonna say, cause they're gonna say what they wanna say, behind the computer screen, people have so much power. A lot of things that have been said to us. I know they would never say to my face if they would, I might give them a high 5, because some people can get really balsly.

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah,

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Amber Rojas: but it's been. It's been great. And then to be able to look back on all the things that we have gone through since Amy was born, and to see kind of where we are now it's

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Amber Rojas: it's great, and she's great, and she she has given me strength within myself just to see her and the things that she's gone through. She's made me stronger in every parts of my life, made made me more confident, too.

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Oneness Sankara: and have have all of your family been like family, immediate and extended ex husband , d, etc. Been comfortable with

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Oneness Sankara: you, sharing your lives online. 

Amber Rojas:Hmm. let's see. Okay, so because it's like, and you know, when you follow me, I don't there? There are 2 different ways to share hard parts.

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Amber Rojas: I don't share his name often. Obviously you can look it up, and you can find his name, nor do I talk negative toward him at all. I never do, just because I am sharing my kids. Some of their friends, some of their teachers follow us.

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They have their own view on how life was back then, you know as well, and I don't ever want them to ever think that I

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Amber Rojas: I don't know. I don't ever. I don't ever want to say anything favour like Mom was really mean, you know, toward him. So I just share

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Amber Rojas: the real things that we go through, you know, like it's just. It's like sharing facts.

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Amber Rojas: so so now I would say, maybe his family is not as excited about me sharing some of this stuff.

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Amber Rojas: but my family has been nothing but supportive and when I did share it, believe it or not, they didn't even know I went through half of the stuff that I was going through.

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Amber Rojas: And so when I actually announced my divorce on social media, I I actually had to tell them beforehand the day I was sharing it. This may come as a surprise. They weren't surprised, but I think to share it's the story, and it's entirety. They were surprised. And and it wasn't like I was trying to get this wow factor from my family, my family very loving, and my friends, too, are very loving and very supportive.

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Amber Rojas: But I just know we're believers. And and you know, people who believe in a Christian community. They don't believe in divorce, and they want you to stay married, regardless of what you've been through, and I know that I had already done everything I needed to do in order to get a divorce, and where I felt released from my marriage, and I just didn't want them to take me into a space where I went

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back in my mind where I was like, okay, never mind. I'm gonna think about it some more, even though I've been thinking about it for 5 years already. They didn't know all that. I actually went through some counselling before, and

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Amber Rojas: it was probably some of the best advice ever given to me is, don't share until you're ready, because that's when everybody else is going to start giving you their views, and it's going to all your work that you've done beforehand is gonna be gone because these people they care about you. No one wants you to go through hard and hurtful, and they want to

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Amber Rojas: say all the right things is sometimes their right. It's not your right. And that's okay.

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Amber Rojas: So I haven't shared anything hurtful or mean. You know, I've just been sharing my life. And are my kids life? It's to its and almost entirety to the, to the

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Amber Rojas: been truthful. It has been but that would never do anything that would hurt him or anything negatively directed toward him. 

Oneness Sankara: How do you? Because you mentioned that, you know, like people can be

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Oneness Sankara:  trying to find a non swearing word for it. But you know, like online, you know, like, people can be

Amber Rojas::Negative
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Oneness Sankara: negative. That's it. That's it. That's it. They're cool names. People can be negative, right? Yeah, online, it. how much of that kind of energy did you receive? Especially as it relates to difference and disability. And how do you deal with that?

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Amber Rojas: I've received a lot, believe it or not. And the day that the story went viral, actually, when she was born.

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Amber Rojas: It took me a few days to announce to the world, to social media that she had down syndrome cause. I was so nervous I was so nervous. What people you know I already had a doctor. Say, I'm sorry I was afraid what everybody else is. Gonna say, I loved her. I didn't care what anybody said, but words do hurt, was it? Sticks and stones will break my bones. But what's that thing?  Words do hurt, that's a lie. Where's on? Her words? Do hurt especially about this baby that I just had. I loved her so much.

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Amber Rojas: and so it took me a few days to announce that she had down syndrome and it was funny then, because people were like everybody loves a kid with down syndrome, and I'm like what? That's kind of a broad.

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah, I've heard that anyway, 

Amber Rojas: Okay, everybody until you get in your head right? Like everybody loves to kid with down to it. So I'm like, yeah. I'm, amped about like sharing my child with down syndrome. And then, when her birthstory went viral.

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Amber Rojas: that's when the people came out and I was shocked because I was reading, you know, for the like. I said the prayers, the uplifting, and to see the bad. I was the the things that people could say about a child they've never met blew my mind. One of the ones that I will never forget. I don't think I actually screenshot it and saved it only because I use it as fuel to continue to share ami, and her story is it was a lady who

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Amber Rojas: told me that I should give Amy over to the State, because God doesn't allow cause God doesn't allow imperfections like that to be born. And it's the State's problem, and I should give her over to the State. 

Oneness Sankara: Wow!

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Amber Rojas: Umhm, I saved. I have it saved. It's it's something that I go back to every once in a while. But yeah, I just was shocked not to mention she was somebody of color, and so to see somebody who looks like me to say something about a child that she never knew

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Amber Rojas: blew my like. It shocked me, and I wasn't in the space to, and I don't think I would have. Because, like I said, I mean with having open heart surgery,

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Amber Rojas: to respond back. And when I do get hate often, you know, I share we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, we're on Tiktok and so when I do get, if I have the time, if I when I do get negative comments. If my friends haven't jumped on and eaten them alive, then then what I try to do is I try to

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Amber Rojas: look at their profile, and I tried to understand where possibly that comment could have come from, you know, like, I feel like sometimes these comments come from people who don't have kids, which we all were, but we were all that person once before we noticed that kid acting out in the grocery store, and you're like, if that were my kid. I would beat the kid. Have a kid acting out in the grocery store, and you're just trying to run through the grocery store, and not that person beforehand who you said was gonna beat the kid.

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Amber Rojas: I try to really do before, because I feel like

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Amber Rojas: coming at them with their same negative energy is not going to do anything. My thought process is to try to educate them in in a loving space that way. Hopefully.

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Amber Rojas:: I can change their mind, or maybe enlighten them, maybe not change their mind, but maybe just see on me in a different way. So they're not so negative. But sometimes when they're so hateful, I let my friends have them, and they just go after them, or my followers will go after people. I don't necessarily go after people, but I do just try to. I try to understand them as much as I can, because I don't. Even if I didn't have a child with down. I don't think I'd ever go on to anybody's page

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Amber Rojas: and say something hateful about them.

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah. And then how do you like from a personal perspective. What do you do to to centre yourself so that the that kind of energy of the vitriol doesn't stay with you?

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Amber Rojas: Yeah, it's hard. It takes me days to kind of like get because I like to process it. I process everything. I don't ever react in the moment I like to think about it.

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Amber Rojas:  I'm just really good at having boundaries, and I know that some of that stuff is not for me, even though it's projected at me, and it's not for me, and so I don't. I try not to take it on and then, of course, I have my friends that I, you know, share that with and then they're really good about.

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Amber Rojas: If I am weak, then they can help me make make me strong, because they see Ami, too, and they love her, and it's cool to see the way that their families have changed because of my daughter. Ami Has so much power. I know you. You're talking about her. She's just

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Amber Rojas:: I don't know. I want everybody to be able to see how great she is, you know, and even in her greatness. Yes, she's gonna have hard days, too, just like us. She is human, too. You know. She's gonna have that

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Amber Rojas: news flash. Kids with down syndrome are not always happy. That's Also a lie. She has a full range of emotions, just as much a we has them as well. But like I said, there I it takes me days to kind of really process, depending on how hateful

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Amber Rojas: the comment was, I had to constantly remind myself, even when that, as I go back to the doctors when the doctors told me. You know that they were, they apologize for her diagnosis, and when that we were in there also, we were told Ami would never nurse.

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Amber Rojas: and a lot of times when people say these things to me, I'm like challenge accepted. You have said that to the wrong person I mean not nurse exclusively for 4 months, so I wish one day I could go talk to that, doctor and say you were wrong, but I do feel a lot of this negativity comes from lack of education. Umhm.

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Amber Rojas: ao I try to educate them in the best way I can, and some will, and some won't. So I tell my kids all the time this, we're not gonna always say the right thing to the right person. But we are, gonna say the right thing to the right person, so continue to share and to do the best that you can to educate people in a non-negative way.

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Oneness Sankara: And it's very powerful that I mean, you know, it reminds me of trying to remember who said it. I think it was Michelle Obama, you know. Like when they go.

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Oneness Sankara: When they go low we go high.

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Amber Rojas: right? 

Oneness Sankara:And that.

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Oneness Sankara: you know, like that maturity, you know, being like, what about my baby, you know, but kind of being able to go to that place and say, Okay, well, actually, what

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Oneness Sankara: what am I actually trying to achieve, you know? And like, listen, I think you are in that regard. I think you're a better woman than me, because I don't know if I would be going on people's page to try and understand who they are, and where they came from, and what childhood trauma that they are projecting on to me at this particular point, and maybe recommend some sort of counsel for therapistor them. I mean, you are like,  may the most high continue to bless

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you, and and we give thanks to your ancestors that you are here, because that would not be my work, you know, but like

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Oneness Sankara: its beautiful, and I think something that we can all learn from in across the board.

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Oneness Sankara: you know, and especially now, as we record this, it's October, and it is down syndrome awareness month.

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Oneness Sankara: and the the importance of that awareness, because

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Oneness Sankara: knowing better. allows us to do better.

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Amber Rojas: Right, 

Oneness Sankara: you know. And when you speak about like you know, I hear these things. And when you were saying that you know you were told that she wouldn't nurse. And I'm like, how dare they? You know? Because what if you weren't you? And what if that was too much. And what if you

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Oneness Sankara: now, your child is robbed of that experience, and and that the nutrients and everything that's supposed to happen in that process because

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Oneness Sankara: someone told you that you can't someone who and someone in a position of trust as well. It's not just like some random Joe outside the supermarket says, Oh, you can't do that like. It's the people who are supposed to be the experts. So you trust them like it's not crazy. If you listen to them.

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Oneness Sankara: you know. And so even those who are supposed to know need the education

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Oneness Sankara: and need that awareness which brings me on to I guess the the other work that you're doing as part of of of a mother in in the you know, disability community. There's a collaboration that you do. Can you just tell us a little bit about that before we kind of, you know, go to a close. But can you just tell us a little bit about that collaboration. 
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Oneness Sankara: with the the event that you run the online. 

Amber Rojas: Yeah. So I've been like, I said, I'm telling you this, Kiddo has

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Amber Rojas:sprung me into this, some of the most amazing spaces to be around people who believe the way that I believe, which makes it a lot easier. So during Covid, when the world was shut down, I got to do an online event, the fully online event with Sinead Quinn, who she is like an amazing mentor. I know you spoke with her to. She's from Australia. I met her the same way I met you as when I started doing those 30 . I did 31 interviews in 31 days, I believe, and it was all families from all over the world.

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Meeting people with kids with down syndrome. And then from meeting Shineaid, she was like, you know what? This is, a mom who

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Amber Rojas:: like you, we don't see our kid as doom and gloom. Unfortunately, I think because of what we hear from the doctors. It's normal, like you said to kind of fall into that negative space of like great. What am I gonna do with this kid? When

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Amber Rojas: people moms like you and I and Sinead were like, What are we gonna do with this kid? We're going to empower this kid just like we empower ourselves or our partner or anybody else. And we're this, is not it for us the way that they have written our stories. It's not gonna be it. So we're not gonna sit around and cry about our diagnosis. We're going to figure it out, and we're gonna just keep moving. And we we've never met in person. I don't know if you know that me and

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Amber Rojas:Sinead we've never even met in person and doing everything online. We were able to have this amazing event. online space. And we had over

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Amber Rojas: a hundred moms over all over all over the world. Different disabilities come together for this 3 day event. And it was just. It was so incredible because we had not we. And during Covid, you know we couldn't. That was the closest you could be to somebody else online. And it was so cool, just be able to share so many

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Amber Rojas: good and bad things with these people who just get it. They just understand you Don't have to apologise for anything you're able to share openly. And then they say they're like I get it, I get it. And then that event led to the dear Mom Conference, which actually is an event that's held in Laguna beach once a year. And again, that's event space. This is an outdoor space. I believe they're looking forward to hopefully having it online. So people can kind of join all over the world.

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But I was asked by Amy Armaradio. She was in the show born this way, which I don't know if you've been

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Amber Rojas: okay. Yes. So born this way has the cast members are all people with down syndrome of all different ages. And it's a show that shows the world that they leave home. They can go to work. They can drive cars, you know. That was the show that I that I started watching when Amy was born we used to sit down like popcorn, and we couldn't wait to see what the next next episode

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Amber Rojas:: was like, just because that was a a way for us to see what Ami's life gonna look like. Maybe a little bit older, you know, we don't know. I've no idea she might do all those things, she might do none of it. I'm not sure we'll see but as she was in that show, and from her being in that show. She created dear Mom Conference. And it's a space where moms can all get together. Mostly, it's Mom's with kids with down syndrome. And it's a full day event

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Amber Rojas: of people just sharing the raw truth of what it's like to have a kid with down syndrome, and just to offer that that level of support again. Where you're not having feel, and I don't know. I don't. Honestly, if I didn't have a kid with a disability I wouldn't. I don't think I understand

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Amber Rojas: what it's like to be around people to not have to apologize for your child. It's so wild that we think that way like I don't, you know, like I don't, or to be like oh, she's got down syndrome, you know, like I don't know why we feel that way, or we feel the feel that way, but it's so cool to be able round a group of people who you don't have to apologize, you know, from and last April I was asked to come to to speak to all these moms, and then it was kind of funny cause. I never asked

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Amber Rojas: how many people. Was going to be in the audience, and I just assumed it was going to be a small, intimate group. Small and intimate for me is maybe 50 to a hundred. I get there the night before, and they're like, No, there's about 400 moms. And I'm like, Hmm, okay, 400 of my closest friends.

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Amber Rojas: but it was just so cool

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Amber Rojas: to be able to go up there and to and to share Ami, and to share how she's changed my life for the better. Because a lot of these moms, I thought, you're getting emotional. A lot of these moms just had this new baby. And you know, you can probably look back on what it's like to have this brand new baby, and to feel completely lost and just not know what to do, what you're going to do. And you know, like I mentioned Google and I Googled, you know, in the beginning.

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Amber Rojas: Ami, you know, I thought I was gonna find her on Google. And Google was saying, my baby wasn't gonna live very long. And you know to have

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Amber Rojas: a new child. And to think that you're not gonna have your kid for very long. What mom prepares for that like you don't. When you get pregnant, you're not thinking you're gonna bury your child like. That's something that just you know. There's not even a word for that. There's not even lose your parents. You're an orphan. If you you lose your spouse, a widow. But if you lose your child there's actually no name.

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Amber Rojas: And so to Google, I look back on those days and to know that now that I'm able to help all these other moms.

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Amber Rojas: When I know that, mom, I remember that time to find answers, and there was no answer, and then to be in a room filled these people to be able to share where I used to be, and to show that they're going to go is so so cool to be able to be in this space.

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Oneness Sankara: Yeah, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, such amazing. There's is so many things that I want to ask you, but you know I honor your time and do want to keep you on on zoom for 7 h, but like it's, it's so.

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Oneness Sankara: it is just so powerful and so so beautiful the journey, you know, and to know that

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Oneness Sankara: and you know, like I speak to a lot of families and and and parents who they've been inspired to do their own work and be of support for others, because they are being the things that they wished.

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Oneness Sankara: where there

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Oneness Sankara: when they were on their journey, you know, and for someone to just say, listen

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Oneness Sankara: is, is is all gonna be great? It already is. I know it might be hard now, with 50 million appointments at the hospital, you know. That will. That will get less, you know, and you will have time to to enjoy your child, you know. So I just you know, I give you a deep online salute and bow just for

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Oneness Sankara: all that you've done, and allowing us to to share in that journey and share with with amI, because I feel like like I feel like she's my friend. She's my friend.

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Amber Rojas: it's been wild sometimes when you talk about the appointment, and that that you're right, it does eventually fall off. And you get to like, do regular thing like, go to the grocery store, and you know all the things. But we would go to the hospital, and I would forget that we have shared our lives, and people would come up to us and know all of my kids name, and I would just be like, Oh, shoot! Do I know you? Do I follow you?

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But they all know Amy for sure they're like, and of course Amy knows everybody also. I don't know how, but she's friendly to all people

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Oneness Sankara: it is. Everybody knows her for sure, like she's

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Amber Rojas: That, girl, she's she. So she goes to school. Now II know we're probably like need to be done. But so she's a kindergartener now, and she goes to a big school like a big public school, and when I tell you everybody knows her, everybody knows her, or even the fifth graders. My Ezra, Esra's a second grader, as was like.

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Oneness Sankara: how does the whole school know her? And I honestly don't know. I'm not sure but everybody knows it. Yeah, 

Oneness Sankaralisten. II experience that with with with my youngest as well. And like even.

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Oneness Sankara: And and this happens in the UK. This happens in Grenada. Like. Sometimes people are beeping the horn. I think they're greeting me, and they're going. Apedemak and I;m like how do you know my child? Hello and he's like hi

Amber Rojas:its so funny it great

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Oneness Sankara: that counterbalances, though, that

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Oneness Sankara: that negative side. And I feel feel like that negative side is from an an old archaic

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Oneness Sankara: dying paradigm, you know. Yeah. And I think that we are where where we are. We're in. We're in different

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Oneness Sankara: spaces. There's still places to go in the journey, you know. But I do. I do feel that shift. So just thanking you once again, and for those who are not already following you? Where can they? Where can they plug into your like amazing life and journey.

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Amber Rojas: Well, I love these, that you said amazing cos. We did say there are some hard parts, but we're waking up every day, so we're still sharing. So mostly it's on Instagram, and it's just when you think she is down on Instagram and then on Facebook. It's just my name, Amber Rojas, ROJA S. And on Tik tok, it's diversity and down. So it's the name of the podcast and the podcast is on anywhere that all the podcasts are aired.

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Amber Rojas:But yeah, there's my whole family.

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Oneness Sankara: beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much. You're so amazing. I feel so blessed to to to to be on the other side of it. Because last time you interviewed me, which I think I'm gonna share on the podcast as well at some point. But yeah, it just feels really beautiful to to to do this. So thank you. Thank you.

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Amber Rojas: Our kiddos were kids were little. I know. I know I know I didn't. I don't think I realised that they were the same age. Cause my boy's 6 now as well, and probably because of, you know, like how things are online. So I think when I might plugged in with the video. And I thought that it was

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Oneness Sankara: in the past a lot more. Right? You know what I mean. And so, okay, yeah, like, you know, I don't know. Maybe she's 8 or whatever. I was like, oh, they're the same age. And they're doing the, you know, the the same types of

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Oneness Sankara: things, you know. So yeah, yeah, one day, you know, I hope we get to do a playdate?

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Amber Rojas:: I kNow, that's like the dream right to like. Just be in this. I would think I'm I just wanna go to the land of down syndrome, where all of us live on this earth, this space, and where, you know, our kids have down syndrome or adult kids have down syndrome or the adults have down syndrome or whatever, and it's just an easy

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Amber Rojas: space to all just to be united there together. And everybody's just. We're just playing. I don't know what we're doing, but we're just, you know, chit chatting and playing catching up . 

Oneness SankaraIt's gonna happen. I think maybe there'll be like a family, a global.

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Oneness Sankara: trisomy, 21 retreat.

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Amber Rojas: So fun. That would be. 

Oneness Sankara: So I'm putting it out there. I'm actually putting it out there. So let's manifest in it.

Amber Rojas:I'm busy I have 5 kinds so you have to organise it

Oneness Sankara We're manifesting it womanifesting it with gacet. So yeah.

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Oneness Sankara: so much love. Thank you so much. And listeners, thank you for tuning in. Please do follow her. You will just you'll be inspired and do hit me up on all of the you know, on the social media, and let me know what you thought of the episode, and if you really did like the episode, make sure that you are subscribing. And please do give us some. It's stars. I believe I like stars. I like stars.

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Oneness Sankara: We're made of startup, so give me some stars, so much peace, so much love. Thank you for listening.