At 20 weeks of pregnancy, Allison Silsby of Kuna, Idaho, learned that her son Benson had Down syndrome. Today, four years later, she is the person who shows up at the door of other families after the same news, carrying a basket of books, a blanket and a toy. Her message to new parents, as she described it to the Idaho Statesman, begins with a simple phrase: “Welcome to the club.”
Benson’s 13 Weeks in the NICU
Silsby holds a degree in elementary special education, so the world of disability services was not unfamiliar. The Statesman reported that the knowledge did little to ease her isolation after Benson was born prematurely and spent 13 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. She said she was “really longing for a connection of some sort,” someone who had been through the same thing and could say what came next.
Benson is 4 now, and the Statesman describes him as happy and easygoing. The family also includes Silsby’s husband, Austin, and their 2-year-old daughter, Brinley.
Parent Diaries has also followed another family’s months in the NICU. For Silsby, the isolation turned into a plan. Later, she called the NICU to offer herself as a resource for parents receiving a Down syndrome diagnosis. According to the Statesman, the department turned down her requests.
What Jack’s Basket Is and Where It Began
She found another route through Jack’s Basket, a nonprofit that describes its baskets as “filled with love, encouragement, and resources for families” celebrating a new baby with Down syndrome. The organization says it has reached more than 15,000 babies across all 50 states and over 70 countries since 2014, and that donor support keeps the baskets available at no cost to families…