‘Little People, Big World’: Zach And Tori Roloff Confirm Baby Jackson Has Dwarfism [Update]
In an interview with People, Little People, Big World stars Zach and Tori Roloff announced that adorable Baby Jackson has achondroplasia just like Zach. However, the new parents are more than up for the challenge!
“We knew our chances of having a dwarf, but it didn’t matter,” new mom Tori said. “We just knew we wanted to be parents, however God wanted it to happen.”
“You have to encourage a dwarf child a little more because it will take them five steps to do what others can do in two,” added Zach. “But I knew, dwarf or not, I was going to parent my child with the mentality that not everyone gets a trophy. You have to earn it.”
Meanwhile, Zach and Tori are now living on “Jackson time,” according to Zach.
That means that 26-year-old Tori is nursing Baby Jackson around 11 times each day and getting as little as four hours of sleep each night.
“I’ve learned I can exist on no sleep,” Tori said. “Zach is having a bit of a harder time with that.”
“We knew we were leaving our previous life behind, but we were okay with that,” Zach, 27, said. “We’re not doing things on our schedule anymore.”
Baby Jackson also made his video debut on TLCme. In the vlog post, a beaming Zach and Tori talk about how they came up with the name Jackson, and give more details about how they plan to raise their new little person.
“We hope to just give him a happy, healthy life and support him in every way,” Zach says in the video.
“He can experience as much of the world as Tori and me have been able to, and, hopefully, much more. That’s our goal for him.”
Despite the lack of sleep, Zach and Tori had time to stop by grandma and Little People, Big World matriarch Amy Roloff’s Memorial Day party this weekend. Amy posted a photo montage of her shindig on Instagram. In it, she shared two pics of her lounging alongside new boyfriend Chris Marek, a pic of her hanging out with some friends, and a family photo showing Molly with her fiance, Joel, and brand new parents Zach and Tori.
#LPBW’s Zach and Tori Roloff: Meet Our Baby Boy! https://t.co/6TW5l5g0Tg
— People (@people) May 30, 2017
Eagle-eyed fans can see that Tori appears to be cuddling Jackson to her chest with a kangaroo-style shirt!
“Memorial Day Weekend! I’m so very thankful for the sacrifice commitment and service of so many men women and families past and present that gave so much,” Amy wrote in the post. “Because of them Im [sic] grateful. Because of them I could enjoy one of the best memorial weekends w/ family and friends and just being together after getting better from an injury that happened last weekend. So thankful. From a winery to a BBQ pool party at my house. The moments we take to share with others do count. Love them. #secondact #memorialdayweekend2017 #taketimeformoments #imthankful #godisgood #familyandfriends #grandmatimetoo.”
Little People, Big World viewers were already thrilled over Jackson’s birth and excited to see more pictures him. However, interest has become more intense as the show has increasingly hinted that the newest Roloff may be a little person.
In last week’s episode of LPBW, Zach and Tori received ultrasound results that seemed to indicate Jackson could have achondroplasia, which is the type of dwarfism Zach and Amy have and the most common form of dwarfism in the world.
In one clip, Zach tells mom Amy about the test results.
“We went to the doctor’s yesterday,” he says. “The measurements were indicating that my son could be an LP (Little Person).”
Later, Tori explains the situation to grandpa Matt and Zach’s twin brother, Jeremy, and his wife, Audrey.
“Our last ultrasound that we had, we were convinced that he did not have achondroplasia, and then this last one,” Tori said, her voice trailing off. “They measured the fibula and the femur. They couldn’t get a read on the femur, because he was moving so much, so they couldn’t get a proper read, but they measured his fibula, and it was short. It’s behind.”
“Are you serious?” asks Jeremy.
“And his head is big,” Tori continues.
“What does that mean?” replies Jeremy.
“It means that our son may have achondroplasia.”
While Jeremy and Audrey seemed surprised by the news, Matt took the news in stride.
“I had a suspicion,” he said. “I think that we always knew that there was the possibility that the baby may be an LP, but I’m excited either way.”
Finally, dad-to-be Zach cuts into the discussion.
“The bottom line, though, beyond all this conversation down here,” he says, “is that whatever pops out…”
“…is gonna be great,” chimes in Amy, finishing her son’s thought.
Zach and Tori went on to tell the Little People, Big World viewers that as long as their son is healthy, they were going to be happy.
Baby Jackson couldn’t have been born into a more loving or LP-conscious family!
Little People, Big World airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.
[Featured Image by Amy Roloff/Facebook]
