One Year

One year ago I went through one of the most grueling labor and deliveries I could have ever imagined. It was tough, it was painful, it was hard. If you haven't read it, you can find it here, but I don't recommend reading it if you are due to have a baby soon.
With such a difficult delivery, it was amazing how all our focus and concern shifted from getting through the delivery to suddenly Evelyn's well-being. The eleven minutes when the doctors and Todd worked on resuscitating Evee immediately after her birth sent all thoughts to her. I spent very little time with Todd after having Evelyn for he was mostly with her, which is where I wanted him to be. I was discharged from the hospital 6 hours after delivering a baby, one where I was in labor for 40 hours and pushed for at least 2 hours. But nothing else mattered but our little angel.
I remember only getting to see her pass by me in the delivery room, then only getting to spend a few minutes with her in the nursery before she was transferred to the children's hospital. After waiting for so long, I finally got to hold and see my baby late that night.

Evelyn was beautiful, she seemed so wise, you could feel of her sweetness, but there did seem to be things that weren't quite "normal".
Evelyn's head size was a little large, instead of being curled tightly in the regular fetal-position, Evelyn's limbs sprawled out, appearing very floppy.

We saw an onslaught of doctors and professionals. There was much talk about her appearances and running tests on every system in her body. We met with geneticists, neurologist, cardiologists, and more. It all seems like a depressing blur to me now. I was sore, I was tired, and I was in denial.
I thought the doctors were all going a little over-board. I attributed many of the "different" things about Evelyn to temporary trauma from a hard delivery. I thought that though her head may be a little large, it was probably swollen. Her floppiness would go away shortly after she recovered. Her birthmark on her upper lip would fade in a couple of months.
Just over a week later, after being discharged from the hospital for Todd and I were anxious to get our perfect princess out, we went to see her pediatrician. My children's pediatrician was unavailable, so we were referred to another physician in the practice. Though the plan was to only visit him once, it turned out to be a blessing for he is a perfect fit for Evelyn.
Todd and I took Evee to see Dr. K. Our main reason of going was to talk about Evee's 6th finger and it's removal, but mostly because our hospital discharge orders were to see a pediatrician within a week.
Dr. K came into the exam room, rambling off what to expect with a newborn, then after giving us all the advice and such, he asked about Evelyn in particular. Todd told him that she was discharged from the hospital and that she had a sixth finger.
In my mind, and I do realize this may be exaggerated, it seemed as though once Todd mentioned the extra finger Dr. K jumped up from his seat, got gloves on and started doing a physical examination on Evelyn while Todd told the rest of the details.
I was taken aback as in just a minute or two Dr. K was able to point out many of Evelyn's abnormalities. These things that I over-looked, or justified in saying that it was nothing, were suddenly thrown at me.
After being emotionally slapped in the face, Dr. K handed back my baby and said, "But, she is yours, she is wonderful and she is perfect." I did appreciate hearing those words, I did not want to think of my baby as broken, that something was wrong with her. Hearing of abnormalities hurt for I was still in denial. I knew that she looked a little different, but it's amazing how quickly you get use to what your own child looks like. Your child's appearance becomes the normal and every other child looks abnormal.
Slowly, Todd and I came to accept and realize that there may be something abnormal about our child, something that she may not be able to grow out of in a few months. Her specialists kept asking what her Geneticist had said and I heard "syndrome" mentioned a lot.
The Geneticist was able to diagnosis Evee with a syndrome, but she forgot to mention that Evelyn is a "mutant".

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Evelyn is an undeclared X-Men. I'm sure that down the road we will be getting some sort of letter or call inviting her to the X-Men academy.
What is Evelyn's "mutation" or super-power you ask? If you have met her, you will easily know for you would have been over-powered by it.

Evelyn's super-power is the ability to make people fall in love with her. With this love, she is also able to make people feel validated and good about themselves.

It has been amazing, and wonderful, to see the love that people have for Evee. I have had doctors, nurses, therapists, neighbors, and friends express their love for Evee. While in the hospital Evelyn was always having visitors from inside the hospital, whether it was a doctor, nurse, aid, and even the janitorial staff, they all would take the time to drop by just to see Evee. Nurses fought over being over her care, the surgical team would frequently make stops to her room even though they weren't even needed on her floor.  I have had a professional assessor come and spend an hour with her and share how much she adored Evee and how Evee made the assessor feel good about herself because of the love Evee emits. I have had people who have never physically meet Evee, but know her through pictures and FB express the love they have for Evee and the joy they receive from her.

In a year's time,  I have learned to accept a lot of things (I have become a pro at taking bad news). But, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have this amazingly special little girl in my home. I have been able to see her joy and feel the happiness of having her near. I have been able to witness my boys adoring her and her loving them back just the same. I have been able to experience love and service from friends, family, neighbors, and people in the community.
One thing that parents of Special Needs children worry about is how the world will accept them. I have always loved her and thought she was beautiful, but I am her mother, doesn't that come natural. I have worried about how people see her or even what they see. I have been overjoyed with the response I have gotten with people. I want to thank you for I have felt the love you have for Evelyn. I have been touched with how much people love and accept Evelyn. 

I am so grateful for my little "mutant" girl. I know that her life will probably look very differently than the one I imagined before she was born, but I also know that this is the life God intended for her, and He knows and loves her more than I do. So, she is mine, she is wonderful, and she is perfect.