Happy 1st Birthday To My Little Survivor!

She was born at 26 weeks.  The doctors told her biological family that she had a 5-10% chance of survival.  But no one told Cary that.  Despite having massive brain hemorrhaging, not being able to draw breath, and having to live in the PICU from October to May my little girl did something amazing.  SHE LIVED.

Not that it was all rainbows and sunshine.  Three days after she came home to live with us we were back in the PICU once again.  Here she is looking really really little and drowning in a hospital gown:

We were kept in the dark about most of her conditions as adoptive parents.  At the hospital we were brought into the light.  In a very rude and abrasive way.  We heard new terms like Diabetes Insipidus, Cortical Blindness, Hydrocephalus, Global Developmental Delays, Medically Fragile, and GI tube fed.  She nearly died again.  It was a scary time.

But then I heard a new voice.  Hope.  It came in many different forms.  A janitor, a doctor, a nurse, friends, a chaplain.  My daughter.  You see, no one gave her the memo that she was supposed to die.  She fought death twice and won.  My daughter is feisty, brave, and strong.

Now she has reached a new milestone. She is one.  And here she is now.

We still have a long way to go. She still requires a lot of time, care, and attention.  But she is alive.  And for that I celebrate.  Happy Birthday Cary. May you have many many more.  I love you.
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Amy Fields is a mommy to two adopted special needs children.  You can find her at her blog Many Kinds of Families.