Happy Birthday Evan!!!

Posted on July 21, 2012 by William 3 Comments

 

A year ago today at 5:39AM Evan was born. The journey of a ‘heart kid’ was described to me once as a roller coaster, and this year has been just that. Birth, open heart surgery, pacemaker, strokes/seizures, G-tube, second open heart surgery, chylothorax, bacterial infection in chest, feeding issues, developmental delay… the list continues to grow. But you know what… none if it matters.

This is all that matters. Look at at that amazingly happy baby. Despite all of the things that I listed, all of the meds, doctor’s appointments, therapy after therapy… he’s just a perfectly happy little boy. Mom and I feel so lucky each and every day to have such a wonderful son.

 

 

 

 

Evan had several wardrobe changes throughout the day, you can’t just buy one birthday outfit, and he can’t keep anything clean for more than a  couple hours. Evan slept in this morning, when we finally went in to wake him up this is what he was wearing.

 

Surrounded by family and friends we celebrated Evan’s first birthday. On the surface it was just that, a birthday party, but for us, and for other parents of heart kids, it is so much more than a first birthday. It’s a time to be thankful, thankful for modern medicine for one thing. If Evan had been born 30 years ago his chance of survival would have been zero, that’s right, zero. So what am I thankful for? And what will I be thankful for until the day that I die? Doctors, researchers and those that fund them. The work that they do to save the lives of these little babies is amazing and they are nothing less than heroes in my mind.

OK, sorry…. got a little off track there, on to the party and the pictures. The theme of the party was “It’s a splish splash birthday bash,” and everyone had a great time, especially the baby of the day. We had 5 kiddie pools with various sprinklers and a slip and slide. Tents and canopies to keep everyone cool… The day was overcast and absolutely perfect for an outdoor party. Evan has friends and family that are way too generous that got him so many wonderful things. We even got some things that little Joel Harger (a close friends baby boy with a mother that knows how to say “sold”) does not have if you can possibly believe it.

We ordered cakes from Bert’s Bakery in Comstock (and now in Kalamazoo also). They did an amazing job and the cake tasted delicious. Evan was not very interested in eating or playing in the cake, by this time he was already feeling pretty tired, I think. He managed to get a tiny smidge into his mouth and he was not happy about it. Someday buddy, someday.

After a very long day Evan was completely zonked out, hopefully he gets a good nights rest so that tomorrow he can wake up and do what every little boy wants to do, play with all his new toys. To him it will be like any other day but for us it’s one day past a very significant milestone in the life of a heart kid. Each year 100,000 babies will not see their first birthday because of a heart defect, and sadly we’ve met some of these families. We’re beyond grateful that Evan is doing so well and hope that it continues.

Thanks so much to Aunt Kate and Uncle PJ for coming down a day early to get everything setup for the party. Thanks to Nana and Grandma Nanc’ for making a bunch of food. And thanks to everyone who came to the party and is reading this post. Your love and encouragement have made  a world of difference over this last year.