Zoey was born in September of 2004 after a very long and scary pregnancy. The first year of her life was wonderful. At about a year old that all changed. During her one year check up with her pediatrician she recommended that Zoey be evaluated by a physical therapist because she was not yet walking. I agreed thinking nothing of it. Better to be cautious than to wait till their was a real problem I figured. Zoey started physical therapy with little success. In addition, her speech was not developing typically. So we decided to add speech therapy into the mix. Still at this point I was not really that worried. Zoey was beginning to walk, she babbled, and was quite social. When Zoey was about two and a half we met with a pediatric specialists mainly because of the developmental delays. While there they suggested that she might have CP. This was shocking to me and Zoey's whole family up until that point we thought we were just dealing with mild developmental delays. Little did we know the expertise around us thought differently. It was quite the smack in the face. So we quickly made an appointment with the Neurologists, had the MRI, and blood work. The MRI came back unremarkable, but the blood work came back positive for 22q13 Deletion Syndrome (now referred to as Phelan McDermid Syndrome). When we left the office we were even more confused than when we arrived. 22q13 Deletion what was that? When we got home I scoured the Internet searching for more information. Most was scary so I quickly decided not to look on the Internet and patiently await our meeting with the geneticist. When we finally met with the geneticist my worst fears were confirmed. Zoey was not going to out grow this and she may never be the typical child that I thought she would be. So long story short after much grieving, joy, and time I have accepted this as what it is. I love my daughter and I see growth and progress in her every day. She has taught me patience, hope, and joy. As her mother I am blessed.
