Jazz was born to a drug addicted mother. At birth she had meth, amphetamines, crack, marijuana, and alcohol in her system. She experienced withdrawal symptoms until she was 8 months old and she had a "crack cry", which is the loudest high pitched sound that you can ever imagine. She still does it today when she gets really upset.
The county had the brilliant idea of placing her and her birth mother in a mommy and me style rehab center while they were both going through withdrawals. This was a terrible idea, especially when Jazz developed the crack cry at only a few weeks old. During a crying fit her mother violently shook and threw her accross a room.
Never shake a baby.
Luckily, this was witnessed by someone so paramedics were immediately called and Jazz was hospitalized. It was these emergency medical services that saved her life because most shaken babies die since they are usually just laid back in the crib where they die over night.
Jake, our brother, was playing with Jazz's foster mother's son the day she got the call about Jazz. Her foster home was specific to medically fragile infants. Jake was the first to meet our amazing girl. I met her a few months later and it was love at first site. It was the two of us who brought her home and begged mom and dad to adopt her, since she was considered un-adoptable and was going to be placed in a medical group home. This broke our hearts, because even though she had so much wrong with her and looked terrible on paper, we could see a spark in her eyes that was just begging for the chance to prove everyone wrong.
At eight months old, Jazz was paralyzed on her right side, deaf, barely sitting, not babbling, was never going to walk, could only eat formula, and was possibly intellectually disabled.
Early intervention services, practice, and a lot of patience made her the amazing walking, talking, learning, busy bee of a girl that she is today.
She is the reason I do what I do and my inspiration each day of my life. Every person who has ever met her always looks at her with awe even before we tell them her story. We have always said the child could charm a snake. In fact at the pet store, all of the animals watch her and interact with her, including lizards!
We knew she just had that spark in her and boy were we right....
Much love!
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| Night. night baby bear |
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| Trying to use the jump, jump |
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| First steps!!!!! |
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| Playing |
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| First Mother's Day |
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| Playing with snow! |
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| Toast at my wedding this summer. It amazed us all. We laughed and cried. |
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| My wedding pictures with Jazz |
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