Princess Z

          I had one more false alarm before getting a call that stuck. I was on vacation with my family in Branson, and we were on a boat on Table Rock Lake. So there I was, sunning myself and taking in the lovely view, when my phone rings and it’s the home finder. She told me that there was a 3 month old baby girl in the hospital and wanted to know if I’d take her. Let me remind you that I was adamantly against taking in an infant. You know what I said? “Absolutely! Be there in a couple hours!” Apparently, I have no back bone. J

          When I met Princess Z, my whole life changed. Walking into the hospital, (where they make children on a regular basis) I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was scared, not knowing what to expect, but so at peace at the same time. When I saw her, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I’ve never seen a more beautiful person. She had a whole head full of dark hair, and red eyebrows. Her long fingers wrapped around mine perfectly. She was sleeping when I got her, but I swear she smiled at me. She has one blue eye and one that’s half blue and half brown. She was only 7 lbs at three months old. Her beautiful eyes sink deeply into her skull and her cheeks are so hallow that it makes me want to cry. But when she smiles at me, I melt.

          As the nurses fill me in on the horrendous neglect that this angel has been through, rage fills every inch of my body. I remember being so torn between wanting to scream and wanting to curl up in a ball and cry. The thing is: when you have a child in your arms, you can’t do either. I got her scripts filled, signed our papers and took her out of the hospital. I felt like, at any point, someone would stop me and say “HEY! That’s not your kid!” Little did I know, she already was.

          Her car seat swallowed her. It was supposed to be for babies weighing 5-45 lbs. My baby curled up in there and looked like a tiny little pea in a pod. Her little body was so uncomfortable because her skin literally laid on her bones with no muscle or fat to pad her. When I gave her a bath for the first time, she was so scared that I could tell that she’d probably never had one before. (BTW, she LOVES baths now.) The 3 month baby clothes that my parents got for her fell off of her tiny body, and her little cry was so weak and pitiful.

          If you could see her now, you wouldn’t even recognize her. At 5 months old, weighing in at 14 lbs, 2 oz, Princess Z is quite the little porker. She loves to eat and nothing makes her happier that to have your undivided attention at all times. She loves to cuddle and sing, and her little personality is growing more and more every day.