Evie’s Chair

Our double rainbow miracle baby was born premature due to a fluctuating heart rate during fetal monitoring at our obstetrics visit. This sent us directly to the hospital for more careful observation. Before I knew it, our baby needed immediate delivery as her heart rate had not stabilized. Evelyn was born needed emergency support to breathe as she suffered from several issues with her umbilical cord that was life threatening. We were able to meet our little girl for the first time and in the neonatal intensive care and it wouldn’t be for several days before we could gaze at her tiny face without the tubes that were supporting her fragile lungs. We prayed for our baby to stay earth side with us and our grief was heightened with the worry of loosing another baby. Our prayers were answered when Evelyn McKenzie was strong enough to come home. The first two years were very difficult and the struggle of taking care of a baby that needed extra support made balancing responsibilities more overwhelming than I could have imagined. My mental health took a turn for the worse and realized I was suffering from Postpartum depression and anxiety. Unfortunately, we rarely left our home to enjoy walks and outings to the park which could have made a huge impact on my health. When I started to finally feel better and recover from my depression and anxiety, we had another obstacle to navigate through. Evelyn was starting to show extreme behaviors that were symptoms of Autism. Her pediatrician referred us to Iowa City Center for Disabilities and Development. After several months of waiting for our appointment. Evelyn was diagnosed with Autism with mixed receptive language disorder. Since her diagnosis 2 months ago, our lives have been full of therapy appointments. Because of Evelyn’s elopement tendencies, we haven’t had a real good way to get her from her car seat and then inside of the facilities without having to carry her tightly until we reach a safe area to put her down. I have recently seen testimonies from other families that have similar difficulties rave about their experience with adaptive strollers and the safety they have made for venturing out with their children. Having that security would make all the difference for our family, especially for this mom that is now navigating this new chapter in our life.