December 24th and 25th, 2010

 ------Original Message------
From: Z's Daddy
To: Date: Sunday, December 25, 2011


 On December 24th I was able to compose myself and finally remember to record some video of our Z. I remember this day specifically because she was more awake on this day than the 23rd and more responsive as you will see in the video. On this day we also had our phone consult with the geneticist. I will to my dying day remembers that conversation. This is when we were told that Zayana Grace did have Osteogensis Imperfecta and that her diagnosis was dire. We were told that the likely hood of her survival was minimal and that we probably did not have long with her, maybe a couple of days. As you can believe it was very heartbreaking. I remember one specific conversation with the doctors where I asked if we would be able to take her home. Their response was "Lets take it one day at a time." Hearing that my heart just sank. Chris and I were just devastated. We sat there and cried for what seemed like a couple of hours thinking that the miracle we just received was going to be taken away. In the midst of our heartbreak we decided to try to compose ourselves and be strong for our little girl. We wiped away the tears and walked back over to her crib. It seemed like one of the longest walk of our lives. And to hour surprise our little Z was awake and she seemed to know that we needed to be consoled, that we were the ones that needed to be picked up. I remember the look she gave us when we got to her crib. It was magical. She looked at us as to tell us, "I'm OK mom and dad, things will be fine." From then on we just knew that no matter what was said of our Z she would perceive and fight till the end. From then on we had hope. On the 24th Zayana had lots of visitors. All of them coming in with glum hopes and prepared to say their goodbyes. They left with uplifted hearts and more hope than they could imagine. This was her gift to everyone that Christmas. My dad was a big recipient of her gift. I remember just how devastated he was when I told him the news that she may not live long. I had never seen him like this before, even when his father passed away. He just could not believe that his precious granddaughter Zayana Grace was on this Earth for a limited time. He was one of the first people I brought in to see Z. In the video you can see just how happy she made him. She gave him the gift of hope. 
Thank you little Zayana Grace for giving your grandpa this gift.

 Here is Zayana Grace's second day on this Earth.  

On the 24th we also had Zayana baptized.  

After a long day, Christmas came and we were a bit tired. But we were still very thankful that our little Z was still here and this is when Chris and I started our tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" to Zayana at 12:47am of every morning she was here. We did not get it on video but here we are waiting to sing to her. 

 -- Posted By Z's Daddy to Mendez Moments at 12/25/2011 12:19:00 PM