A year from a dad's perspective.

Yesterday, Antosia celebrated her first birthday. If I had to describe this past year in three words, I would have to use the word “happiness” three times, even though there were also some more difficult moments…

The beginning was tough, mainly due to the uncertainty. In the first few weeks, no one could tell us what was wrong with Antosia or what it might mean for her future. When we found out it was “only” fibular hemimelia and a hand defect, it actually brought us peace of mind. We quickly dismissed questions like: what happened? why us? In fact, we barely asked them at all. Looking back, I know we got through that period only because we supported each other, and our closest friends never left us alone, whether in the hospital corridor or at home.

After Antosia was discharged from the hospital, we tried to return to a normal, ordinary routine and balance it with visits to specialists all over Poland. Slowly, we began to accept that our daughter might move around using prosthetics or a wheelchair. We believe that with a little effort, this is not a limitation (I wrote about this here). However, we constantly felt the need to look for other solutions—after all, medical science advances every single day. That was when we managed to meet with Dr. Paley in Munich.

People say that when a child is born, your life turns upside down. For us, it only turned upside down after that meeting. Knowing that Antosia would be able to run on her own legs, we knew we had to do everything to make it happen. For a while, we were short on time, which affected Antosia a bit, but grandma and grandpa helped us out bravely. We feel we are on the right track…

To sum things up a bit, my bond with Antosia, unlike her mother’s, only truly began at the moment of her birth. Before that, the reality of it hadn’t quite sunk in. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy or thrilled by Antosia’s kicks in the belly :-). I simply fell head over heels in love with her the moment I saw her. And from that day on, I love her more and more each day. Even when she misbehaves and gets mischievous, which happens sometimes 😉 It is wonderful to watch a child make progress and learn new things. It is wonderful to see her genuinely enjoy the smallest things. It is wonderful to come home from work every day to a wonderful wife and Antosia waiting with open arms. Antosia has brought so much happiness into our lives that I cannot find the words to describe it.