Reenu Zwolinski was diagnosed with severe dystonia from infancy. It's a disease on the cerebral palsy spectrum that affects Zwolinski's muscle functions, including her ability to walk or speak without assistance. There are a number of things Zwolinski was never expected to do in her lifetime. Being a mother was probably at the top of that list.
That's why Aiden Zwolinski's first birthday party on Wednesday, July 24, was considered by all who knew him as his first Miracle Birthday.
At a special party held by Stamford Hospital personnel—Aiden's actual birthday is on July 19—at the Tully Center for everyone who knew the Zwolinski's story, Reenu laughed at her husband's concerns and used her wheelchair-mounted computer voice system to share her own thoughts, which seemed much more relaxed than the concern from her loved ones.
"I was like, 'Hang on a second,'" said Brian, Reenu's husband. "We went home from the doctor's thinking and all I was thinking was, 'How are we going to do this.'"
"[Brian] thought i just had food poisoning," she said. "I was very sure about it, but my family was freaking out."
"Her mom and brother were worried," Brian said.
"And you, too!" she said.
Reenu and Brian met when she came to the United States from India after high school. Wanting better educational options, she enrolled in Queens College to study graphic design, where the pair first met and fell in love—though not immediately. It took several tries before Reenu agreed to go see a movie with Brian. But that first movie must have been great, as they continued to see each other and eventually married. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Reenu was pregnant.
The pair never imagined Reenu would ever conceive. The whole ordeal was complicated by her slight size. At just 80 pounds, doctors were afraid the experience would be extremely painful for her.
"I believe there are very few cases like mine," Reenu said. "My dystonia is a special case and [when I got pregnant,] no one was sure what to say to me."
Stamford Hospital's Maternal-Fetal Medicine doctors and nurses walked the couple through each step in the process they faced. A year after a birth without complication, Reenu said she can hardly believe where she finds herself now.
"It's almost like a dream for me," she said. "To be honest, I never expected to have a baby. Somehow, I made my dream into a reality. It's just amazing. And I've learned so much about myself from being a mother. I still wake up and think, 'Is this real?'"
Brian echoed the sentiment, saying time seemed to just fly by for Aiden's first year, but it's been nothing but fun.
"We're having a phenomenal time," he said. "We're so excited. One year went like a snap of your fingers, gone before you know it. It's been great. We're having a lot of fun."
It hasn't been all fun, though. For instance, confined to her wheelchair, she laughed when asked who had to get up in the middle of the night if the baby started crying and pointed to herself.
"[Brian] always has the excuse that he has work the next day," she said.
Though Reenu did say, at just one year old, Aiden is already impressing her with all of the ways he's experiencing life around him.
"He is all over the place," she exclaimed. "He loves music. And he loves taking baths, so maybe he will be the next Michael Phelps."
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