Blogpost: My Beautiful Baby Boy

I have three children, two boys and one girl. They have grown up to become outstanding adults. I love them and I am extremely proud of each of them. Today, I want to talk about my oldest boy. I had it on my mind that one day I would share his story with you but first, I had to make up my mind on where to draw the line. How many details about myself and my family should I publish?

When I decided to start this blog, the privacy vs publicity is something I struggled with. I’ve always been a private person. Opening up to people, makes me feel vulnerable.

Anyways, my oldest boy is a very special young man and I would like to tell you a bit about him.

Thirty two years ago, when the nurse held him up, I thought he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen in my life! Swaddled in a receiving blanket, I could see his perfect round face, with chubby cheeks. His skin, the colour of honey, his hair, baby fine and golden. His fingers were so long, I thought for sure he would be a piano player. My heart instantly melted for this baby boy.

What I could not see…under that receiving blanket, was a major birth defect.

He was born by emergency caesarean section while I was under general anesthetic. Nobody knew about his birth defect until after he was born. My husband broke the news to me while I was in the recovery room.

I don’t want to go into a long medical explanation here but he was born with Myelomeningocele / Spina Bifida / a Neuro Tube Defect. If you would like to find out more about the condition, you can read about it here. Basically, bone in the spinal column should envelop the spinal cord but during early embryonic development, some of my son’s vertebra didn’t close properly. A part of his spinal cord was bulging out of his back. He was born paralyzed from the waist down.

Despite being permanently paralyzed, he has always had an easy-going happy-go-lucky personality. That easy go lucky charm carried him (and us) through many hospital visits and numerous surgeries.He had his first surgery before he was 24 hours old. Several other surgeries soon followed that first one. My beautiful baby boy was 10 days old before I held him in my arms for the first time. He was a month old before he was well enough for us to take him home.

At thirty-two, he is happy and still as charming as he was as a small boy. He has a great sense of humor and is the sweetest most compassionate young man I know.

I’m tired, so very, very tired.

Why?

My charming, beautiful boy is sick. Seriously ill with Sepsis (blood poisoning) from a severe urinary tract infection. E. Coli from the infection was running rampant throughout his body as doctors tried to get ahead of it with an arsenal of heavy-duty antibiotics. It has been an extremely bumpy ride. One of the most frightening rides of our lives.

Running mostly on adrenaline, I have been by his side as much as allowed. The first night, I spent (sleepless) at the hospital because he said “mom, I would like it if you could stay”.

Sigh, you know a person can only run on adrenaline for so long. Exhausted, I went home to sleep in my own bed the next night. After a solid six hours of sleep, I still felt exhausted. I could have used a shot of adrenaline to help me get moving that morning.

After moving laundry from the washer to the dryer, filling a lunch bag with some gluten free grub for the day and a quick shower, I was on my way back to the hospital. Forty minutes later, I was once again by his side.

Three anxious days without seeing any improvement. In fact, his condition was getting worse, the doctors determined he had a blocked kidney. This was most likely the original source of his infection. It was a difficult diagnosis. The most common symptom of kidney problems, is severe pain. The blocked kidney was initially overlooked, because with my son’s paraplegia, he could not feel the pain.

Last night, surgeons were able to repair the blockage and with an aggressive regime of antibiotics, his system is finally getting the upper hand on the Sepsis. His condition is stable and it looks like he is on the road to recovery.

Son, I know you can beat this! I love you my beautiful baby boy!

Why take Folic Acid?Scientific research has shown that if women take 0.4 mg of Folic Acid 3-4 months prior to and during pregnancy, the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida is reduced by up to 75%. Please consult your physician to determine what is the right amount of Folic Acid for you.

This posting is linked to the following events:

Gallery of Favorites hosted by Alea from Premeditated Leftovers

Grace Laced Mondays hosted by Ruth atGrace Laced

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