Beautiful Day

My posts are here to help others which means I often share the hard times but this morning, I felt like sharing

Daddy's new tractor

something happy and special. Jay is a farmer which means he is up early and home late. Therefore the few minutes we spend together as a family are very precious to me. As I watched Jay show James some new dance moves this morning, I realized that it is so hard to imagine what life was like before James came along. Of course Jay and I had a wonderful marriage before James but now we have a wonderful family. How special I feel to be the proud wife of a wonderful husband and the proud mother of a happy and strong baby boy. Do I want James to be in perfect health? Of course! But would I trade him in for another baby? NO WAY! 

When times get hard, dance your troubles away!

James is a special needs baby because he requires a lot of medical treatment and prevention but I have a secret for you...I am spoiled! Not to brag but James is the perfect baby, he is funny, cuddly and he only fusses when he is hungry. He never whines just to whine, he is never in a bad mood and he loves, I mean LOVES being around people. Just last Sunday at Gigi's, James was passed from aunt to aunt, cousin to cousin and of course Gamma to Gigi. He was in heaven, especially since he has a thing for the ladies. Let me tell you, he was batting his eyelashes, making googly eyes, showing off his dimples (the ones on his face) and blew raspberries like no one's business. He also got to meet his Aunt Brittany for the second time and I think it was love at first sight. James tried to mesmerize her with his smiles so she would not leave. 

Big Brother 

Bath Time!

By the way, James has recently figured out what those big white fluffy things that hang out in the bathtub are. He decided to see what happens when you pull that long furry thing that wags and wiggles. Jamison (the cat) is definitely not looking forward to the terrible twos. 

Jamison and Bailey

Baby James Has Had Enough!

Two Sundays ago I awoke to a horrid scene. Our precious James was not himself. He was pale as a ghost, grunting in pain and burning up with a temperature. At 10PM that night, Jay and I packed James up and rushed to the emergency room. We both knew something was wrong.

While waiting to see the ER Doctor, I changed James' diaper and to my surprise there was a tinge of blood in his urine. That prompted me to ask the doctor for a urine culture because having a baby with PUV means they are more at risk for urinary tract and kidney infections. After an examination and a heartbreaking catheter culture, the doctor released James with a prescription for antibiotics and told us to follow up with the Nephrologist that morning (at this point it was 4:30AM).

We drove home and caught about an hour of sleep then went to Baltimore to see the Nephrologist. The exam seemed to be going well. James is up to 15lbs, 25 inches and on the outside looks like your average healthy baby boy. Everything went well until the doctor checked James' heart rate. The look on her face told us things were worse than we thought. She excused herself and called James' pediatrician. By now Jay and I are tired, physically and emotionally tired. More bad news is not what we were prepared for.

Apparently James' grunting and tachycardia worried the doctors so we were sent down to the Pediatric ER. James had x-rays to rule out pneumonia and heart/lung problems, another catheter culture and a slew of blood work. The x-rays were fine but the urine showed infection as did the blood work. James also had a temp of 102.5 and his heart rate was around 202 bpm. The poor little guy was miserable, to look at him was like looking at another baby. He didn't look or act like our baby boy. To be honest, I felt like we were going to lose him. It is overwhelming having a baby with such severe health problems, all we want is to see him happy and healthy.

An infection we can deal with, as long as it isn't a kidney infection. I change his diapers even when they aren't wet just to avoid the possibility of a kidney infection. If James kidneys scar even more, he would most likely need a transplant. Transplants don't last long, maybe 10 years if you take meticulous care of them. Another round of doctors came in the speak with us and said that James was going to be admitted into the Pediatric unit. We weren't expecting that and let me tell you, any fears we had before were multiplied by a thousand, make that a million.

Just so I don't make this too long, I will condense the rest. Come to find out, James had a kidney infection. He was released Wednesday afternoon and was back to his old self. Flirting with the nurses, dancing up a storm and eating all he could. James' special nurse from the NICU even came to visit. The doctors think that James still has urine reflux so he will be tested again in May to see if the previous test in March was wrong. Until then he will continue taking antibiotics and I will continue to give him extra kisses.

On a brighter note, James has started solid foods. He loves sweet potatoes but carrots he could live without.

Please feel free to email me if you would like the full story of James' stay in the hospital. And if you don't mind, please say a little prayer for our sweet little guy, he has suffered enough.
Thank you and as always God Bless.

From the NICU to the pageants!

While sitting in the NICU all day with baby James, never did I imagine he would ever get the chance to compete in a baby pageant. Well, this past Saturday, Gamma (Grandma) and I put a suit on our little guy, packed him up and took him to his first pageant.

How did he do? Take a look for yourself...

He won best hair, best attire and was 2nd runner up in the main competition. Our baby boy is on his way to the Mid-Atlantic finals!

Jay and I have not decided if we are going to actually enter him in the next pageant as it is very expensive and well, we don't want it to go to his head. Next thing you know he will be bossing us around and demanding we get his onesies from Macy's instead of Wal-Mart. Plus it takes a lot out of a guy.

The down side of pageantry  =)

You could say that Baby James is still feeling well and to the best of our knowledge he is still recovering more and more each day. James has an appointment on the 18th so please send extra prayers for normal kidney function levels. And while you are sending prayers his way, please include my Aunt Katie, Uncle Keith and my cousins Sharon, Sara and Stephanie. They had a barn fire and lost several animals, farm equipment and most sadly all of Stephanie's personal belongings. This is a very sad and tragic time and they need all of the love and prayers you can send their way. Thank you.

Be sure to check back after the 18th for an update of James' levels. And Blessings and Prayers to all.