The Beginning of the journey……..
Jared and I have decided to start this blog to share updates on our family. The last week has been an emotional one and we haven’t shared it with very many yet.
First off the girls are doing excellent and they love their preschool. They are so much fun and they bring tons of laughter in our house!
On to the week that changed our lives and brought us even closer……..
On Tuesday morning the 18th of January we went to my last ultrasound appointment to see little Jarod. My amniotic fluid level was low and the Doctor decided that we would do the c-section that night at 5:30 p.m. We got to the hospital at 3:30 and they prepped me for surgery. It seemed to take forever and we were so excited to meet him. At 6:01pm he was born and his little cry made its presence in the room. They showed him to us and he had a head full of hair. They cleaned him all up and I could see the nurse looking him over while they were still working on me. I had no idea anything was wrong, but I kept seeing her take his blood pressure over and over again; and provide him with some oxygen through a mask. She was extremely quiet about it all. The nurse and Jared left to take the baby to my recovery room while they finished up my surgery. My surgery took a little longer due to some unexpected problems.
When they wheeled me into the recovery room Jared was helping give the baby his first bath. Next they gave him his shots and then it was time for him to eat. Jared went to go get my dad and the girls from the waiting room. The nurse asked me if I wanted to feed him his first bottle and I said yes. She brought him over without his hat on which I found odd, until I looked at him. I knew immediately but kept quiet. She asked if I had any questions and I said no, should I? She said I think you will. She knew, I knew………
The girls came running in and were so excited to meet their baby brother. They smothered him with kisses and so did G-DAD(my dad).
Then my doctor came in……. The nurse took the baby from me and handed him to my doctor. It was really quiet. My doctor handed him back to me and told us the news. “Your baby is showing characteristics of Down Syndrome.” He went on to tell us that he had no idea when he delivered him because it wasn’t very obvious. We were all in shock. I had ultrasounds twice a week for as long as I could remember and not one time was there a sign. Tears ran down my face and all I could say is I want my mom…. She was suppose to come on Thursday night and had mandatory meetings at work on Wednesday. My dad told me it would all be ok and was trying to stay strong for Jared and I. My dad left the room and came back in to tell me my mom was on her way, then left for the night. Jared and the girls stayed for a little while longer but it was way past their bedtime. When they all left it was hard. It was hard for Jared to have to leave and just as hard for me to be there alone. Portlynn wanted to take baby J home in her gift bag and let him sleep in her bed. It was the cutest thing ever. We had given the girls presents from baby J to them to make them feel special.
The nurse stayed by my side pretty much the entire time until my mom arrived except for when my doctor came back to talk to me. He must have talked to me for at least an hour. Not about anything particular, more just to let me know he cared about us and that he was here for us.
I spent the next couple hours cuddling with my new little bundle of joy until they took him to the nursery for an assessment. My mom arrived at 1am and we asked for them to bring him to us. She held him and loved him and of course cried… It didn’t matter that he was born with an extra chromosome, we all loved him already. He is the sweetest baby boy we have ever met. My mom stayed for an hour before she went to my house to take over watching the girls so Jared could come to the hospital. When he got back to the hospital the baby was in the nursery and we talked for a little while before we had them bring him to us. When they brought him to us; Jared changed his diaper and we fed him. He fell back asleep so we wrapped him up and put him in his little bed. We talked all night; I don’t even remember falling asleep.
They came and got Baby J in the morning for an echo on his heart. He got a clean heart bill except for a vessel that didn’t close off. It is called a PDA for anyone out there that likes to do research. He will have a repeat echo on the 9th of February to see if it has closed on its own and what the course of treatment will be if it hasn’t. This was a huge relief as many children born with Trisomy 21 have major heart defects. Things were looking brighter and we were starting to realize that this isn’t the end of the world. We knew he would be very special and bring us lots of joy; which he already has.
He is by far the best baby EVER. He sleeps so well and I can count the number of times we have heard him cry. He is so sweet and loving. His sisters like to play mother hens to him and we are constantly watching them. They just love him so much they can’t seem to leave him alone! The two of us love him so much that we might be spoiling him a little, but you can’t spoil a baby right?
Even though the next few months will be filled with many appointments and be crazy at times, we wouldn’t trade him for anything. We were given him for a reason and we can honestly say he was given to the right family. Our family will fill his life with unconditional love……
After we wrote this we received the results of his labs on January 27th and it confirmed the diagnosis of Trisomy 21. We will be getting several referrals to specialists and an early intervention program.
The best advice we have received was from our absolutely amazing Pediatrician.. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that he can't be all that he wants to be!" Our response "Don't worry he will be the next Tiger Woods!"
The Stacey’s
PS- We chose to only share this information with our immediate family and a few VERY close friends at first. We asked them to please not share with anyone until we were ready, so don't be mad at them for not telling.
