On June 13, 2004 we welcomed our first son "Andrew" into the world. He didn't come quietly and in fact the way he decided to come has been the theme of his life...traumatizing!
I am so very thankful and blessed that God granted Jesse and I the opportunity to raise this little guy, but he has put more wrinkles on my face than I care to count (I would have said grey hairs, but I have it high lighted so much that I couldn't tell you if they were there or not)!
On the day he was born six years ago I was just a mere 7 1/2 months pregnant. We were visiting Jesse's brother in North Alabama and had decided that this would be the last trip we would take (trying to be careful) before the baby was born. It was Saturday night around 10:30 when I leaned over my suit case and felt a trickle down my leg. My first thought was that I had just peed on myself and I was a little embarrassed. It was when it kept trickling that I became a little nervous. I leaned my head out the bedroom door and asked Jesse to come here. He was in the middle of watching a movie and kind of blew me off. He wasn't happy that I had drug him away and when I told him what happened he replied with a "Joy, you just peed on yourself". I wasn't so sure so we went to ask Melissa my sister in law her opinion. When she wasn't sure either we thought it best to call the doctor. They wanted me to get to the hospital asap......but I was 2 hours away! They sent me to the closest hospital and when we arrived it was confirmed that my water had broken! I was put on some horrible medicine to stop the contractions and put in an ambulance to take me to Birmingham. Jesse jumped in the car and followed. When we arrived the doctor said that we would be having a baby that day. We were more than freaked out since Andrew was so premature. At 1:30 on June 13th, Andrew popped out with a head full of red hair, weighing in at 3lbs 15 oz (a lot bigger than they expected) and was whisked away to the NICU. I saw him for only an instant and he was already in the incubator. I don't know what was worse for me....the moments right after he was born and I had no baby to hold, or the moment we left the hospital with no baby in the car seat. Two weeks passed before I even had the chance to hold my little man and that was only while the nurse changed his sheets. It was around 3-4 weeks before we were actually allowed to hold him and rock him. After 2 months in the NICU Andrew was released with an almost clean bill of health. While in the NICU they discovered that he had a rare syndrome called Beckwith Wiedemann. This is one of the reasons he came early and also why he was bigger than they expected. Beckwith babies are usually a little larger, have very large tongues, low blood sugar and have a tendency to develop Whelms tumors in the abdomen, plus a few other side effects. Andrew was lucky and grew into his tongue without having to have a surgery to reduce the size and also the low blood sugar corrected itself after infancy. The Whelms Tumors we keep a check on with ultrasounds and blood work every 3 months until the age of 10.
In the 6 years of his life he has overcome being born 10 weeks early, Beckwith Wiedemann Syndrome, falling out a second story window (a story for a later date), Kawasaki's Disease and a splinter (read earlier post)! Not to mention numerous black eyes and two sets of stitches. He has enriched our lives more than I can put into words and I am so thankful to call Big Red my son! He is so very special and I can't wait to see what plans God has for him in the future. He has already touched so many lives in the 6 years he's been here. I love you Big Red and I am so proud to be your Momma!
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