I'll start with baby pictures because those are the best part.of any day around here.
Unedited phone pics aren't always the best, but he sure is cute even in these!
To the point, I apologize for the any and all confusion regarding all things Judah. It has come to my attention that a number of people have been a bit upset that we didn't announce that we were expecting sooner, and that there is much confusion with what is wrong with Judah and how he is doing.
So I'll be direct. We didn't tell anyone we were expecting. In fact, I had planned to wait until Christmas to announce it, even to family. Why? Well for one, our last 2 pregnancies were losses. And while i don't mind talking about them, it wasn't enjoyable trying to figure out who knew and who didn't when we needed to share the sad news. And it gets kinda awkward when you see someone that you forgot to tell and they ask how the baby is doing.
The other reason was due to such a stressful year, I just needed to worry about me. Yes, I was flying back and forth from VA to CO every other week, during a pandemic, while pregnant. I was also packing an entire house and getting it on the market- mostly alone. (Shout out to the Martins for flying out to help and to Jonah who also did a lot of the heavier work.) I know people CARE, but I I did not want to have to justify the decisions that Bryan and I carefully weighed, constantly.
We planned to announce at 20 weeks. But then we had a lot of uncertainty after that ultrasound. And, again, I just didn't feel like I could handle trying to field questions from all of our very caring family and friends, especially when we didn't have any answers.
Good thing I decided to send the news in a Thanksgiving card to family! It seems that our Christmas card is just now starting to show up in mailboxes. I promise I mailed them before Christmas!
This means, I am sorry if you found out on Facebook that we had a baby. It also means the info in the card is not the most accurate.
The quick update is that Judah is doing AWESOME! Far better than expected. He has been unofficially diagnosed with Prune Belly Syndrome. It's what has been most highly suspected for most of the pregnancy. They won't issue an official diagnosis until the genetic testing comes back in a month or so.
They are monitoring his kidney function, but as of now they appear to be working properly. He has vesicoureteral reflux on one side, and hydronephrosis and megaureters on both, but again, kidneys are functioning. His bladder is doing what it is supposed to and his GI tract appears to all be doing what it should with no found abnormalities!
He does not have stomach muscles in the center of his abdomen- it basically looks like extreme diastasis recti. This can impact his GI tract as he gets older. Also his core strength, walking, posture.
He gets his casts tomorrow. (Hence the quick pictures today.) I'm not ready for this. He'll be 5 before he regains his freedom completely. But someday he will thank us. He won't remember much, if any, of these days.
He has a lot of upcoming appointments. Urology, nephrology, physical therapy, orthopedics. I'm a little overwhelmed and it's actually been crazy with the constant phone calls. It really feels no less than the docs coming in constantly at the hospital. Except we are home and much happier!
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