Lil' Bug is 5 Today!

Hard to believe that 5 years ago on this day I had just given birth to this sweet brown eyed boy!  This post is...all about my baby, Lil' Bug!!

When I found out I was expecting our last baby, making him number 5...I was so not prepared to be pregnant.  I at the time was going through some medical tests...pregnancy was the last thing on my mind.  Yes, I know how it happened...hearing the thoughts. lol.

So here is the story:

I had to do a test on my heart and they were using nuclear medicine for a scan.  A day before the test I had to have a pregnancy test done...wasn't even worried.  It came back negative.  I proceeded with the test and having hindsight remember how everywhere I looked it had a sign that said "if you think you could be pregnant...".  I was asked by the nurse before the medicine was injected..."the test was negative".  Finished the test and went home.

Being military if the Dr. office is closed we had to go into the ER for medical attention after the office closed on base where we lived.  I was having a lot of pain on my right side and at the time was taking an antibiotic for a sinus infection.  The nurse thought it might be my gallbladder and wanted me to get it checked out.  Not thrilled about having to go back to the Dr. much less the ER, I hesitantly went to get it looked at. 

I had a very nice older Dr. that called me "hon" treating me that evening...(let me just tell you, nothing perturbs me more than women that are younger than me calling me hon or sweetie)...o.k. back to my story, so he ordered blood work to see what was going on.  

The news he came back with was so unexpected that I literally laughed and cried.  He told me,  "Your blood work looks good and there is nothing I am too worried about...and, well your pregnant."  I said, "What?!  Are you sure?!  I can't be...I just did a Cardiolite Stress Test and they tested me a couple of days ago, it was negative"!  The Dr. then could see I was very upset about hearing this and tried to reassure me that everything would be o.k.  I asked him if the test could be wrong and he said with blood test it is almost 99% right but there was that 1% chance...

I then sat there stunned and called my husband crying.  I was so worried about being pregnant and what the medicine they  used could do.   I also had concern of how I was going to carry this baby having some of the medical problems that was going on.  Mr. Wonderful of course was happy, shocked and told me to stay calm.  We would talk more about it at home and everything would be alright.

A very pregnant me and Mister Inquisitive.

Within weeks to deliver. The Artist and Drama Queen.

(Still trying to get that baby weight off from 5 years ago...I guess I don't have an excuse anymore!) lol

That 99% chance ended up being accurate. With lots of prayer and learning how to give my worry to my Heavenly Father...our beautiful, 7 lb 12 0z. miracle baby boy was born by c-section on October 26th 2004.  His apgar score was a 9 and everything seemed to be fine with him.  We were grateful and blessed.  

An hour after he was born.  So precious!

Little did we know that by the next morning everything would change.

The nurse came in early the next morning to check the vitals on the baby and I.  The nurse had just taken his oxygen level and said it was very low.  She thought maybe the machine wasn't working and was going to get a new one.  I had just started nursing him and noticed that his lips looked blue.  I asked her, "is it just me or does he look a little blue?"  Being that I had surgery they still had me on some pain medicine so I thought maybe I wasn't seeing clear... She came to look a little closer and scooped him up from me and started patting him on his back.  I could see she was worried and I wasn't sure what to think.  She said she needed to take him to the nursery and observe him. 

Next thing I knew they are telling me that the Pediatrician will be coming to talk to me.  When I finally saw the Dr. he told me his concerns and that he was going to admit Lil' Bug into the NICU.  I still had not seen my husband at this point and just broke down crying.  I had no idea what was going on and the scary thing was either did the Drs.  

When I finally did see my husband we prayed and asked for our Bishop to come to the hospital so we could do a blessing for him.  I am so grateful to have a testimony of knowing we have a Heavenly Father to put our trust into and give us comfort.  I felt much better after the blessing and knew somehow everything would work out. 

All hooked up...

Being that I had a c-section I was able to stay in the hospital for 4 days and to be in the NICU as much as I could.  The hardest part was seeing him all connected to wires and tubes.  He looked so fragile and it broke my heart.  The day we had to leave the hospital and not have him go with us was the hardest thing I had to do. Every day we would go and spend as much time there as we could and call to see how his progress was.

My sister and husband loving on Lil' Bug.

 All they could figure out was he had apnea, but not sure why.  They did a brain scan, heart and everything else they could think of to see what could be causing it.  Finally one Dr. said he noticed a sour smell after they fed him and thought maybe he had acid reflux.  If so it was cutting off his airway so that it wouldn't aspirate into his lungs.  He wanted to do a test and raise his bassinet, put him on rice formula instead of nursing...just maybe this would make a difference.  Sure enough within a day he stopped having episodes of not breathing.  He finally was cleared to go home and be on a monitor.  We were excited and nervous at the same time. Happy to say, he never had another episode.

Finally...coming home!

 

First day home...so grateful!

Blessing day.

First Christmas, love this smile!

Mommy and Lil' Bug...first Easter!

His 2nd birthday.

He gives us so much joy and laughs!

Is he not so cute?!

I love this boy!  The only one to get my dimples. 

Pumpkin patch in Ohio.

We know we have been blessed with a special spirit and so grateful we get to be his parents! My intuition early on could see that there were certain things with this child that were different from my others.

He walked, talked and reached milestones later than the normal. He was very particular with things and had amazing attention to detail. He didn't like baths and would scream just trying to get it done. Later we realized he did not want water to touch his face and we have to wash his hair without water getting on his face still. I started seeing him lining things...it was different.  He could cry and it could last for an hour. 

As my husband and I came up one night to get the kids in bed this is what Lil' Bug had been doing.  I was so amazed at the lining that I took a picture.  Deep down I knew something didn't quite seem right about it.

We have suspected and will have him evaluated for high functioning Autism.  We are looking for a Dr. here to work closely with him and make sure we can help him in the best way possible. He is highly intelligent and we realize he might do some things different...and that is o.k. The most important thing is to make sure he has early intervention and learn how to best help him. 

Always a smiley boy! At the Zoo in NM.

He calls his sister "kiki" and they are very close.

Such a loving boy!

First day of pre-school.

Luckily where we lived they had a special pre-school program with the public schools that start kids at 3 for early intervention with disabilities.  It has helped him tremendously with his speech, communication and learning how to deal with his peers.  He has sensory issues so that is why he can't handle water being on him, had an obsession with feet...mainly women if they had hose on.  Wanted to keep his hands under their feet when they came to our house...we always take our shoes off. He only likes certain textures in food and can't have some mixed.  It has been a struggle at times for us and the kids to understand how to help him, but we all have come a long way. I definitely pick my battles...some can be long and melted down!  If something doesn't go the way he needed it too he says "Try, try again" and will back track his steps to do it over.

Giving mommy some love and kisses!

Always happy!

Riding his bike in his pjs...he wanted to keep them on. 

Some of his favorite things...apples, trains, Spiderman, legos, he has an amazing kick and throw...all boy!  We are going bowling for his birthday, his request.  

Happy, Happy Birthday to you Lil' Bug!! I could go on and on about this sweet little one.  We are so grateful for him and the joy he brings to our family!  Enjoy seeing him grow and learn.  Of course this is my last baby so I am hanging on...at least he still likes to snuggle with me.  

Better get back to work on the Whimsy French Cottage, thanks for letting me share. 

Hugs and love friends!