Ten years ago today, I was in the hospital having just delivered my second son Elijah. He was eight weeks premature and very sick! I had him a small rural hospital and he was transported to a larger hospital in Dallas. By 4:00 in the afternoon, I was discharged and heading home to pack a back to head to Elijah! He was such a small little thing at four pounds nine ounces. He needed a ventilator for the first twelve days of his life and antibiotics for an unspecified infection that we never did identify.
It has been a journey since he arrived. Jacob, who was almost four years old at the time, became an instant big brother. I had to juggle him around to the sitters between visits to the NICU. Eljiah spent five weeks in the hospital. When he did come home it was on oxygen.
His hearing loss was discovered the day he was coming home. It was quite a shock. a few weeks later he was diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy, the cause of his hearing loss. That summer was spent going to see several specialists--audiologists, developmental pediatrician, cardiologist(he had a small hole in his heart, but it closed) and pulmanologist.
We are still on this journey and still have a ways to go. Overall he is a healthy ten year old boy, who has his quirks. He has bilateral cochlear implants, which have given him access to language and speech. He was diagnosed with tourette syndrome in the summer of 2008. He also has ADHD, OCD and anxiety. The journey has not alwyas been an easy one, but I am looking forward to continuing it with him!
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