First off, Walker will be with us for a very long time. He is going to live. I feel like some of the responses on Facebook that I'm receiving, people think that Walker won't be here for long.
Right now Walker's lungs don't look too good. He has chronic lung disease. What that is, is that Walker has scar tissue on his lungs. This is very common in preemies. Walker shouldn't be doing the things that he is doing at the moment. He can outgrow this when his lungs start growing. Give him time. R and I fully intend to have Walker come home with oxygen. If he doesn't, it's a blessing. If he does, it's not the end of the world.
Long term effects of this is that he could have asthma. He is susceptible to diseases such as RSV and also respiratory problems.
Things that we will do to try to prevent these from happening are: not using cleaners with strong fumes, no perfume or cologne, keeping him from large groups of people, and small kids. No one who feels like they are coming down or just getting over something will be allowed to visit. We'll be very strict about who can see him, hold him, or interact with him for some time. If this was your child, you would do the same. So, please, don't get your feelings hurt. When Walker leaves the NICU it will be such a glorious day and we will be devastated to bring him back because of him coming into contact with something that we could've prevented.
We also will be removing the carpet from the bedrooms. We started to save up for other things that we would want/need for Walker months ago but right now we don't want to touch our savings, just in case. We're going to wait a little longer to do this. Since matching the laminate floors would be too hard, we will have to redo the floors in the entire house. This has less to do about cosmetic work for the house and more to do with Walker's needs for clean air.
Also, please be ready to take your shoes off when you enter the house. I'm training R in this right now. Actually, I've been training R since we moved into the house but he has yet to accomplish this task. I don't understand why people wear shoes in their rooms anyways. Right now he's doing good with not wearing his shoes in Walker's room, so we're making progress!
Since getting my degree, I knew that I wanted to be a working mom. When we found out I was pregnant in the summer, I was job hunting like a crazy woman! I never knew why I couldn't find a job, because, well, I know I'm a good teacher. TOOT! (that's me tooting my own horn). All this makes sense now. God knew that I would need to be there for Walker. There is absolutely NO WAY that Walker could be put in daycare, NO WAY! I thought by me having a career that I would be able to give Walker everything he could possibly want and need, but staying home with him will benefit him in the long run. The bigger house, newer car and even the Kate Spade sale emails that I feel like are special letters just for me, have become irrelevant. Hell, even making my registry I just look at everything as junk. Our main goal is getting Walker healthy and strong. It's our only main focus.
I told R in the hospital that we would probably lose friends because all of our time would be spent with Walker. And then I started to really think about it and if we do, then they aren't really our friends anyways.
Walker is going to be the person that God has intended him to be.
Don't feel sorry for us. God chose us to be Walker's parents. He chose us because we have enough love in our hearts, as well as patience, to overcome all these obstacles in the beginning. We can't wait to see what else is in store for Walker. He is such a strong baby and he is going to grow up to be an even stronger man. He will do great things in this world.
This is just the beginning for our sweet Walker.
Right now Walker's lungs don't look too good. He has chronic lung disease. What that is, is that Walker has scar tissue on his lungs. This is very common in preemies. Walker shouldn't be doing the things that he is doing at the moment. He can outgrow this when his lungs start growing. Give him time. R and I fully intend to have Walker come home with oxygen. If he doesn't, it's a blessing. If he does, it's not the end of the world.
Long term effects of this is that he could have asthma. He is susceptible to diseases such as RSV and also respiratory problems.
Things that we will do to try to prevent these from happening are: not using cleaners with strong fumes, no perfume or cologne, keeping him from large groups of people, and small kids. No one who feels like they are coming down or just getting over something will be allowed to visit. We'll be very strict about who can see him, hold him, or interact with him for some time. If this was your child, you would do the same. So, please, don't get your feelings hurt. When Walker leaves the NICU it will be such a glorious day and we will be devastated to bring him back because of him coming into contact with something that we could've prevented.
We also will be removing the carpet from the bedrooms. We started to save up for other things that we would want/need for Walker months ago but right now we don't want to touch our savings, just in case. We're going to wait a little longer to do this. Since matching the laminate floors would be too hard, we will have to redo the floors in the entire house. This has less to do about cosmetic work for the house and more to do with Walker's needs for clean air.
Also, please be ready to take your shoes off when you enter the house. I'm training R in this right now. Actually, I've been training R since we moved into the house but he has yet to accomplish this task. I don't understand why people wear shoes in their rooms anyways. Right now he's doing good with not wearing his shoes in Walker's room, so we're making progress!
Since getting my degree, I knew that I wanted to be a working mom. When we found out I was pregnant in the summer, I was job hunting like a crazy woman! I never knew why I couldn't find a job, because, well, I know I'm a good teacher. TOOT! (that's me tooting my own horn). All this makes sense now. God knew that I would need to be there for Walker. There is absolutely NO WAY that Walker could be put in daycare, NO WAY! I thought by me having a career that I would be able to give Walker everything he could possibly want and need, but staying home with him will benefit him in the long run. The bigger house, newer car and even the Kate Spade sale emails that I feel like are special letters just for me, have become irrelevant. Hell, even making my registry I just look at everything as junk. Our main goal is getting Walker healthy and strong. It's our only main focus.
I told R in the hospital that we would probably lose friends because all of our time would be spent with Walker. And then I started to really think about it and if we do, then they aren't really our friends anyways.
Walker is going to be the person that God has intended him to be.
Don't feel sorry for us. God chose us to be Walker's parents. He chose us because we have enough love in our hearts, as well as patience, to overcome all these obstacles in the beginning. We can't wait to see what else is in store for Walker. He is such a strong baby and he is going to grow up to be an even stronger man. He will do great things in this world.
This is just the beginning for our sweet Walker.
1 comment:
Sweetie, you will NEVER hurt my feelings by being a Mom. I am so proud of how you have been handling this. You are right. This is what parents to. Provide what you have to for your child. Period. End of Discussion. Walker is born this premature and all he ends up with is asthma? Woo Hoo!!! So what. I have a child with asthma. He is almost 6'4" and 275 pounds. He has started on the varsity football team for 2 years now. He played soccer, baseball (at competitive level), little league football and does track. He has done cub scouts and is in boy scouts. Sounds like a great life for a boy! You are handling this amazingly and I cannot think of a better Mom for Walker than you. Perfect fit. You are giving him everything he needs. However, I'm not surprised. You had a great Mom a/k/a teacher. Walker has been born into a family that has so much love to hand out, he will THRIVE! If I have EVER said anything on FB that made you think we was not going to survive, I am so sorry. I have NEVER thought that but sometimes typed words come out different that saying them. I KNOW he is a fighter and as I continue to say his fan base is amazing. Do you know that I have several church members call me regularly asking for his status? Do you know that Theresa's sororiety have "adopted" precious Walker? He has so much love, faith and prayers it brings tears to my eyes. We love you, love the updates and will stay away not in fear but in safety because we want to see this little guy running around and getting into trouble at the family reunions, just like a little boy should!
Post a Comment