Life

If I were to ever win (and we all know I won't - not only because I'm married, but because... well... that's just not me! :) the Miss America Pageant - I would have a hard time choosing a platform on which to support. My choices would be March of Dimes, Early Childhood and the importance of early intervention with Special Needs Children, or Abortion. Maybe I could do all three... and maybe I don't even have to be in Miss America!

1. March of Dimes is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality." My area of interest is obviously that premature birth part - although they cover a realm of prenatal needs. In March 2008, Encouraging Development in Premature Babies was published in ParentLife. I enjoyed writing this article, hoping to help parents out there with premature babies! It is a tough road, but well worth the effort - which leads to my next platform...

2. Early childhood has always been a special interest of mine. It is what my education is in, with extra hours in child development. Special needs children grabbed my heart a few years later, and that mixture became my professional platform. Intervention in the early years is soooo important to development! At birth, the human brain contains about 100 billion cells not yet connected into functioning networks. By age three, the child's brain has formed 1,000 billion connections!! Brain connections formed during the early years of life become the foundation for the child's thinking and learning. (Okay, so you got a little bit of my soap box.... sorry.)

3. Then, abortion. My spine just shivers even at the word. This has been a platform of mine since I was young. When I was in high school, I had an abortion article/blurp published in a Baptist Standard. It has always been on my heart and mind, even from a young age. It has since been magnified by being a person whose ability to have children was few and far between, and then to have pregnancies with human growth inside... not to mention that one of them was in extreme peril and we were encouraged to terminate and "ignore" one of them. Shutter doesn't even begin to describe my feelings on abortion! Just a few months ago, a technician that worked with Corbett learned that she was expecting (out of wedlock). She was scared at first, but at a baby shower for another technician, she was very interested in the gifts and the process. A few weeks later, I was up at the clinic, and she proudly showed me a picture of her ultrasound. Then, about 2 weeks later, she secretly had an abortion. All I can picture is that sweet baby in that ultrasound picture, and how devastated I am that I didn't have the chance to just visit with her before she made that decision. Not that I could've changed her mind, but I would've loved the opportunity! My aunt volunteers with the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Houston - and I'm sure she has many testimonial stories of saving babies! In fact, she is the one who shared this site with me... http://blogs.chron.com/thelist/pastor_gregg_matte/ It was written by Gregg Matte, of First Baptist Church Houston. He also started the Break-Away Ministry in College Station many years ago. Take the time to check it out... it's a great article. He references the Tim Tebow commercial that was a "hot topic" during the Superbowl commercials.

Children in wombs are special children of God, too. Here is a picture of Whit - a 3D ultrasound, about a month before he was born. I cannot imagine life without him had we done what some doctors encouraged...

While I am 100 percent positive I will never have the Miss America opportunity to support my "platforms" - I have life to do it!

Spring Break Fun

We have had a busy, fun spring break! Included in our fun was a trip to the zoo, Incredibles Pizza, Jump-N-Jungle (aka "jungle-jungle" by Whit), Chick Fil-A (aka ChickOlay by Whit), a few pauses for Whit's therapy (OT, PT, and growth hormone - which is going better... the screaming probably can't be heard in California anymore... just New Mexico, maybe). Now, they are all spending a night with Oma and Opa, and then Pops and Bibs. Back to the "real world" next week, but this one has been fun!

All About Papa

Papa: AKA - Horace Whittington (or Whit -aka Papa Whit) - Our Whit's namesake.... their great grandfather, my grandfather, retired, realtor, past calf roper/cowboy, Leader and owner of "The Hunt and Social Club."

Chap - out of the clear blue, Chap announced... "When I get grow up like Papa, I'm gonna be a fisher!"

Which led to Whit's - "When I big like Papa, I gonna drive a tractor!!"

And then, Maggie, several days later - has a broken heart for Papa because the camp/"Hunt and Social Club" was broken into and robbed - stealing a couple of thousand dollars worth. She has said a prayer the last two days for this situation, and for Papa and for camp....

Sprinkles and Miracles

Before I begin the heart of this post, I want to update you on Chap. Last week, he developed a random limp and was having difficulty walking long distances. We made a few trips to the pediatrician, and came up with the diagnosis of transient arthritis... temporary and rarely develops into juvenile or adult arthritis. Only a few days of the anti-inflammatory has really helped, and he is almost back to normal. Tonight, as we were eating supper, he said... "My foot hurts!" I replied with a little surprise, because he hadn't complained for 2 days straight, and was doing worlds better. I told him he'd get his medicine soon, and that would help it. He looked at me, and said... "Not that hurt! It's sprinkling!" After a bit of a dialogue back and forth, I quickly realized his foot was tingling, as he'd been sitting on it. We told him not to sit on it, and it would stop - but I loved his description of "sprinkling."

Thankfully God knew what he was doing when he chose which twin would need to endure the medical visits, multiple medications, and therapists. The drama that a simple trip to the pediatrician entails when one is afraid that 'my foot will be cut open' in order to x-ray it was quite tiresome. Thankfully by the second and third time the doctor came into the room, Chap had resigned himself to the idea that he wasn't going to be hurt, and these doctors aren't so bad after-all.

Which leads to our little medical miracle child...

Tonight began something new... a long-term commitment... a new part of life... a new step in our daily routine... a new growth.

For two hours, a nurse with a drug company sat at our kitchen table with us - teaching us, training us, and helping us feel comfortable with this new challenge. Whit was in and out of our conversation, bringing his little red tractor to the table to "drive" it along the "bumps" for a few minutes - until whatever Maggie and Chap were playing with sounded a little more exciting than what we were doing in the kitchen. He knew it had to do with him, so he'd come back to check in every-now-and-then. He sat in Corbett's lap during the vitals, he sat in my lap during practice runs, and he sat in my lap during the first injection.

Tonight was the first night of growth hormones. While this includes nightly injections, we are thrilled to be a part of a new device that is very kid-friendly.

This is the EasyPod. Very user friendly, hides the needle, and keeps track of dosage, injections, and step-by-step instructions. He was gung-ho to push the button on the practice runs, but when it came time for the actual injection - although he didn't know what was coming - he wasn't so sure that he wanted to have a part in making it happen. The nurse and I restrained him, and the screams came - they didn't last long, though.

Another fun thing about his device is that it can be personalized. After Whit had his developmental evaluation at the Meyer Center last summer - in his report that the Neurological Developmental Pediatricain, Dr. Jarjour sent us, he described Whit as "a sweet, left-handed white boy." Not really the medical terms that I was looking for. While not always left-handed, he is a sweet white boy. One thing Dr. Jarjour didn't mention was his love for cars. This is the picture he chose for his personalization on the EasyPod.

While this begins a long process, we are anxious to see the results. We know it will be slow, but are thrilled at the opportunity for him to reach his genetic growth potential. The nights to come will be quite an adjustment for him, so please pray that he accepts this new daily step toward growth with a little patience, understanding, and contentment.

As a part of the paperwork with the nurse, she had to have medical pre-natal and postpardum history on Whit. We gave her the details, and she marveled at the miracle that was presented in front of her. She looked at him in awe of what she read on paper at his start in life, and what she was seeing right before her very eyes. Quite the miracle he is!