Guys, big things have happened in the last two weeks. I won’t go into detail on his birth story yet as I have another blog brewing with all that juicy info.. but I wanted to jump on here and tell you that we had our son, Rhett Waylon 15 days early ( for all those that didn’t know ).
Our precious perfect boy was born with a ton of issues. A few to mention are..
-Breathing Issues
-Deaf in one ear
-Microtia
-Reflux
-Severe tongue tie
A few hours after having him, we were rushed to the Vancouver Children’s Hospital where we stayed for eight days. When we first arrived they had no idea what was wrong with him or why he couldn’t breath on his own. All they knew is his lungs were not inflating by themselves and there was something obstructing his airway.
To tell you that we were scared would be an understatement. I have never had that much fear run through my body in my life. Still ( almost two weeks later ) I haven’t processed what we went through. Birth is a massive event – but to be rushed across the province to a foreign hospital with no clue what was wrong with our baby or if he would make it, is terrifying.
A few days into being at the NICU they discovered it was just swelling in his airways. We could breath a huge sigh of relief.
Test after test, Xray after Xray and ultrasound after ultrasound proved that our little guy was healthy – he just had some mild cosmetic issues, and honestly, we could of cared less about these cosmetic issues as it meant our son was healthy – he would live!
Our son was born with Microtia in one ear. This means he was born with skin covering his ear canal ( still not sure if he even has one ) and his ear is deformed. It’s a birth defect that we weren’t aware of until he was born. I’m going to get honest here. Okay? So stick with me.
When I first learnt of his ear, I was filled with fear. Fear that he would be teased. That people would be afraid of him or what was wrong with him. That people wouldn’t view him as a perfect little boy like I did. That brands that wanted to collaborate with me would turn me down due to his ear. Yes, those thoughts are awful. but they were real. They’re what I felt.
After looking at his ear more and more and learning about Microtia and educating myself I have fallen even deeper in love with our beautiful son. The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. Microtia is cosmetic. He is deaf in that ear, but with the amazing devices they have these days – anything is possible.
At the end of the day, he has Microtia. He doesn’t have breathing issues or a disease we cannot cure. We are the lucky ones.
Only 1 in 10,000 – 20,000 babies are born with Microtia. I had actually never even heard of it before.
For those of you who want to read up on Microtia, here is an amazing article. There will be lots of surgeries and appointments in the future, but at least we can rest knowing that he’s in Gods hands.
Here are some shots I snapped quickly of our Rhett Waylon. He’s beautiful, he’s perfect and he’s ours. We are the lucky ones.
If wondering how we’re doing now, we’re good. I won’t lie and say everything is perfect. As it isn’t. I’m sleep deprived, he’s dealing with reflux issues and breastfeeding issues.. but all in all we feel pretty lucky to have been able to bring our baby home. We’re the lucky ones.
