Jordan was a different baby from inside the womb. With my first three, I was terribly sick for a good part of pregnancy. Not this little guy, I hardly even felt nauseous or tossed my cookies. He moved but wasn't super active. I even carried him differently. I honestly thought he was going to be a girl since my pregnancy was so different.
After several weeks of him trying to escape the womb and doctors stopping it, he made his appearance on June 18th. We were so excited and felt so blessed to have our 4th little guy. Even his entrance was different... he was screaming on the way out and came head and hand first. The doctor and nurses had a good laugh about him trying to shake their hand as he came out!
He was so sweet but was a crier from the beginning of life. I remember one evening at the hospital when there were several people in the room and the nurse came in because he wouldn't stop crying. She took him and swaddled him up tight and laid him in the bed, propped up. We were told to leave him alone for an hour or so because he was overstimulated. It worked! He just wanted to be left alone.
As time went on he was an "okay" baby. Friends and people at church would ask me if he was a good baby and I would reply "No, not really!" I felt terrible but it was the honest to goodness truth and I was tired of pretending. I just wanted him to stop crying. It got to the point where the three older boys just expected that's what all babies did. I was in tears more than a few times by the time Jeff would get home from work. I'd hand him over and go sit in my room for peace and quiet... just 10 minutes was enough!
When he was about 4 months old I realized that he would cry for hours on end and something wasn't right. I mentioned it to the doctor but she didn't really seem too concerned. She said "keep an eye on it." One night, he had been crying for 3 hours straight. I called my Mom and asked her opinion.
We ended up leaving the three older boys with her and my Dad and went to the Children's Hospital. I remember standing there in the triage area where I heard one nurse say to the other "He's crying more than normal, something definitely isn't right." So they checked him in and got us settled in a room. The doctor came in a checked him over and they decided to do blood work. She came in quickly and said that his white blood cell count was through the roof and more tests needed to be done. So a spinal tap was ordered, urine was collected and an IV was placed in his foot. I couldn't stand the thought of watching the spinal so I left the room. I will never forget hearing him screaming from down the hallway in the waiting room. It brought tears to my eyes and I held my breath. I remember the words "leukemia" and "infections" being spoken but most of that was a blur because I was so tired and scared.
Later they moved us to a room where he was admitted and they started treatment. They ruled out anything scary and finally just told us he had a bad infection. In fact, every time a doctor or nurse would enter the room, they would glove up and put on a gown. It was really weird not knowing what type of infection was running through his body. They honestly couldn't give me that answer.
On day three they sent us down for testing of reflux and swallowing disorders. I was nervous about how he would do. The did several tests where they tilted him around on a table and in a chair. I had to feed him this milky white solution from a bottle, spoon and cup. He took it easily so that was a blessing. I can't imagine if he would have fought the process! They diagnosed him with reflux and started him on Zantac twice daily. The nurses laughed when they would come in for his dose each morning and night. They said they never saw a baby who took it so nicely. Apparently, it doesn't taste great and most babies would fight it. I honestly think he wanted the relief and didn't have the energy to fight them! God worked it out!
Now when people comment about what a "Good" or "sweet" baby he is, I usually reply "He had a rough start but he's a great baby now!" We will probably never know what the "infection" was or why it attacked his body but I praise God that he was healed and that he has grown into such a strong, loving, amazing little boy!!
