This guy right here. Where to even start???
He is just amazing. He is so full of life. It’s so amazing to see how he has completed our family.
Lots of updates::
1- Heart ♥️: he saw Dr.Sing his cardiologist in early June. No big changes. Just a quick 2nd grade level review. As you may or may not know- Reid was born without the left side of his heart. He will require a series of 3 surgeries to palliate his heart to help it function as long as possible. We don’t know how long that will be. He has had the first two surgeries and he will be due for the third late Spring/early Summer of next year. When he’s around 3 1/2.
He did have a little more leaking of his single heart valve but nothing significant enough to worry about now. Our prayer is that would completely resolve and that valve would be strong! Over time if that valve leaking worsens, that would be extremely problematic. We go back in 6 months.
2- Feeding 🍔:: we saw his GI specialist early June as well. Reid still has his feeding tube that allows us to supplement his regular diet. It honestly is the most frustrating part of his health right now. He loves food. He will literally eat anything. But his metabolic demand is so much more than a normal healthy child his age, he requires more calories and he just can’t eat enough without the formula. The formula tastes horrible so he won’t drink it. We have tried every one on the market. So here we are. Trying to wean him off the formula gradually and see if he can eat more to gain weight.
3- Development :: he is making huge strides with his physical and speech therapy. He’s saying more words every single day. It’s so fun to hear him and celebrate these little victories. We are hoping he will graduate out of his physical therapy soon.
Thank you for those who pray and encourage our journey with Reid.
For those who don’t know, I am a pediatric nurse practitioner in pediatric cardiology. Part of my job is to counsel parents on their child’s heart condition. I am able to speak from both perspectives as the medical provider and as a parent. I get it. I understand. I love that I can share Reid with them. I knew every possible outcome for Reid, many I don’t even like to think about. Yet, we still said yes to him and giving him a life and a family that absolutely loves him with every ounce of our being.
It is hard though because not everyone has the beliefs not outlook on life. The hard part about my job is some parents will choose to not continue their pregnancy when they find out about their child’s heart condition. I know that Reid’s story can’t save every baby but our prayer is that it will save many. Our prayer is that by saying yes to Reid we will live our lives in a way that will encourage others. We don’t need an award or recognition. That is not why we adopted Reid. What we do want is for parents to see that this journey, while it is hard, it is worth it. Every single second, it has been worth it. That moment when Reid says “momma” and smiles or claps and runs to the door to me when I get home. Those moments make you forget about those fears of him not surviving to be a teenager or an adult.
Reid has taught us to live life today. We don’t do it perfectly and never will. But we do know that we have a calling to teach all 3 of our children how to love Jesus and others. How to celebrate their victories and share their struggles. That God is very real and will carry them through every high and low. We know there will be mountains and probably more valleys that we would like in the years to come, but he is worth it. Jesus is worth it. When you really think about it, that’s all of our calling. His heart disease is irrelevant. Honestly, there are many days we forget there is anything even wrong with Reid. That’s a good thing. Reid doesn't deserve to be treated differently than others. None of us do.
Thank you for following our journey with Reid. We love our village.
Jesus, it's all for you.
Holly
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