Monday, June 14, 2010

Eric




I got the biggest shock of my life when I was 18. I had been irresponsible and made choices that were against my Christian morals and values. The morning sickness started before I bought the test.

I took the test that came up positive on Dec 31st of 1997. I was pregnant. The first person to know was Jason and then my friends who were with me. We decided to tell our parents together. That was not a fun night. We were uncertain of what the future would hold for us. We were just starting out in college and had several years to go. I dropped out and got a full time job.

I wanted to get married, but was unsure if we were ready. Babies need both parents. We had very good council from our Pastor. He basically said we either get married or don't date at all. Jason asked me to marry him right there in the office. We went and got the ring so that we would have that to show my parents. Then came a lot of crying and figuring out what to do. We both had jobs, but they weren't very good pay and neither had insurance. We weren't ready for all of this, but we were the ones who got ourselves into this. Our wedding and honeymoon were beautiful.

The best day after all of the roller coaster rides was the day I heard my babies heartbeat. I needed that proof that he was there and healthy. Then we got to see him in the ultrasound. I fell in love with my Eric that day.

My delivery on 9-9-98 was two weeks after his due date. Eric was a very big baby 9lbs 4oz. He was a happy and healthy baby until a couple weeks later. I knew that babies spit up, but this was throwing up. I would feed him and he would promptly throw up every last ounce. As I sat watching this little man loosing wt and getting paler I did the only thing I could do, PRAY. We ended up admitting him to the hospital three weeks after he was born and scheduling him for an operation. After we got back home, he gained back all that was lost plus some. After this he was at 100% for wt and height.

He started speaking, crawling, walking all very early. Eric was reading fluently by age 3 and has a very high IQ. Socially he has always been behind. We started noticing that he was having difficulties, but didn't know what to do. His 2nd grade teacher call our first ever Care Team meeting and we were hit with the word Autism. Eric was tested and put on services with the school for Autism. We got his first IEP set up and started on our journey.





This year he was officially diagnosed with having Aspergers Syndrome, or high functioning Autism. With the help of our families, Pastors and school specialist our son has just finished 5th grade, with high grades and will be going into Middle School. I know he has a long road ahead of him, but I know that he has been given the needed tools to make it through this step in his life.



Today I sat proudly as my son walked across the stage, shook the teachers hand and was given a certificate. I am sure that the next three years will be full of challenges, some unique to our son's situation, but it will end with another graduation and another new journey.

I love my son more than he will ever know. I am so proud of him and all that he does. I pray for the Lord's guidance as we raise our surprise baby. There have been many bumps and struggles, but we are a strong family. What a wonderful surprise and gift from the Lord.

1 comment:

elizabeth said...

I am so proud of all of you!!!!