So we decided that we wanted to have another baby. I was turning 41, Laurie was turning 35 and life was good.
Emile Jr. had bean an easy delivery as far as deliveries go and lifewith such a great kid would only be better with a little brother. Eric and Annie are Emile's brother and sister but from another Mother and although they argue a lot they also get along very well and most of all they love their 2 year old brother Emile.
This was also the year that we were to be married so we saved and planned and had a small but beautiful wedding of about 60 and planned an exciting honeymoon on a cruise to the Bahamas.
Laurie has not travelled a lot so we decided to stay over night in New York and visit the city like good tourists would do. it was cool because it was an American Holiday and they closed down streets and had huge style flea market. So anyways we had a great time onboard the ship and really enjoyed Florida and the Bahamas for a full 7 days, so now our married life begins.
After we got home Laurie who was feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented on the cruise decided to see her doctor who told her she had "Vertigo". This had her laid up for a few weeks but eventually she felt better and went back to work. Next came her tests for Spina bifita that showed a risk factor that alarmed us. We decided what ever happened we were taking the son that God blessed us with. The second tests were ok and there was no danger of Spina Bifida, life was good again.
My Mom who does this trick with a thread and needle said we were having a girl so we went with it for a while until the first Ultrasound which showed without a doubt that he was a boy.
Laurie and I are both planners and had a name picked out for a girl "Grace" and a name picked out for a boy "Joshua" which our friends and family loved. Everytime I would call into my favourite radio show Lorri would remind everyone what his name was to be and how nice "Joshua Emile LeBlanc" was for a name. Laurie and I picked it because it was a biblical name and also a cool name for 2007.
The big day kept coming closer and closer and signs that we would go early kept me from traveling and the excitement of seeing this boy was driving me crazy. The doctor decided that she would enduce Laurie on the due date which was January 20th. It was an exciting day for us and wasn't a busy day for delivering babies. Laurie was very quick to say she wanted the Epudural, she doesn't like pain much and I didn't want her to go through unecessary pain. The doctor who was to give her the drug was in surgery so we had to wait since not just anyone can administer the drug. An hour later and several contractions later she arrived. We had been warned that she didn't believe in drugs in labour but had never had a child.
She worked her magic but it was too late, the contractions were closer and closer and the drugs just couldn't catch up so we quickly realised that she was going to have pain. The nurse said that when she started to push she wouldn't feel anything and she was right, Joshua was born soon after and weighed a whopping 9'12 ounces but so beautiful. I had the priveledge of cutting his cord as I've done 3 other times for my previous kids.
After a 2 day stay it was time to take our beautiful boy home. Emile was fine with his Grandmother but was excited to see us. Life was good, 3 boys 1 girl we had the perfect family and were thrilled. On the second night Josh seemed to be constipated and became very stiff and we saw lost eyes and he bagan to yelp, this lasted about 4 minutes. Because I get up around 6:30 am for work and Laurie is breast feeding she gets up with him. The episode he had had happened 2 other times during the night and once in the morning. Not knowing of the episodes I left for work oustide Saint John which made me about 3 hours from home. Around 10 am my sister called to tell me that Laurie brought Josh to the hospital and that I should come home. I remember calling my Mom at least 4 times asking if she had heard back from Laurie since her phone was turned off.
A few hours later Laurie called me back and said that Josh had had seizures, my heart dropped. How could this have happened without us knowing. I cried all the way home thinking of what I witnessed and kept thinking how my son had inherited my Epilepsy, what a gift, what a father I was to give such a tiny, helpless life my terrible disease. I talked to God and made promises that if he healed my son I would do anything in return.
When I got to the hospital Laurie was with Josh and he was wired to electrodes, my heart dropped again but this time I couldn't cry, I had to be strong for us both, that's what Men do right?
The Doctor advised us that while trying tto understand what was causing the seizures they found a syst on his little brain, I felt my legs get weak even though I was sitting down. How could this be, why him, he's helpless, innocent! The first thing I did was email Lorri Allen and asked her to put us on the prayer wall, we now had all of our friends in North America praying. The next call we made was to our Church. The pastor was there within the hour praying with us.
Later that day they started the medication to control the seizures. Because his body needed so much he had seizures even with the medication which made us both very nervous but it was better than the 2 episodes we witnessd where they had to give him oxygen because his breathing had stopped for 20 seconds, then 45 seconds. The doctor told us that this was normal while having a seizure, this didn't make us feel any better.
Around 2:00 am the medication was working great and he hadn't had anymore seizures but he needed to be monitered for the weekend. A few days later it was time to go home again.
The doctor found nothing in the tests and didn't feel like the syst was a danger to so she let him go home.
Although he will be monitered and tested regularly we feel that God has given us our baby back and we have so much to be thankful for.
In the last few weeks he's been anointed and dedicated to God.
He's doing much better. I do sometimes see a lost look in his eyes but I know how strong this medication can be and dissmiss it as God's reminder of what he's gone through to get here.
Emile A LeBlanc
