Baby Boy Watson: Grain of salt

My last post a few weeks ago was about our rescheduled cath. Well, we had to reschedule again! We canceled Stockton's cath because he had caught a cough which followed with some nasal drainage. We felt much better about canceling this time. (Gut instinct, I guess) So now here we are awaiting our new cath date, June 24th. As I write this I am concerned that he may have a UTI and just barely he complained about his ear hurting. Go figure. I am just going to take him to see his doctor tomorrow to make sure that he has no bugs. This poor kid is "healthy" most of the time. I have come to terms with being disappointed but yet I need to take it with a grain of salt.

Love them!

People often wonder what a day with Stockton is like. For some reason they think that because he has a heart condition that we don't do "normal" things. That is totally wrong. We get a lot of looks when we go to the public pool or to a water park because of his scars. I buy him a swim shirt but sometimes it makes him too cold. We are very fortunate with Stockton's case. He survived through the pregnancy, he survived through his first and second open heart surgery and he has surpassed the expectations that I had for him. Stockton lives a normal life and a lot of other children aren't as fortunate. I can't tell you how grateful I am that Stockton is somewhat healthy. He can communicate, like any other kid his age, he can feed himself, he plays with friends, he can can walk, he can swim, he can attend preschool, he can dress himself, he is a potty champ and many other things. We may have to be careful about how long he runs but we are so grateful for all of these other things that we weren't sure about 4 years ago. There are things that are different about him of course, he takes medication every day (only Aspirin, a miracle in itself), he takes naps mid day, he can't run as long, he gets hot & cold very easily, he has scars on his body and he goes to the doctor, a lot! We are grateful to have him in our lives.

When you meet Stockton, when you see the joy in his eyes, when you feel his strength and when you see his determination it truly is amazing. Stockton is going to do something great with his life, I can feel it. (He has already done so much already!) Tylee and Merrick are amazing, little human beings and they bring such joy into our lives. We have so much to be grateful for and I have a hard time dwelling on what we don't. It hurts me to see Stockton struggle and there is a lot of guilt. This will never go away, I've tried. We continue to learn from all of our children but we have so much to be grateful for. Our children are thriving, they fill our home with joy, they make me a better person, they are alive and I am blessed beyond words.