Julie's Journal

The first day of Spring, March 21st in 1994 was gorgeous as usual. I lived in Southern California at the time and there is really no other way to describe the weather, other than gorgeous. On this day I had been out of the hospital for one week exactly. Three weeks before I was admitted into the hospital with an elevated white blood cell count.

My OB/GYN had called me at work and told me to head straight to the hospital. No stopping at home, no need to have lunch, just drive straight there, pull into the emergency room lane, and I will meet you there. After the longest drive of my life, with my hand on my stomach the whole way, making sure my baby was still moving, I arrived at the hospital and he was indeed standing there waiting for me.

I was rushed in, admitted into the maternity ward, and lying in my bed when all these doctors, including my OB/GYN, pounced on me with needles, gloves, IV’s, machines, you name it. He explained to me that my white blood cell count was almost 10,000 more than it should be and something was wrong. I would need to stay there during testing until they figured it all out.

For two weeks I was checked by every type of specialist known to man. Oncologist, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, and other’s I can’t even remember what they were. I laid there for two weeks feeling perfectly fine. I had no symptoms whatsoever, and I made friends quickly with all the other mom’s, and their new babies. I wanted to go home so bad and get ready for my baby to come, but my doctor was not budging. “Not until we find something,” he told me.

Well they never found anything, and all the test came back as negative as possible. I was told to go home, and meet him back there in one week for a labor induction. I walked, no I ran, to the nearest exit completely dumbfounded, but happy to be going home.

One week later I gave birth to the most perfect baby on the planet, ever! Yes, I’m his mother and I have the right to say that. My white blood cell count returned to normal, and my diagnosis was listed as “unknown.”

So today is my youngest babies 13th birthday. He’s a teenager now, and right on schedule he’s becoming snippy and cranky. The hormones are raging, and he was digging on Haley on American Idol last night, for obvious reasons if you watched the show. If you didn’t, her boobies were bouncing all over the stage, and I thought she was going to lose one, or both, at some point.

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY JUSTO MAN! Tonight I am making his favorite dinner, rosemary chicken, and we’re having a birthday cake. On Saturday is his party with his friends at the skatepark.

Here are some pictures. Okay 13 pictures may be excessive, I know. Just bear with this mom on her and her babies big day.

[tags]birthday, 13th birthday, teenagers[/tags]