A whole post about Joel's unmentionables.

               I really do not like being sick. I’ve got a snotty nose, headache, sore throat general bleh kind of thing going on today and It’s made me completely miserable. Andrew and Joel have compromised immune systems because of some of the complications of autism so they catch everything that every other snotty nosed little kid brings to school and then brings it home to us. I’ve done good this year. Everyone else has been sick two or three times here this season but I’ve managed to avoid it all until now. It is interesting to observe the boys when they’re sick because they’re so under-sensitive to everything. They’ll be running around the house at about 111% percent (as compared to the normal pace of 135%) and all of the sudden one will grab his stomach and say, “Oh Mommy my tummy hurts.” We know now to rush them to a toilet because there is going to be something projected out of one end or the other within the minute. That was not a fun lesson to learn.

            

            Sick days are different with 6 and 7 year olds then they were the first year with the twins. We knew in the hospital that Joel had a double hernia at birth, but he was way too far below the ideal weight to even consider corrective surgery. Finally at 8 weeks the doctor felt we could wait no longer without risking long-term damage even though he was only ¾ of the way to the recommended weight for surgery. I barely remember packing up our 6lb little boy and driving to the hospital for what was supposed to be an afternoon procedure. I honestly can’t recall where we left Andrew and Caleb. I assume we left them with Hannah’s parents but Andrew was still very much an infant and in need of mother’s nourishment. Somehow we found a way to be apart long enough to be available for Joel’s surgery. We went through all the admission process and found our way to the waiting room where waiting became the most difficult task in the history of the world. After a little over an hour the doctor came to visit with us. He informed us that the surgery had been successful, but that Joel’s body wasn’t recovering well from the anesthetic (something about him not being the ideal weight). They had admitted him to the pediatric ICU for the time being and so we started making phone calls and trying to settle in for another night spent on a waiting room couch. Fortunately Joel came out of the anesthetic OK in the middle of the night and we were able to take him home late in the afternoon of the next day, but this was the second time we had been faced with the very real possibility that we could lose our child.

                Another big foe that Joel had to face his first year came in the form of a hemangioma birthmark. Now a birthmark is not an uncommon thing among babies, and hemangiomas are not exceptionally rare. What made Joel’s case exceptional was where it was located. The birthmark was roughly the diameter of a half-dollar and was located on his scrotum. It was quite an interesting discovery for Hannah and me in the special care nursery the first time we saw the nurses change a diaper. They explained what it was and that it would slowly shrink and eventually disappear. The funny thing about it was that when I learned that we were having twins I started praying that God would give one of them an identifying mark to help us distinguish which was which. That wasn’t really what I had in mind. I was sure though that by the time they were teenagers the mere threat of having to go to the birthmark would keep them from trying to pull a switcheroo on us. Another amusing part about the birthmark was that any time we left them in the care of others we had to explain what they could expect during a diaper change (we only forgot once or twice and the hysterical reactions of the nursery workers were enough to help us remember from that point on). Hannah, who I love dearly, was apparently unable to pronounce the word ‘scrotum’ though, so it made for some incredibly funny moments. Each time the explanation would go something like this: “So, just so you know, when you go to change a diaper, just so you don’t get freaked out, Joel has what’s called a hemangioma birthmark on his…” and then she would start making hand gestures that were somehow supposed to be representative of a little boys scrotum. She'd finally give up and whisper 'scrotum' and then rush off all flustered.  I knew what was coming each time so I’d just sit back and watch and laugh. I’m such a great husband.

                Where the real trouble came was, again, in the location of the birthmark. Hemangiomas aren’t just a discoloration of skin like common birthmarks. They are a vascular formation that can often form open sores or ulcers. Well, little babies eat, and then they poop, and that poop is contained in a diaper which unfortunately exposed this vascular formation prone to an open sore to toxic little baby poop. It then became infected and incredibly painful. Joel’s bowel movements never went unnoticed because he would immediately launch into a pain induced hysterical scream. His pediatrician referred us to a specialist at the Children’s Medical Center who prescribed laser treatments to cauterize the wound and promote healing from the inside out. Hannah had to drive and hour and a half every other day to the hospital so that Joel could undergo his treatments. We were in and out of the hospital so much they gave us these cool little credit cards that we swiped at the door and that was our admittance procedure each visit. After each treatment they put these large adhesive pads over the birthmark to protect it while the cauterization healed. As long as the adhesive pads were on there was no trouble, but as soon as they fell off, we would be back to square one. After several weeks Hannah finally insisted that the doctor just prescribed us several dozen of the adhesive pads and we would put them on with every diaper change (yeah, a prescription for tape... that's the world we live in). She quit going to the laser treatments and we started using the pads and after about two weeks everything was healed and we’ve never had another issue with it, aside from the occasional startled diaper changer.

                I ran out of room for the RSV story so we can all just wait in eager anticipation for Monday and hope that Hannah remembers more details than I do.