I call Kellan my miracle baby. He truly is.
When I was 12 weeks pregnant, I miscarried. My provider did some blood work, it showed dropping HCG levels, indicative of a non-viable pregnancy. But the levels were nearly double what they normally are at 12 weeks. In my first pregnancy with Maren, I had a twin that stopped developing early, a lost baby but Maren still thrived. So I asked what the chances were of another baby still holding on, since I had only seen one baby pass during the miscarriage. My midwife said "I don't want you to have false hope. Your levels wouldn't drop if a healthy baby was still there. It would be best for you to schedule a D&C so you can grieve and process emotionally."
But my heart tugged at me that there was still reason to hope. I asked for an ultrasound before scheduling a procedure, but because my midwife documented complete miscarriage, she said my insurance wouldn't pay for one. I said I didn't care, I wanted one first.
And there, we saw Kellan, thriving away. Development was right on track, strong heart beat. My midwife was shocked, she had never heard of dropping HCG levels with a thriving baby. What had happened was there was a twin that shared a placenta with Kellan. When the twin passed away, the placenta partially detached, but not fully due to Kellan being a miracle. My levels were high due to twins, and weren't lowering necessarily, but more like normalizing to one baby.
He was a normally healthy, robust little boy. I called him my baby tank. When he was 3 & 1/2, he and I both got salmonella poisoning from a peanut contaminated product on an airplane. After that episode, he had one illness after another. So many trips to a pediatrician for the salmonella, then influenza Type A and pneumonia, followed by measles. And then shortly after that, he had a fever with many weird symptoms like swollen genitals and tongue, sensitive eyes, purple nails. I called the pediatrician, but they simply said to bring him in if his fever got to a certain level, and watch for other worrisome signs. He had a fever for 11 days! It was finally figured out in a random and miraculous way. My friend Tiffany's little girl had a fever for 3 days, and the pediatrician wanted her to be admitted to the children's hospital for possible Kawasaki disease. Thankfully, she didn't have that and was sent home the next day. But it made me think "what is that?" So I read about it. Kellan had 8 out of 11 symptoms, and typically in kids as young as him they may only experience 5 and can still be diagnosed. So back to the pediatrician we went. She dismissed it at first because he didn't have peeling feet. Which is actually not as common in children who experience that illness. But on my insistence, she sent him for an EKG with a pediatric cardiologist. His coronary vessels were dilated, indicative of the illness. Medium vessels dilate, which is why his genitals and tongue were swollen, and his eyes were sensitive. He also had a heart murmur, nothing seeming like damage from the illness, but he has to have follow up checks every so often.
On Tuesday of last week, he had a follow up EKG in Charlotte. The cardiologist explained the percentages of kids that have permanent damage. Many cases that are detected early have children receiving IV immunoglobulin, and 90% of them recover fully with no lasting damage to the heart. But Kellan's case wasn't caught. My heart was in my throat as he did the tests to determine his situation. "he has a perfectly normal and healthy heart. No sign of damage whatsoever, as if he never had that illness. No murmur anymore either." I was estatic! Music to any parent's ears. I started crying, and thanked Heavenly Father yet another time for such a big blessing for my child. He only has to go back every 5 years now, but can participate in life as any normal kid, no restrictions on his life at all.
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