Punktress

Maddox

Maddox was born on October 18, 2007. He got off to a rocky start but these days are much better for him. Thanks to a terrible (and extremely rare) pregnancy-related liver condition called Cholestasis of Pregnancy, Maddox was induced and born at 34 weeks. My case was unlike any my doctor had seen before. With my liver function tests so far off the charts, he changed his plan to induce at 37-38 weeks, to 34. At 32 weeks I received my first steroid injection. I received a second injection at 33 weeks. At 34 weeks, Maddox had already begun passing (and inhaling) meconium. I went in for an amniocentesis to check his lung function, and ended up being admitted and induced on the spot.

His first week was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. I was discharged on day three, but Maddox was not. He had inhaled so much meconium that he was being treated with IV antibiotics in the NICU. It was also the hospital’s policy to hold babies born before 35 weeks for a minimum of five days. Maddox was only in the NICU for 8 days, but they were the longest days of my life. Coming home from the hospital without a baby is so emotionally difficult. I have friends who had to leave their babies in the NICU for months. I don’t know how they did it.

Maddox incredibly hit all of his physical milestones very early. He rolled over the day after he came home from the hospital. He was walking by around eight months. He was just amazing. But other milestones came much, much later. He didn’t smile at eight weeks, or track objects on time. I knew to expect it, but it was difficult nonetheless. He babbled a little bit as a baby, for a few days, and then he stopped. He didn’t really say much of anything until he was three. Then one day (right around his third birthday) he just started talking. Boy did he start talking. Not only did he start talking, but he had a full vocabulary. It was as though he just spent those first three years listening. It was incredible.

Now that he is four, he has mostly caught up. He makes friends easily and loves to play with other kids (of all ages) when we go to the park or local play places. He loves the beach as much as his mama. His best friend is our one-year-old male German Shepherd, Zeus. They love to run around and romp all day long.