the 1st hour

My man Shea. Daddy is taking over this post... We arrive in recovery to a screaming little dude with tubes connected to all parts of his body. Not the easiest moment in our short career of parenthood. Nonetheless, once Shea gets into mamas arms, he is instantly calm. Thus adding to the reoccurring theme in the process of how incredibly amazing my wife has been... A proud husband.

Our two surgeons come in and explain how well Shea did and that the surgery was a success. It is remarkable to already see the shunt doing its job. Shea's soft spot has reached normal levels. Putting all our cards on the table, the shunt was installed to a complete success. The biggest thing we need to pray about is that the shunt does not take on an infection.

We have been moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, where we will stay with Shea while he is monitored overnight with frequent neuro checks. While he is still not himself, he is easily calmed in our arms. We can only imagine what his mind is going through as his life with a shunt begins. Erin and I can't wait for him to be ready to eat or smile.

We cannot express enough how incredible the outpour of generosity has been. You better believe we're feeling the love and our little guy is going to get across the finish line because of all of you.

Please keep him in your prayers.

A lucky husband and father, Pieter.

game time

Shea continues to lead us through this whirlwind, showing us the ropes. He woke up as pictured above, smiling ear to ear. After a night full of snuggles, bath time (where we didn't dip, but drenched him in holy water from Lourdes), and prayers, he slept like a champ. In pre-op, he fought through hunger pains and fell asleep in mommy's arms until heading off to surgery.

Pieter and I continue to be blown away by everyone's generosity and thoughtfulness. The cards, texts, goodies and meals make us feel so loved. It's no surprise the nurses adore our little dude and CHOC has made us feel right at home. It certainly helps seeing familiar faces left and right.

Pieter and I just heard all went well and will be joining him in recovery. Stay tuned.

Love and hugs. Erin, Pieter and Shea

pray for shea

"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails." - unknown

Our little family has been showered with so much love over the past week as we have been hit with more news at each doctor's appointment. Priorities shift and love grows. We know and feel the love and support we are surrounded by, thank you. Seamus "Shea" is quite the trooper and he has shown us daily that everything will be okay.

Our sweet Seamus is full of so much life with his coos and smiles. He was born a few days past 40 weeks, 12/17/15 with a fairly simple delivery.  Our little man squeezed his way through the birth canal, coming out with a hematoma on top of his head. At Shea's 2-month appointment, his hemotoma prompted our pediatrician (Dr. Mody) to order an ultrasound of his head and instructed us to follow up with a pediatric neurosurgeon (Dr. Muhonen). Incidentally, the ultrasound revealed hydrocephalus. He was not and still is not showing any signs or symptoms of it because the fluid simply found it's own path and took over new territory, without his head becoming enlarged. It turns out the hematoma is not a big deal and should go away in time, but the hydrocephalus must be addressed.

Shea had an MRI of his brain this morning, which of course, he was wide-eyed enjoying his experience and making the techs laugh throughout. We then followed up with Dr. Muhonen to put together a plan. So, here we go: Shea will be going for a VP shunt tomorrow morning at CHOC.  We will be in the PICU for monitoring following the surgery. This should relieve the additional pressure from his brain and drain the fluid. He will have a VP shunt in place for his lifetime, which will on average be replaced and/or revised about 10 times in his life. He will frequent the neurosurgeon's office for follow ups and MRIs from here on out, but are thankful to live a mile away from the best of the best physicians.

We ask for your ongoing prayers as we tackle this next step. We know we can handle it and be there for our little man, and that is possible because of all of you. We trust in God's plan for Shea and our role as his parents to make sure he has the best of care and great life.

Love and hugs,

Erin, Pieter and Shea