Blessings for Benton: January 2015

January 27th will live in infamy for the Bertram family. It was the day that Benton finally decided he could crawl on his own! Ever since Christmas Eve, Benton had been trying to crawl and was doing about 75% of it on his own but was still requiring a little extra assistance from mom and dad in the form of helping move his knees. But no more! Without any warning on Tuesday January 27th Benton decided he was going to become mobile and he started crawling without any help. With each passing day he has gotten faster and more agile and can now crawl on slippery wooden floors and get across whole rooms.

Seeing Benton crawl was such an emotional milestone. It brought tears to our eyes, the eyes of his therapists and our dearest friends. As his therapist Laura said "This makes my week, my month and my year." Watching Benton crawl for the first time on his own is nothing short of a miracle. In the NICU the doctors had spoke to us at length about how Benton had been without oxygen and how he had such low oxygen saturations for such long periods of time that it was unknown if he would have permanent brain damage. The words cerebal palsy were thrown around. It was mentioned that he might not crawl or walk in his life. In the months since we left the NICU, Benton has grown in leaps and bounds and has been doing phenomenally despite his difficult start to life. But no matter how well he was doing there was always this fear in the back of my mind that he might not walk, that he might not be mobile. Luckily our fears have been washed away. Benton is crawling and as his therapists have told us if he is crawling he will walk and he will walk beautifully. I don't think I ever really stopped holding my breath until I finally heard those words.

We are so lucky. God has provided us miracles and every day we get to watch Benton grow and thrive despite all odds. Watching him become mobile and explore his world has been one of my life's greatest wonders. We are forever blessed and we can't wait to see what Benton does next.

Christmas outfits for a Christmas cutie

The holiday season has been one full of joy and laughter in the Bertram household. Last year December was a terrifying month in Benton's health, so we were extra careful to keep Benton safe and healthy this Christmas season. Basically we were shut-ins for the majority of the entire month of December but that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy ourselves. We made delicious cookies, decorated gingerbread houses, made holiday feasts, played board games and drank cocktails and eggnog. To start off the month of December my dad came to visit and it was super fun to have Benton's grandpappy here He could barely believe how much Benton had changed in the few short months since he was last in town. In addition, we celebrated much of the holiday season with Joe's family as they are living with us and helping to care for Benton.

Three generations

Grandpappy and grandson

Visiting the Capitol Christmas Tree

Throughout the early part of the month we went to Benton's regular checkups with specialists. Specifically he got his synagis vaccine to protect against the dreaded RSV, visited the pulmonologist, received an EKG and echocardiogram and saw his pulmonary hypertension specialist. The pulmonology appointment didn't shed too much new information except that we should just continue to try and slowly wean Benton's oxygen over the coming months. Currently he is anywhere between 1 liter and 1.5 liters but mainly closer to 1.5 liters. His pulmonologist also said it was okay that we still give him intermittent doses of lasix to help his breathing. The visit with the cardiologist was much more revealing. After a 45 minute echo (which miraculously Benton stayed still for) we heard good news! Benton's heart looked different. Specifically his interventricular septum was more rounded and less flattened. This was a good thing! It meant that his pulmonary hyptension is under control and getting better. Hopefully we will truly be able to start weaning Benton's oxygen in more earnest in the new year. Yay!!!!

Walking at the park sans stroller

Kicking it with his Converse Sneakers

Christmas was both a time for reflection and a time for joyful togetherness. Last Christmas was some of the hardest days of our lives. It was a holiday spent in the NICU; a holiday filled with fear instead of joy, tears instead of laughter and endless hope for a better outcome than the doctors could promise us. By the grace of God Benton survived his terrible ordeal last Christmas. We had said goodbye to our sweet boy but our love for him was so strong that he made a triumphant 11th hour comeback. We know that we witnessed a Christmas miracle last year and we thank God every day for saving our beautiful, happy, smiley boy. Each day this holiday season I was filled with awe and admiration for my son. He had survived against impossible odds and each moment we spend with him sometimes seems like borrowed time. This Christmas was especially poignant because many days I couldn't help but just hold Benton close and thank God for miracles. Our family is incredibly blessed and we celebrated our beautiful miracle every single day this holiday season.


Our Little Saint Nick

Little Reindeer with his Grandparents

Family Portrait

Meeting Santa for the First Time

Santa Time

Precious Cutie

Christmas itself was beautiful. We got up early and opened presents in a leisurely fashion while enjoying coffee and Hawaiian mimosas. Benton had the most presents of anyone and he opened a few with gusto but then seemed overwhelmed by the whole experience. Benton definitely raked in the goodies with a standup walker, books, duplos, a slide, his mommy's rocking horse from childhood, clothes, teethers, and many more. We made a Christmas feast and just enjoyed eachothers company thankful for our endless blessings.

Playing on Christmas Morning

Rocking out with "Paya", Mommy's Rocking Horse from Childhood

Finally to end the year we celebrated New Years Eve. This New Years was relatively low-key with us watching movies and drinking champagne at home while Benton played with his toys. Benton is a party animal and was awake at midnight so he participated in the New Years countdown. As we did the countdown he was clapping and laughing right up until we yelled "Happy New Years!!!!!" at which point he promptly burst into tears and started sobbing uncontrollably. He must not have wanted 2014 to come to a close :)

Celebrating New Years!

We hope that this upcoming year is full of new memories, new adventures and more family fun. 2015 will hopefully usher in some big changes....we hope that by next year Benton will be crawling and walking and generally causing a ruckus...we hope that Benton will be off oxygen and that our hospital visits become less and less until they are nonexistent...we hope that Benton starts talking and eating by mouth and of course we hope that he stays his happy and joyful self.