BIG BEAUTIFUL BRAVE NATE

Nate, the brave little man that he is, had a very tough week. Last friday morning we noticed that Nate had little broken blood vessels (pin prick looking dots) all over his arms legs face and tummy so we headed in to the dr. After a quick look and some fast blood work our Dr. notified us that Nate had a platelet count of 5000 (normal is 140,000 to 440,000). Nate and I were rushed by ambulance 3 hours to St. Louis Children's hospital where he immediately received a platelet transfusion...and there we stayed until Tuesday. Randomly, after contracting a cold, Nate developed a clotting disorder (ITP) that took 2 days to diagnosis conclusively and then another 2 days to make sure the medication worked. This was without a doubt the single most terrifying experience of our lives and a very harrowing week.

The great news is that Nate is on the mend his platelet counts are at 200,000 (what a champ). The poor little love will have weekly blood draws for the next 3 months and then monthly for another 3 months as this can rarely pop back up.

Nate was such an amazing baby in the hospital (he is always amazing but he was even more amazing than usual). He only fussed the first night at 1 am when they put in his IV for the transfusion. He was such a brave, happy boy for all of the blood draws (except for finger pricks which he hated). Nate was the darling of our hospital floor and the nurses and dr.'s would all come in to visit with him or take a turn holding him so I could grab a shower. He even kept to his usual sleeping and eating routine!!!!

Sam and Eli (milo too) held down the fort here in Urbana. Sam is such an amazing Dad and he and Eli had a blast here. We were all so relieved when Eli and Sam came to St. Louis to pick Nate and I up on Tuesday afternoon. We are settling back in and are beyond thankful for Nate's recovery and all the good wishes from friends and family.

We would like to say here, because we will never be able to say it often enough, that my brother Chris was a life saver. He talked to all of Nate's Dr.'s everyday and updated us and answered any questions we had. It was a relief to know that Chris was on our side and fighting for us too! Nate sends a big thanks your way Uncle Chris.