After I told Keegan's dad I was pregnant, he moved away about 2 months later without a word. Throughout my entire pregnancy I was sick every day .He was 10 pounds when he was born and seemed like a healthy baby boy except he would not quit crying. The First couple days he wouldn't take a bottle or nurse but he finally did start nursing. If he wasn't nursing he was screaming, he would hold his breath and his face would turn blue.
My daughter (Brianna) was in first grade when I had him. I had him in September and went back to work in January. It was probably the hardest time I've ever had in my life!! He slept on a infant schedule the first 15 months of his life. He wouldn't sleep more than 3 hours at a time but usually 2 hours at a time. My day was like this... I was lucky to get 4 or 5 hours of broken sleep a night, I would wake up, pack a lunch for work, take Keegan to daycare and Brianna to school. Most of the time he would be crying through it all. He would cry the whole way to Brianna's school and the whole way to his daycare. Those poor ladies at his daycare! He cried all day there because he was starving. He didn't want the bottle and didn't want baby food when introduced to it. He cried every time you got in the car, he hated it. So once again the whole way home, while I was cooking dinner, doing laundry and any chores, he was screaming the whole time.
I would sit down and nurse him while I helped Brianna do homework. At the grocery store people would stare at us because he was turning blue from screaming but there is nothing I could do.
He was meeting a milestone but when he would breath sounded like Darth Vader. I was constantly at the doctor with him but it wasn't until he was 8 months old that they diagnosed him.
The daycare agreed to keep them in the infant room until he was 18 months and then I didn't know what I was going to do for daycare after that. However at about 15 months he got aspiration ammonia and got it NG tube. They wouldn't take him back at daycare because of safety reasons. So I had to quit my job at the same time he also got on seizure medicine because he had a really big seizure when he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
He became a whole different boy after that. He didn't cry anymore, started taking melatonin and sleeping through the night. They had said when they diagnosed him he may never smile or laugh. So when he did I cried my eyes out with joy!
It turned out he was aspirating both liquids and solids, got a G tube.
Today he smiles, laughs, and only cries if he is in pain. He's my miracle!! I don't have family to help me with him. He has a wonderful caregiver through DDD and I have volunteers to help with him a couple hours a week.
Keegan is medically fragile and cannot go to daycare. He requires full time care. He is 55 pounds now and is getting to heavy to lift in and out of my car and then lift his wheel chair in. Since I stay home with him, he gets SSI and we get TANF. I do not have the money to buy a disability mini van with the $1053.00 a month for 3 people.
I am thankful for the chance to get to raise Keegan, he has made me grow so much,
and has taught me what is really important in life. He is my little hero!
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Carrie is one of the strongest women that I know. Every time I have talked to her she is cheerful and pleasant. I have never one time her heard talk about feeling sorry for herself. Carrie is an amazing lady! Carrie and Keegan have the opportunity to win a handicapped accessible van from NMEDA. They need our vote!!! Please vote for Keegan as a local hero! Please enter code 726 at the time of your vote. It will give Keegan an extra 5 votes! Please share with all your friends and family and ask them to vote as well! You can vote every day, so please make sure that you do!! Visit here to vote for Keegan! The website is having some problem, so if you get an error please keep trying!
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