Kindness is Contagious - Waylon's Story
Waylon is a heart warrior that has been touched by Baby Jack & Co's #spreadthelovey kindness project. His family was inspired to collect loveys for their hospital by one of our reps and their kindness inspired others to pay it forward. Kindness is truly contagious. Here is his story --
"After a very easy and uneventful pregnancy, Waylon was born on December 8, 2015. He had some difficulty breathing so off to the NICU he went to be monitored overnight. The next day, he was released out of the NICU so his regular pediatrician stopped by to do a routine check before we could be discharged. He noticed what he thought was likely to be a "nothing to stress about heart murmur". It was recommended that we get an ultrasound of his heart done just to be on the safe side. Later that day, one of the nurses mentioned that the Cardiologist wanted to see us. That is the moment my stomach dropped, I knew they wouldn't be trying to find us to say everything was normal. Eventually the Cardiologist arrived in our room, ready to explain what he found. He started off by handing me a box of kleenex and I knew it was going to be bad. He began explaining that our son had a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. Listening to a stranger in a white coat describe Waylon's heart versus a normal heart was so overwhelming, I felt as though I couldn't even process what he was saying. He drew us pictures and continued on with medical terms that were just buzzing in my head. All I could think about was how could this be? I didn't so much as take a tylenol my whole pregnancy. I did everything I could to make sure my baby would be born healthy. Here he was, just three days old, we had just finally decided on a name and now we were hearing such devastating news.
It took awhile before the Cardiologist told us about the necessary surgery (and possibly surgeries) that he will need. We were told of the "tet spells" that we needed to watch out for and what to do if one occurred. When we were finally sent home from the hospital, I felt like we had brought a live grenade with us. No idea when it would activate and send us all spiraling out of control. Having a child with a serious medical condition is draining and exhausting at times. We always had to be on alert and work to try to keep his crying under control. Life before surgery was challenging at times. We had to take our daughter out of preschool and ballet to limit our chances of him getting sick. It is almost like living on house arrest at times. We have just said from the beginning that this is the way he came to us and now this is our journey together. He had his surgery at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in May. It was incredible how well things went for him and how quickly he bounced back. The surgery was on Monday and we were home by lunch time on Friday. He will need another surgery at some point, they are predicting in his teen years but of course, only time will tell.
We came up with the idea for our logo, The Warrior Way because heart kids are often referred to as heart warriors and way, for our little dude Waylon. In true warrior fashion, his hair even grows in a perfect mohawk. We have experienced so much kindness from people, it is truly amazing. It is so humbling to see so many people reaching out to us in our time of need. I came across one of Spread the Lovey's reps, Share the Lovey, Instagram account after doing a search of Tetralogy of Fallot. We were gifted one and it became one of Waylon's favorite toys. We were thrilled to be able to take blankets that people donated for us up to LPCH to hand out while we were there. Giving the lovey opened the door to talk to other families in similar situations. We stay in touch with one of the families and now they are part of the Kindness Team, handing loveys at their local hospital. The amount of emotions experienced in those situations can be so overwhelming. We felt so privileged to play a small role in comforting others. It has been such a great opportunity for us to pay forward the kindness that has been expressed to us."