Due to the circumstances over past year, many were not able to have the honor of meeting our sweet Henry and getting to know him. We know he had so many friends and family that loved him from afar though. I wanted to take this opportunity to share a little about his short life so that those reading will understand what a brave, strong little boy he was.

Just after Christmas Art and I started seriously talking about having another baby. Once we started trying, we got pregnant right away. We were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to meet our little man. Everything looked good, until the second trimester screening. We got a call from the doctor while in Lake Havasu for Lucy’s birthday telling us that the blood screening had several markers for different genetic conditions, including Trisomy 18 and Smith Lemli Obitz Syndrome, and they wanted us to do a follow up genetic counseling appointment to get further information. At the appointment, we met with a geneticist and a perinatologist who offered an amniocentesis (which would risk the pregnancy) or even an abortion if the results were not good. My amazing husband calmly told me that, just like we did with Lucy, we would face anything this little one had going on as it came. We decided not to risk the pregnancy and instead began ultrasounds every few weeks. In October, one of the ultrasounds found that there could be a problem with his brain development, so we had a fetal MRI which ended up inconclusive. In November we started having stress tests and checking my fluid levels every few days. At one test the nurse was unable to find a heartbeat and we thought for sure we had lost him, but the doctor found him and we continued our frequent testing. At the beginning of December I was hospitalized for low fluid levels and our doctor moved up our c-section to December 18th. When Henry was born, there was a whole team standing by to check him out. After a few tense moments, our 4 lb. 7 oz. baby boy was handed over to our care. During that first night we had another scare. Henry stopped breathing and had to be revived by the nurses. The next day, they moved our little man to the NICU due to some concerns about jaundice and low feeding volume. Henry remained in the NICU for his first Christmas with Mommy and Daddy coming to visit everyday. Henry finally came home on New Years Eve and met his sister for the first time. She loved him so much. After about a week at home he developed a small cough. we monitored his condition closely and became concerned about his breathing a few days later. We took him in to CHOC ER where they tried breathing treatments, oxygen, high flow, and eventually had to intubate him. Henry and I spent the next 32 days in the hospital, 22 days on a ventilator in the PICU and 10 more days to get him off oxygen and eating again. During his stay, he crashed twice and had to be revived by the medical staff. We brought him home yet again, this time with an NG tube. Henry improved rapidly once he was home and we were soon able to remove the tube. He had follow ups with Cardiology for a VSD (small hole in his heart), GastroInternology for feeding and weight gain issues (he was our little one percenter), Neurology for possible seizure activity, Genetics for his genetic diagnosis, and a Neurosurgeon for issues with the plates of his head and his head shape. Although he was improving, we learned that he had a genetic condition that could cause hormonal problems and some cognitive and motor development delays. Our pediatrician diagnosed him with asthma and we had to have him fitted for a helmet. But much like his sister before him we kept moving ahead and checking things off our list. He was discharged from cardiology and was almost done with his helmet. Just like his Daddy said, we were meeting his challenges as they came. We were just gearing up for another round with his specialists when everything changed. The coroner has determined that he passed from natural causes related to his genetic condition, but we will have to wait to find out exactly what happened. All we know is that our grumpy old man isn't grumpy anymore. He is able to breath freely without all of these doctors visits and health concerns. And all we can do is live our life in such a way that we hopefully get to see him again. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support!
With love,
Jennifer Rodriguez