Jet's Story

In March of 2007 Jared and I found out that we were having our second child. We wanted a new experience with this delivery so we decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby and we kept the name a secret. In December of 2007 we had a scheduled c-section (because my first came emergency) and were blessed with a beautiful baby boy named Jet Michael. That day has entirely changed our life and it has been a bumpy and windy road ever since.

Jet was born with a bi-lateral hard and soft cleft palate. Unfortunately, those first days were extremely stressful. I was unable to breastfeed, which was devastating to me. We tried to let him nurse for three days and nearly starved him. Jet was born 8lbs 5oz and on day three he was 7lbs and dropping. We started him on formula and he still didn't gain weight.

Through out the past 2.5 years when I'm just about to melt myself into a little puddle, God always puts just the right person in my life at just the right time. At this time, he placed Lori Davis and the TU Cleft Palate team in my life and they have been life saving.

Lori stated very clearly that I needed to get him on a high calorie formula. We changed his bottle from the Haberman to the Mead Johnson Nurser and after a month Jet was finally up to birth weight.

That was our first of many trials.

In Jet's first year he had 2 or 3 sets of tubes put in of course when he was a year when he had his palate repaired... Thank you Dr. Kevin Smith, you're amazing!!!

Jet started Speech Therapy when he was 11 months with SoonerStart (our 0-3 year program here in Oklahoma). At this time, Jet had delays in all areas except Social, but not enough to qualify for services through Soonerstart. 

Jared and I had hope that when Jet's palate was repaired he would be catch up to his peers.

However, at 18 months it became clear that Jet still wasn't catching up. He still drooled horribly, was not talking at all, just began walking at 15 months, wasn't pointing and the list goes on.

At this point we enrolled him private physical therapy, to help with oral motor strength. In September of 2009 he had to have 2 other sets of tubes put in and he also broke his leg. He broke his leg going down a tunnel slide while wearing crocs. Jet tends to have bad luck. During that month as well, we changed speech therapists in Soonerstart.

At Jet's 2-year check up I knew that he still wasn't were he should be. His doctor said the "A" word (autism) and referred us to a Developmental Pediatrican. During this appointment, we discovered that Jet has a global development of around 18 months, except social (which rules out autism). This doctor ordered an MRI. Jet had genetic testing at 4 months, which was normal. A few weeks ago the MRI results came back normal. So now the question is, "Why?". Where is this global delay coming from?

Jet is still in Speech Therapy through Soonerstart, until December. He is also in Private Speech Therapy twice a week, Occupational Therapy once a week and Physical Therapy weekly. 

So now what.... We go Gluten Free. Gluten Intolerance runs in my family and in fact, I have a nephew with Celiac. (Jet tested negative - but he's too young for an accurate result.) Jet has been diagnosed with Acid Reflux and maybe Gluten has something to do with that. I have read studies that have linked delayed development to a gluten intolerance. So now we're going to turn this rock over and see what's underneath. We are going on a 3 month journey and I am going to document our story during this time. I hope that you will walk with me through this time. I realize that we could have picked a better time. We are going to be gluten free during Halloween and Thanksgiving, which should prove interesting. My prayer is that our gain will be worth the sacrifice.