Lydia Joy

As some of you already know, Lydia Joy Smith was welcomed into our family last Monday, July 13th, 1:59pm, 7lbs 6oz, 19 3/4 inches, lots of dark curly hair, big blue eyes. We left the hospital Tuesday afternoon, ready to head home as a family of four. Things changed quickly as, later that night, around 3am, Lydia Joy had a choking/seizure episode which prompted us to call 911. The medics checked her vitals and everything checked out fine. The next morning we headed to our regularly scheduled appointment with the pediatrician. After we went through the basics, I let the doctor know about the 911 episode and expressed my concerns regarding her long stints of sleeping without eating, her jaundice and 12% weight loss. Our amazing doctor left to order a billirubin test and came back with an ambulance, waiting to take Lydia Joy and I to LeBonhuer Children's Hospital. Several hours later, after lots of prods and pokes, a spinal tap determined that she had contracted some form of meningitis. Intravenous antibiotics were begun immediately.

The past 72 hours have been spent running test after test, and, thankfully, all signs seem to point towards viral meningitis, rather than bacterial. Today the doctors will run several more tests, checking for any long-term effects of the meningitis, namely hearing loss. As long as everything checks out, Lydia Joy and I should be able to head home tomorrow to join Big Brother Abe & Terry Wayne.


Thank you to everyone who has been praying for our family these past few days. It has been a scary journey and we are extremely grateful for all the love and support of our family and friends. Praise be to God that we caught the meningitis as early as we did, that our pediatrician had the wisdom and forethought to re-admit us to the hospital, and that Abe has adoring grandparents who have been helping Terry Wayne and I by caring for him in our absence.

Obviously, in light of all that Lydia Joy has been through this past week, visitors will be limited to immediate family only. Thank you again for all your love, prayer, and support. We'll see you in three months when her quarantine has been lifted :)