JJ is a triplet, who was born prematurely at 32 weeks. He contracted meningitis when he was 17days old. He coded and was brought back to life. At that point, he ended up regressing a lot, which made him have to stay in the hospital for several more weeks. By the time JJ came home, he was 2months old. In the beginning of him being reunited with his brothers at home, we really didn't notice too much going on with JJ, except that he cried all the time...more than a newborn should. Two months later we noticed he wasn't progressing like his twin brothers. There were several little things we picked up on. For example, he wasn’t able to make eye contact. Another example was that he wasn’t making any attempts to lift his head on his own. With our concerns, we decided to take him to the doctor. At that time we were informed that he was just delayed, and to come back in a month, if things weren’t improving, and that they would run tests. We would have never imagined how our lives would be forever changed 30 days later when we got the tragic news. We found out that he had cystic encephalomalacia & hydrocephalus due to contracting meningitis during his stay in the hospital NICU. Basically, he was missing 65% of his brain, and the doctors didn't know if he was going to live or die. This was devastating to us. We can’t even try to express our feelings that we were going through.  There was so much fear, shock, anger, and sadness. He ended up having his first shunt surgery (a catheter tube was placed in his brain, which runs down to his stomach, relieving pressure off the brain) at 5 months old. Within the next several months JJ had many more brain surgeries. He now has 2vp shunts, and has had 40 surgeries in his young life. The short story of it is, that JJ has been through so much, and he has a daily battle with ongoing, chronic issues. JJ’s newest struggle is that he now fights daily with having seizures! Some days are better than others. He has anywhere from 2 to 10 seizures a day. He is on a bipap machine at night, which helps push air through his lungs, preventing aspiration pneumonia. He's on 14 different medications. Four of those medications are his new seizure meds. Through it all he keeps an upbeat spirit.

 He is 6 years old & has never told us that he loves us. He has never said the words, “Mommy and Daddy”. He can't hold his head up, walk, or play with toys. He eats through a feeding tube, and he will never get to eat cake or ice cream on his birthday. He’s never blown out a candle, or opened a present. There is one constant in JJ’s life…..he ALWAYS has a smile on his face that will melt your heart! He's truly a blessing and our little hero!!!! He loves without discrimination, and is always so happy! He loves music and personal touch! He has already inspired hundreds of people, without even saying a word! That's so powerful in and of itself!!! We are truly honored & blessed that GOD chose us to be his parents!!!!