Luke Ireland Findlay
by Pepper
My bestest friend in the world [besides Sara France!] had a beautiful baby boy in February, and I couldn’t wait to share him with all of you! Then when he was just 10 days old, he got very ill. He wouldn’t move his arms and legs and was in severe pain. It was pretty scary, then it was just maddening! The doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong with him! Every day they would come and cut away more of him for testing cancers and other stuff you never want to hear coming out of a doctor’s mouth.But every test they ran came back negative. No cancer. No skin diseases. A clean brian scan. They began testing for weirder and stranger diseases, I mean REALLY scary stuff. Anna K and her husband Kent were basically living at the hospital.Anyway, I held off on sharing the pictures from the day he was born because it was just too painful to think he might not be with his family for much longer. So 2 months later, after they have done tests and extracted bone marrow and this tiny little baby had tubes in him night and day and was on heavy pain meds, I got one of the best calls of my life while shopping in a Best Buy! They had finally discovered what was wrong with little Luke, and it was something minor and totally fixable!!!Mitch and I went down to their new house to have a celebratory BBQ and of course i had to take some pictures of Luke! He still has some scars from all the tests and a tube in his arm, but he is off of the pain meds and is such a happy guy now that he’s out of the hospital!! So anyway, here are my images welcoming Luke Ireland Findlay to the world!!!
February 9th 2007
Proud Pappa Kent
Exhausted Exhilarated Anna K
Luke’s first fart
2 year old Max surprised us all. For the entire pregnancy, the family had a little game, and they would ask Max where his brother was, and he would pint to Anna K’s tummy. We fully expected him to again point to her tummy, but when asked where was Luke, he pointed directly his brother. Max is no dummy!
Little Luke meets big brother Max for the first time
Luke wasn’t interesting enough, so Max went back to his favorite activity every time he sees his Aunt Pepper, playing with my Blackberry.
10 days later, Luke was back in the hospital. He was there for a while. I took pictures to document everything, so when he was well and better, he could look at them. Having recorded them for posterity though, I don’t want to look at them now though. I know I am skipping 3 months of his little life, but for now, I just want to focus on him being better.So these pictures are from last weekend. As you can tell, he is much happier, growing at a normal rate, and is just munchable! I mean, look at that face!!!
Happy relieved Anna K at home with her baby boy Luke
Luke’s cousin Sofia came over to play, but then they both just sat there like lumps.
Luke and big brother Maxwell
OK, so really Sofia is the prettiest baby girl but don’t let that go to your head. [I think her mom buys anything with the word 'princess' on it] She is only 4 months old, but she is the boss and she knows it. She is not sad here, she just wants me to stop taking pictures. She wasn’t screaming for anything in particular, she was screaming AT me. I’m surprised the picture even came out, I was laughing so hard!
Maxwell and Sofia’s older brother Eli
OK, now Sofia is ready for her close up. I swear, she was totally posing for me. When was the last time you saw a baby hold a pose until you were ready for something different?! She is going to be the next model for Gap Kids or something. You heard it here first!
May 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
That is so amazing that they figured out what was wrong with him! I am glad he is okay. What did they find out was wrong with him?
May 27th, 2007 at 11:54 am
LO
VE
!
May 27th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Hey Kate! I don’t know all of the specifics, but it turned out to be a very simple bacteria that Luke has a very bad reaction to. About 1 out of every million adults and teenagers develops problems with this bacteria and they go on a simple regimen of antibiotics and they are fine. Luke is the first baby on record to develop this, and the symptoms were totally different than how they normally manifest so that’s what had doctors baffled for a while. That, and every time they did a culture test to see what kind of bug grows in the petri dish, it would a couple weeks for this stuff to show up so it was originally written off as contaminant. Anyway, I saw him today and he’s doing very well and is now officially off the medicine too so he’s going to be great!
May 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Hello from the other Best Friend! One of these days the two best friends will have to meet! That would be fun! The pics are great! I am so happy that Luke is in the clear! xxoo
May 29th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Pep: I stayed away from my computer all weekend. I just looked at the blog/pictures. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! It meant worlds to us to have you come take picts at Luke’s birth, even more when you took care of all of in the hospital when he was sick, then pictures again at his blessing. I thought I was able to weather the storm of your kindness without breaking down, but then this! You and Mitch are the definition of wonderful people and both Anna K and I treausre your friendship. The pictures are absolutely fantastic!! I am going to forward this link to everyone I know. We love you!
May 29th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Ditto to what Kent said. Your AWSOME. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! I can’t tell you what your friendship means to me there just aren’t enough words to explain. I love the pictures, my fave is them all. And yes Sara and I should really meet. I love you pep.
May 29th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Wow! Thank you so much for all the wonderful photos. They are just fantastic! I am not a best friend, but have been a concerned and prayerful friend.
May 29th, 2007 at 8:45 am
Loved the pictures! It was so great to see him happy and getting better.
Diena
May 29th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Wow, what wonderful pictures of such a beautiful baby. To have a friend capture these wonderful shots and be willing to share them with all of us is truely a friend. What an eye, you do incredible work pepper. I’ve know Kent and Anna K. for quite some time, and you’ve really captured the family love they have. Thanks!
May 29th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Awesome pictures, cute kids and family and great news. I’ve been among the many praying for Luke’s recovery. How wonderful prayer is, and that Luke is fine and well. I hope AnnaK and Kent are too. My best wishes to the Findlay family! XOXOXOXOX
May 30th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
He is ADORABLE!!! Im so happy for you guys! and sure do miss ya! You have been in our prayers like crazy… so its so nice to see Little luke smile, hes precious!! yay! we love you guys! ps.. the pix are awesome!
May 31st, 2007 at 5:38 pm
I guess all those prayers and fasting can really help a little guy. We are so glad he is doing well.
June 1st, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Wow, what a great gift you have given Luke and his family, and I’m so happy that they were able to find out what was wrong and fix it easily! He is absolutely munchable – love those little rolls of fat!
Enna
June 20th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Kent & Anna K,
Prayers were answered…… I’m so thrilled with your miracle! Luke is absolutely beautiful and the photos are precious!!!!!
Who says there’s no “happy-ever-after”?
Thank you for including me.
My love and best wishes,
Suzanne
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 pm
No way Pepper! No way- I can’t believe that you know Anna K and Kent- I have been wondering what was up with them! We worked on the Joseph film together, and I thought they were the coolest couple, and Max was so sweet…I didn’t even know they had another baby! Okay, I’ll stop using exclamation points now. I’m still in shock. Please forward my email to them. Hey, have you had your little one yet? Can’t wait to find out how it went. Loves.