Pride Socks - Our Story

When Dottie was born and transferred the night she was born to Dell Children's Medical Center due to Pulmonary Hypertension, Johnny was at the hospital with the whole family. I remember vividly, the first time Johnny saw Dottie at DCMC. She was hooked up to numerous tubes. Feeding tubes, breathing tubes, lines going into her belly button to monitor her blood pressure closely, to give her life sustaining medicine.

Upon seeing his two day old sister in this state, Johnny didn't seem scared, rather his face read of concern. He was only 17 months old, and unable to comprehend anything happening around him. I had Dottie on a Thursday via c-section.  Friday I signed myself out of the hospital I gave birth at, my mom picked me up, and we drove to Dell Children's where I spent the next week by Dottie's side 24/7. 

As time wore on and the days at DCMC ticked by, I learned that life with Dottie would be vastly different than it was our first time around with Johnny. The clearer this became to me, the more I thought about what this meant for our family. I was especially concerned with John's quality of life as it pertained to having a special needs sister. 

I decided, even before Dorothy got out of NICU, that I would make every effort to normalize life for both of my children, paying special attention to to letting Johnny slip through the cracks, so to speak. 

At 10 days shy of three months old, Dottie came home. It was among the happiest days of my life. But it was also extremely hard. There were medications that she'd be on for life, a g-tube to clean, bags of formula hung to feed her directly into her stomach, and she vomited excessively. This was all part of what she was diagnosed with, and life was spent mainly in survival mode - for all of us. 

Time went on, we got a full time private duty nurse, which meant that I had more quality time with Johnny. Close to a year after Dottie was born, I then enrolled him into a preschool two mornings a week so he could be around more kids his age and learn new skills from his peers. 

I'm happy to say, that most days he and I take a nap together. I'm able to make lunch for him. We spend time playing together in the living room floor with sister, or he helps me clean. He's a great little helper and is an extremely compassionate child. 

This is where Pride Socks comes in. Pride Socks believe that when people are proud of what they're doing, who they are and where their going in life, they have the power to accomplish their dreams. 

Although my dream may be something as simple as making sure my babies are happy with who they are, and I am happy with who I am as a mom, it's definitely something that brings me pride. 

What better way to show pride than with Pride Socks?