Shake's New Baby boy

[smoothfun]

Good stuff , glad to hear things are finally returning to "normal" for you and you family.
Glad to see the little guy has realized those Dobber shades weren't for him , lol!

[berni67]

Yep. Great news !!! Most important part of life, I think ..

Congrats !!!!

[Mr. Guru]

Awsome news Shake. And your boy is very cute.

July 8th, he shares the same birthday with bruising defender Brad Maxwell. Just by knowing that I could of told you he would fight through all his problems and still be ok!

Congrats, and enjoy fatherhood!

PS: Have a name picked out yet?

[Shake]

Thanks guys!! Much appreciated. Again,thanks for the well wishes.

Now the major issue at hand is, does he become a Hawks fan or Red Wings fan or in my case, a diehard fan of both? God help him if he takes the road I took of loving both teams of which of course they are rivals.

[Axeman33]

Congrats Shake. As a father of 2, I can tell you its the most rewarding job you will ever do in your life. Hoping all your medical issues are cleared up sooner then later. Then its on to the fun stuff, no sleep and changing poopy diapers.

[Pengwin7]

Fatherhood... you are doing it right, Shake.

It can be very grueling - as the man needs to be a rock. You often have nobody to lean on because you are the foundation yourself - always having to be strong & supportive.

My wife and I went through a full year of trying with two miscarriages before we were finally pregnant.
Having to figure out the right thing to say every night while your wife is in tears is mentally exhausting.
That followed by a year of my wife going through insane back issues with multiple special.ists involved (she's handicapped & not supposed to actually lift our kids by doctor's orders).
She finally got fixed about 6 months ago. What a ****ing relief, finally.

I don't think anybody minds your sharing stories.
We can be rocks for you too brother... great to hear your boy is healthy.
The 2nd year (1-2) is full of wonderful stuff, you'll love it!!!

[Bomm Bastic]

Big f-ing conrats to you and your wife, Shakes!! Be proud and hold your head high, brother.

[Mater]

Thats great news Shake, as a father of 3, I still cant imagine what your family has been through. Bring on the fun times and the moments of ah.

[bondon]

I remember reading your original post on this last summer Shake, feels like time has flown by since then but I'm sure for you and your wife this must have been a long 11 months. Glad to hear that you're out of the woods now buddy, your boy is one tough cookie (and cutie).

GET THAT LITTLE MAN A LITTLE TOEWS JERSEY

[Chicleteur]

Wow!!! What a relief it must be my friend! I'm really happy for you, your wife and your little buddy!

[Zorro]

Wow, sorry I missed all this. Happy you are all doing fine Shake.. Congrats buddy!!

[Shake]

I debated about whether to update my sons condition or not. It's personal but I've been part of this community since 2009 and well, we're all family here hehe. The past 2 years have been ups and down regarding my sons health and mixed in that time span my own personal health hit a trouble spot as well. I figured I owed it to everyone that I effected in my hockey leagues to at least give a little substance and reasoning behind my actions / behaviors the past 2 years. The below pictures are the reason why and actually this entire thread is the reason why.

What a journey this has been. My son was born with many issues as you read about or can read about in the past history of this thread. We dealt with all sorts of issues upon his birth, then were told he's basically " good to go' and we just sorta figured as time went on he'd grow and be normal. As he started to get a little older, 6 months then about a year old we started to detect abnormalities that we felt were not normal, so we'd go to a doctor and get examined. Basically to make a very long story short, we told yea he's " different" but they don't know how. So we get referred to this doctor and that doctor and every doctor in-between. Tons of tests and tons of " opinions". We finally get hooked up with this one doctor that was able to detect a few specific things, which was great news, cause then we could deal with it. My son has Hypotonia- which is a low-tone muscle disorder. This effects his ability to hold himself up, no walking, and non-verbal. Also his ability to breath while sleeping, he had to be monitored while he slept for several weeks. His muscles were so weak that the muscles you and I would use to speak, he could not gather the strength to speak. SO we get more and more tests, a couple surgeries and a boat load of physical and occupational therapy. Over time and through the whole process the end result ( spare you the long story) is that my son is able to walk on his own now ( he still wears the special devices still for about 3-5 more months) but at least he can walk on his own power now! His speech is coming along. He's starting to grow too. ( he is the smallest kid in his little " special class". So basically he's on the path to being 100% normal. It's taken almost 2 full years for all this come full circle and him being able to start living a normal life away from therapists, hospitals, doctors and the like. I am proud of him and wanted to share this with you all, as this has been the main reason for my erratic behavior over these past 2 years. When you have a child and your child is not normal and you do not know how to " fix" your child its the absolute most helpless feeling in the world and all you can do is just sit and hope that somehow someway he gets better.

During that process we find out that I got sick and had to take care of my own personal health, which I overcame. I am not gonna get all into that. BUt it feels good to be doing good.

My wife is an absolute champion in my eyes. She was strong thru everything and my wife is very emotional but she was a rock during these past 2 years. I got lucky to marry the right woman and even luckier having 2 awesome kids. Both of which are HEALTHY ( soon to be 100%) My 6 year old has been a champ too thru this process.

So in short this is some of the reason why some strange things were going on with me.

It feels good to have things normal again in my life. I am very excited about every day going forward and leaving the dark days behind me. It's hard to explain but when your in a dark place you do stupid shit and are no longer yourself. It's good to find myself again.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Thanks for sharing this with us Shakes. You are a big member of the Dobberhockey family and to hear that your little guy is doing better and will continue to improve is the best news I've heard all day. Congrats and enjoy! I hope that things continue to work out for you and your family!

For the future, I also hope that your boy is a good backchekcer. I hope he always drives hard to the net with his stick on the ice. I also hope he finishes his checks and never dives. I hope he drops the mitts well when he has to.

Onya mate!

[4horsemen]

That was quite a read, thanks for sharing. As a father I find myself acutely sensitive to stories like this and it helps to bring my focus back to real life issues and away from 'fantasy hockey'. Watching your boy come out the other end has to be one of the most relieving/exciting experiences. Here's to things continuing to go in the right direction!

[bondon]

I'm happy for you man.