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“After a high-risk pregnancy, our son Jameson entered this world three weeks early weighing in at 5lbs and 14 ounces. We brought him home to meet his big brother and life felt complete.
Little did we know, we would only have three short months with him in our arms, in our home.
When Jameson was six weeks old, purple/red markings appeared along some of his major bones and joints. These markings held no pattern and he did not seem to react to them. Terrified our newborn had Leukemia or some sort of life-threatening issue, we called his pediatrician who told us to take him to a local children's hospital.
Blood draws, CT scans, and skeletal surveys were done. Everything came back 'normal'. Because there were no medical findings, according to the hospital, DFCS had to be notified and a case was opened. A detective and a social worker came in to assess Jameson; both stating that these markings must be some sort of medical condition because our son was otherwise happy, alert, and these markings did not resemble those of abuse.
While Jameson was admitted, my husband and I saw these markings were fading so I took photos to ensure we had time stamped images of these mysterious vanishing markings. We were released from the hospital after two nights with more questions than answers.
The following day, I made a virtual appointment with our pediatrician to go over how our hospital stay went and expressed that it had left us more puzzled than secure in our son's health. She told us that Jameson was otherwise happy and healthy and left it at that.
A few weeks later, two DFCS employees rang our door bell as I was putting up Christmas decorations. They had us go over the same story and undressed our son to examine him and said he looked perfect. They complimented our home and told us not to worry, that they were just following up on the incident from the prior month. I remember my heart pounding until their SUV pulled out of the driveway.
I wish I could say we were relieved... but we weren't. There were still things my husband and I would discuss about how Jameson just seemed like a different baby. His skin was so sensitive, he had trouble with bowel movements. I would look over his entire body religiously to make sure the mystery spots did not come back up. Although we had those lingering concerns, Jameson was doing great overall. His dimples made everyone who saw him melt! His little personality was infectious. I have never been more proud in all my life.
Around a month later was when everything truly started to spiral out of control. Jameson’s skin was still so sensitive and I had taken him into his pediatrician's office to get some ointment for a spot he had rubbed on his face. While I was waiting for the doctor to come in, I happened to notice a red dot on the floor of Jameson’s mouth close to his gum line so I pointed it out.
All of a sudden everything changed. There were immediate accusations of forced feeding and I was told that DFCS was being called... once again.
I called my mother in law who quickly got to the office to reassure this doctor that she had been around Jameson almost every day of his life. The entire world was spinning and I was just standing there, wondering how me bringing my baby in for ointment had turned into this?
We were told we could leave, but DFCS was already on the way to my home. The same woman who was there just a few weeks before was waiting on us as we pulled in. The DFCS worker told us, once again, to not worry.
I rocked my baby to sleep in our home that night for the very last time.
The next day, I received a phone call from DFCS stating that ‘someone’ had gone over their head and we needed to take Jameson to another local children's hospital immediately.
My husband and I did all they asked us to do. We were in the room with Jameson every step of the way for the trauma work up, CT scans, MRIs, which all came back normal… until it was time for x-rays. For some reason I will never understand, they would not allow us to be in the room for these x-rays.
Forty-five minutes later, Jameson was brought back from the x-rays along with a child abuse pediatrician shortly after who asked what seemed like hundreds of questions. The heaviness in the room was unbearable. I held Jameson close to me and my husband held us both close as they told us that Jameson had rib fractures, apparently in various stages of healing.
The accusing child abuse pediatrician refused to show us the X-rays. I explained over and over about how Jameson had just been so sensitive in several ways since his birth and had such strange symptoms. None of it mattered.
My son was ripped out of my arms. I died right there. I sank into the floor as a stranger took my whole life out of my arms and walked out of the room like it was nothing to her. My husband had to pick me up off of that floor. An armed guard escorted us out to the parking deck where I just screamed. The silence on our ride home with no baby, no car seat was deafening. How can loving parents have their tiny baby ripped from their arms when all they wanted was answers for their baby?
We fought hard to get our son home, but the best we could do was get him with family, which we are thankful for. Even though we told the courts and the department that Jameson must have some sort of medical issue, we were still arrested. Our mug shots were plastered all over social media with comments of how we should rot and we were scum. No one knew the truth. Those people did not know how much we love Jameson and how hard we were fighting for answers.
We begged the court to grant us approval to have specialists look at our son for a second opinion. Our persistence landed us with a well known and respected specialist. Two DFCS employees accompanied us at this appointment. They were in the room when this specialist answered almost every single question we had had since before Jameson was born. He diagnosed me with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder that Jameson was unlucky to inherit. Answers! And DFCS was right there to witness every bit of it.
We felt hopeful that we’d be full-time parents again before we knew it. Unfortunately, that was and is still not the case.
In court, we brought up that the strange markings we’d originally brought Jameson in for when he was six weeks old didn’t follow the patterns of typical bruises. These spots faded quickly, disappearing within 48 hours without any color change whereas bruises typically change colors and fade over the course of a week or two. But the child abuse pediatrician testified that it’s a myth that bruises change color over time. The child abuse pediatrician also testified that babies don’t feel pain so that’s why Jameson never exhibited any signs of pain from the fractures. DFCS completely disregarded our EDS diagnosis and juvenile court never even heard any of our experts' testimonies. We were all but forced to sign Jameson over to my in laws so that the DFCS case would be closed.
Two years later and we have watched our baby turn into a toddler at arms length. Two years of living in an all too silent house. Two years later and we are still begging for justice. Two years of fighting truly opens your eyes to how much strength you have when you are your children's only true advocates. We’ve jumped through hoops to be as present as we can legally be with our kids. Our church and community have rallied behind us, praying for the day both of our boys are back home.
Having your child ask to go ‘to Mama and Dada's house’ should never be a question that is painful to hear. Soon, boys. Soon. Until then, we will keeping fighting, keep praying, and keep knocking.”
Matthew 7:7-8
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