The January from hell actually began a month earlier. When Matt and both kids had come down with strep throat, the doctor said he was concerned about Landon, now almost two. He noticed that Landon was in the 90th percentile for height, but only 15th percentile for weight. He told Matt, "Your son seems to be a bit scrawny. What does he eat?"
Matt replied, "Anything edible."
The doctor continued, "Well, he appears to be malnourished."
Matt said, "That's impossible! He can't be malnourished! All he ever does is eat. And he's very happy and alert."
The doctor continued, "Well, he's not putting on much weight. We need to do a blood test."
Landon did not cooperate well for the blood test and kept screaming, "Mama! Mama!" But they were finally able to get a sample.
The doctor called later and said the blood test showed an elevated level of a certain blood marker that indicated problems with the pancreas and the need for further testing. Matt called Julie and told her about the results.
The doctors later said that they wanted to do two sweat tests a week apart. Matt thought, Why would they need to do that? But he said, "Sure. The 9th and the 16th of January work for us."
Three days after the second sweat test was the first playoff game, and it was Matt's birthday. In the afternoon, Julie called and said, "Matt, I think I'm in labor."
Matt said, "What? I have a game today, it's my birthday and you're not due for five more weeks. You can't possibly be in labor because we're not ready!"
Julie said, "Well, ready or not, here she comes!"
Matt rushed to the hospital. When Julie was pushing, the baby's heart rate began to drop. The doctor said the baby was tired and they needed to do a C-section. The surgery went quickly and the doctor said, "You have a baby girl! She looks great!"
Julie asked, "What should we name her?"
Matt said, "You went through so much to get this far, you name her."
Julie decided on Lexi Pamela Taylor Saracen, and Matt agreed. As Matt walked out of the operating room with Lexi, Julie added, "Happy Birthday!"
Matt looked in Lexi's face. She looked exactly like Matt, even more so than Lily, and her eyes were wide open, and she was taking in her new surroundings. In that moment, as Matt held Lexi in his arms, everything was perfect.
