"one more thing" when we e-mail each other. It seems that there is always one more thing going on with our kids. They either have an ear ache or virus or some unexplained sickness. I guess you never stop worrying about your kids.

With my son, Jacob, I always worry. It all started when he was 1 month old and had a sudden, unexplained fever. Little did I know that when infants have a fever they are rushed to the ER so that every fluid in their body can be checked (blood, urine, spinal). He was fine the day before, and then like a flash, people were sticking needles in my baby. They finally saw the infection in his urine that indicated a urinary tract infection, odd with infants, but not unheard of. We got into a room later that night and were told we would be staying for a while to make sure all of the infection cleared.

Soon afterward, we were introduced to a man we would come to know very well, the urologist. He explained that Jacob had an extremely rare condition and would have to have surgery in one month. We had to stay in the hospital for six days just to make sure the infection cleared. Jacob was in good health, otherwise. There wasn't much we could do with him during the day, so we would take many walks down the mural-plastered hallways.

Those walks were heartbreaking, not because of Jake, but because of what you would see down the halls -- so many kids, some moaning, some crying, some with more tubes and needles than they should ever have seen. And way too many alone. We were lucky because we live so close to the wonderful N.C. Children's Hospital, but many parents have to travel, and for long-term illnesses, they eventually have to go back to work. After seeing those kids, I felt so much fear and sadness for them and for my son. I was almost afraid to stop holding Jacob. In fact, after that experience, I didn't let go for a long time.

Continuing with Jacob's story, I am afraid it just keeps getting worse. He did have the surgery a month later. About five minutes into the surgery, the doctor reappeared to let us know of a complication that would require another surgery in the future -- nothing too serious but something he did not have time to fix right then. So not only did we have to deal with the surgery at hand, but with the news that another was imminent. The surgery was successful, but throughout his ordeal, he had three surgeries before the age of 2. Right now, things look good, but we will continue getting ultrasounds until Jacob stops growing.

There are nights when I still can't sleep because I have visions of seeing Jake being taken away to go to surgery. But I remind myself that I have a beautiful, happy boy who is now 4 years old; there was a good chance he wasn't going to make it to 4 months old. Now, of course, I can't imagine my life without him. Still, I think about those other kids in the hospital who were suffering. Where are they now? Did they make it? I know I need to be thankful every day because you just never know. It makes all those "one more things" seem like no big deal!

Jennifer Wilson, with daughter Jenna and son Jacob.