Wendy Valdez feels elated over the latest development about her son Seth, who was born with spina bifida.
According to WebMD.com, Seth's condition is a type of neural tube defect where "a baby's spine and spinal cord don't develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine."
The former Pinoy Big Brother housemate started giving updates on Instagram two years ago.
Wendy's post dated June 8, 2017, revealed that they first learned about their baby's potential health problem when she was four moths pregnant.
She wrote, "God is good even in our son's birth defect. [two blue heart emojis and yellow heart emoji] When God promised to give us children, I thought we will have twins at once, instead we had only Seth. We were so excited, but in just 4 months, our excitement turned into pain when instead of knowing his gender, we saw that our child has cyst at the bottom of his spine.
"The doctor would not tell us what he knew, and we saw how his face dropped after that ultrasound. He told us to update him with whatever the scan will let us know.
"I walked in confusion and tears. I did not now what our child has, or what was going on.[blue heart emoji and yellow heart emoji]
"The next scans, ultrasounds, and check ups were consisted of bad news after bad news. As I read in google, what the doctor could not confirm to us straight in the beginning, I have cried in so much agony to God.
"My son has spina bifida. A neuro defect that may be prevented by taking folic acid before you get pregnant. Im glad I did take folic acid even before we got married. If not, I would have blamed myself for what happened to Seth."
She and husband Normann Garcia had been warned about the complications.
The former actress continued, "Since its sacral spina bifida, it may affect his bladder, his bowel movement, and worst he may never walk.
"His brain may be pulled down by the cyst and may make him autistic or have his brain affected, or have hydrocephalus.
"If he can't be operated, he may have infection that can cause him to have cerebral palsy...I had a day, when I was just in so much anguish. God promised Seth to us, but it seemed like He was being taken away so soon."
On June 12, 2017, the day after Seth was born, he underwent an operation removing the cyst at the bottom of his spine.
Part of the long prayer that Wendy posted were these lines: "May you guide their hands, na sana po walang matamaan na nerves at maiclose po ang lesion on his back without affecting any other areas of his brain or body. May the operation be a success, and please embrace Sethy so he would not be in pain."
The couple's journey as parents has not been easy, but they have remained optimistic.
Now two years old, Seth's hip braces were already removed.
Early this year, he was set to undergo a hip surgery to fix the alignment of his hip bones.
Unfortunately, the surgery was postponed because Seth had a seizure.
It has been four months since Wendy's last health update, and over the weekend, the celebrity mom returned with news about Seth's condition.
Her two-part Instagram post included a photo of Seth undergoing an electroencephalogram (EEG) to evaluate his brain activity after his seizure.
Wendy wrote, "Before me and my husband left for Europe, we have been going to UST for Seth's leg therapy.
"Seth had another seizure, just one month after his first one, (2nd photo) so we consulted his neuro about it.
"He was sent to PCMC for eeg, which you will see on the 3rd photo of this post. Seth was given medicine for seizures.
"We also visited his Urologist, to check on his bladder and kidneys. Ultrasound showed, and doctor said that his kidneys looked good, and we are doing a good job with cathing him.
"Next month, we would do another procedure to check if his bladder can expand more."
Wendy and Normann had tried to schedule Seth's hip surgery thrice, but none pushed through because just before the operation, their son would get sick.
At some point, the couple began to think that perhaps surgery was not the solution.
Wendy continued in her post, "We always pray to the Lord to guide us, in every decision for Seth, and it seems that having a cast would be unsafe for him if he would have seizures.
"Doctor said, when an attack happens, the cast should be removed at once.
"Since the cast had to remain for 4 months, and we can't be sure that Seth would not have any seizures for 4 straight months, we asked for another opinion."
WENDY'S GOOD NEWS
When Wendy and Normann sought out another opinion, they were told that Seth's hip bones weren't the problem, but "the ligaments/muscle holding them."
The former ABS-CBN talent said, "Even if the hip joints were held in place; without the muscle developing around it, it would not be held in place.
"Thus, no more hip surgery for Seth."
The next option given was for Seth to undergo hip therapy instead, so that his muscles would develop.
Seth was also given a leg brace to help his "whole leg and hip in place."
Wendy then posted a photo of Seth in his new leg brace, which has helped him "stand for the first time."
Wendy got "a bit emotional" seeing her son on his feet.
"It has been an awesome 2nd year with Seth," she resumed.
"When he was younger, he would just drag his lower body to crawl, but now he is moving his knees, and upper leg to go around.
"We found out through a test, that most of his lower leg had no sensation and movement.
"Some of his upper leg parts have, and he is using his back to cope for the parts that are lacking mobility.
"We are hoping and praying for more developments through therapy.
"But Seth has low immune system, and would easily get sick when he gets too tired... We need more prayers for his immune system to be better, more strength for his therapies, and less ilnesses."
Seth turned two on June 11.
SICK BIRTHDAY BOY
When Wendy and Normann arrived home, Seth was sick.
The little boy was feverish until his birthday celebration.
"He had severe diarhea that made him lose so much weight. No colds this time, just high temperatures.
"He was so weak to celebrate his birthday, but he was happy to be with his family.
"On the 2nd night that he slept beside me, he started feeling better.
"My mom, did a good job taking care of him while we were gone, and he is starting to play more again."
Seth won't be resuming his hip therapy sessions until "he is very much well."
Wendy concluded her post, "This baby boy sings lots of songs at 2, and learns really fast.
"He loves reading books, talks a lot, and crawls fast.
"We are grateful for the abounding grace that the Lord gives us, to be able to go through another year with our Seth."