??? Questions ??? 2

How did Oceana get her name?

Ocean[i]a is a continental area. It's Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Because it's not a continent - such as Europe or South America - it's a general area. Since I moved here when I was 14, I always thought it was a really cool name. It's been on my "I-wanna-name-my-babies-that" list since I was about 15. It's also the name of a Naval base in Norfolk or Virginia Beach, VA. I lived in Virginia Beach for about six years. We had lots of Navy friends, and so I knew the name of that base. It means "From the sea". I know - duh! We spelled it without the "i" because people who've never seen it try to pronounce it "O-she-an-ee-uh". Ugh. It's pronounced "O-she-an-uh". And not O-see-an-uh either. Her middle name is Faith. I always thought it would be neat to have three daughters and have their middle names be Faith, Grace, and Joy (or Hope... or maybe I'll need to have 4 girls). Also, my youth pastor from high school's name was Carlee Faith. I never said it out loud, but in my heart, she's named after Carlee.

Joshua's a bit different. The day we went for our first scan (before we had any idea what was going on) both Matt and I got a chance to spend out morning praying and seeking God. During that day God gave Matt the name Joshua Matthew. We (again) had no idea what was going on, or even if he was a boy or not.
Matt has always wanted to name a boy Joshua - and tried to name Oceana Brian Joshua, but I didn't want to. Her name would have been Owen Joshua - except that it was the initials O.J. - so that name got kiboshed too. (We went to the hospital hoping it was a girl because we had no boy name!) I was never hot on the name Joshua because there are (no offense!) a GADZILLION Josh's in the world. That's one reason I don't call him Josh. (I'm not offended if you do though). One of Matt's best friends was Josh G., so that's been one of his major reasons in wanting a Joshua. Matthew is - obviously - Matt's name. But he has NEVER wanted to name a baby after him. I've always popped his name into every single boy name (Matthew and Joseph, his middle name). But he always shot them down. Anyways. So, God gave him that name.
We left two hours later for our scan, and found out the devastating news. We were planning not to find out the sex, but when we realized it was a bad situation, we asked. So we got in the car and the first words out of my mouth were, "What's his name?" I needed Joshua to have a name, to be real, to be tangible. Matt said nothing until we got home and then he handed me his notebook with the words boxed off "Joshua Matthew". Below Joshua were the words "Strong and Courageous" (thus the name for our blog - read Joshua chapter 1 if you're curious about this!) and below Matthew was "God's Gift". Matthew means God's gift - and both my boys certainly are. Joshua actually means "Jehovah [God] saves". Perfect name for a perfect boy. And he was Joshua from the on.

What will happen to Joshua that would cause him to pass away? (Ie. He's so healthy now, what's going to happen at the end that will be so bad?)
Most likely Joshua will develop a brain infection. The meninges (membrane) over the cele is extremely thin, and very susceptible to the elements. If any bacteria gets into a scratch, or a scab that opens up (like when he's leaking CSF) he could get an infection. The problem is that, normally the body fights infection pretty well. That's why you get fevers (the body's trying to kill the bacteria) and puss (white blood cells fighting the bacteria). If the body cannot fight infection (either naturally or with antibiotics) it can develop septicemia (an infection of the blood) which is potentially fatal.

But brain infection is different. Brain infection can present as any one of these:
"Meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges—the surrounding 3-layered membranes of the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid it is bathed in, called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
"Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain itself."
Myelitis actually means a spinal cord inflammation."
Abscess is an accumulation of infectious material and offending microorganisms within the CNS." (emedicinehealth.com)

Brain infection moves very quickly. Antibiotics might not even make a difference for Joshua. And quite honestly, it's an inevitable situation. If he doesn't succumb to infection one day, it'll be another day. This is what the doctors have told me. I don't do much reading on it, because I don't really want to know.
And most likely his body will just start to shut down - ie. his breathing and his heart most likely.