3 weeks old today

A good day. Only 1 brady during a feed. Now 2 lbs 12.3 ounces.

Weekend #2

We varied our visiting schedule this weekend. Kristina and I were both feeling sort of drained by the monotony of the past two weeks. I had to go to work for a few hours on Saturday morning just to make sure I had all my hours for the week, then I went up to the hospital for most of the afternoon. Kristina went home early and mowed the lawn. Yeah. I think she just needed to extinguish some built-up energy. But it might've been a lot easier if she used the self-propelled! Oh well, better workout. Her sister [Krystle] stopped by the house. Then Kristina and I went back on Saturday night to visit for a couple hours.

This morning we went to church. Again, very glad to be there. Sang God Moves In A Mysterious Way and Great is Thy Faithfulness. Timely (thanks, Jason). God has blessed us with a great church family. Pastor Rick preached on The Gospel Advantages of Being Married. We ran home to change, then ate lunch at Moe's right near the hospital. I had the Homewrecker. Mmmm.

We're really not supposed to bother Caleb too much. As much as possible, they want to recreate womb-like conditions. So, I spent most of the afternoon almost finishing (one chapter to go) a book by John Piper entitled God Is The Gospel. When I get a chance, I'll write a review over at Yarbucks. As much as I am learning to love little Caleb, I must remember that he is a gift from God. And thankfully, the book, filled with Scripture, is challenging me to not love the gift more than the Giver.

Anyway, Caleb's up to 2 lbs 11.3 ounces. A few Brady's yesterday and today. We continue to hear good reports from the docs and nurses. Everyone is pleased with his progress for having been born at 28 weeks. But, we are guardedly optimistic. He's got a ways to go and there are still several things that need to finish developing, etc.

So, if you would, please pray that 1) he will grow and put on weight as he needs to, 2) he doesn't get any infections, 3) when he's ready to come home, he won't have to be on a monitor, 4) wisdom for the docs and nurses and others who care for him and 5) his parents get some rest between working and commuting. Thanks!

Ren and Birgitta [Kristina's parents] came by on Saturday.






















Face-plant! Surprisingly, he's already able to pick up and turn his head. Strong little guy. But sometimes he doesn't quite make it all the way around.












Today, Mom and Birgitta with Caleb.












Switched to his side 'cause he kept moving his head.












Dude, look at those pipes! That's my boy.

TGIF

Gained another ounce today...up to 2 lb 11 oz. And he's taking 25 mL feeds with some sizable poops. Hey, at least we know things are working!

But, a few Brady's today. One when I was about to leave at lunchtime. I hate those things. Can't wait 'til he outgrows them.

Well, here's Mom taking Caleb's temp. (Guess you can't keep a good nurse down.)















For the most part he's been resting on his stomach, so a little surprised to see him on his side tonight.












But, back on his tummy before we left.

Just some pics tonight

Wednesday Night Lite

Well, we're pretty tired. Sort of hit us all of the sudden. So a quick post and off to bed.

Caleb's up to 2 lbs 9.3 oz. His birth weight was 2 lb 8 oz then he lost some and now he should steadily gain.

Nana, Grandaddy and Uncle Clay stopped by after church tonight.

Also, found out that the other little boy I mentioned yesterday is doing better. Didn't have to have the surgery yet. We'll continue to pray for him.

Here's Caleb holding his dad's hand tonight.

Leaving Comments & Archives

I have changed the settings to allow for anonymous comments. Now anyone can leave a comment without having to be a registered user of Blogger. At the end of each post you will see text that reads "X comments". Click on that and it will take you to a page where you can write something, then punch in the word verification, and post your comment.

Please note that only so many posts are shown on the main page. If you want to view older posts, there are quick links on the right side menu. Clicking on one of those links will show the post on a page by itself including any comments that folks have left.

Also, all posts are archived by month if you wanted to view them all at once.

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with Caleb.

Guy Night

Finally, I got to hold Caleb tonight on my chest, kangaroo style = skin to skin. 1st time for dad. Very cool. He's had another good day.

We've met another family up there whose baby isn't doing so well. He's going to need an emergency surgery soon and it's not looking very good. Gosh, all this is hard enough even with Caleb's steady progress; we cannot even imagine what they're going through. We prayed that if it be His will, God would heal him and comfort them when we said our bedside prayers tonight.

"Umm, Dad, this tickles."


























The (Little) Thinker.

Just Chuggin' Along

2 weeks old today and the docs and nurses are saying that Caleb's doing very good for his age. Right now he's just sleeping, eating and well, you know. Kristina got to hold him tonight (kangaroo) and he did really well. It helps for them to stay warm and hear the heartbeat, etc.












Resting good after being held by mommy.












Uncle Kris (Kristina's brother) stopped by yesterday.















Umm, I'm not sure how to comment on this one.

Building Up One Another

Kristina and I went back to church this morning. It was great to be there. God has been good in providing much encouragement and love towards us through his people. Also, Pastor Rick prayed for Caleb and that certainly meant a lot.

It was good to worship God together. One of the songs we sang today was Amazing Grace (Thanks, Jeff). It was difficult to hold back my emotions as we sang the verse "Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come, 'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." God has indeed been gracious to us as we have started down this path.

Well, then we went home to grab a quick bite to eat and then back up to see our boy. He had a pretty good day. Only a couple of Brady's. He was pretty active and opened his eyes wide, especially when mommy was holding him. We both felt kind of drained tonight so we came on home around 6PM to rest up as we head into another week.

What a smile!

First Bath...

...well, first bath by mom anyway. He's bathed on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Pretty good day, but he's had four bradycardias. That's when the heart rate drops. It's kind of scary with the alarm going off and getting him to breath correctly. We're just clinging to what the docs and nurses have been telling us, that this is to be expected at this age. Another factor is that they have taken him off of the nasal canula. He's seems to be doing pretty good to be breathing on his own.

We varied our visiting schedule on the weekends, otherwise it gets to be too much. During the week, Kristina goes down there between 9 and 10 AM and then I stop by at lunchtime for a while. Kristina comes home in the afternoons at the 230 shiftchange, then we both go back at night after the 630 to 730 shiftchange and stay until 10 or 1030. Today we spent most of the late morning and afternoon there. Tomorrow we're planning to go to church and then will go see him immediately after grabbing a quick lunch.

O.k., o.k. here's the pics...

"Gee, Dad, could you cut it out with the flashy thing!?!"












"Woohoo! Mom, that's kind of cooooold."

A Transistion

They moved Caleb over to a different part of the NICU. It seemed a little chaotic at first and so it was a little unnerving for us. We felt like it was a little too soon to be moving him to the other area. I think it was harder on us because we had become so familiar with where he was. But, this is sort of a step-down area, which actually is a good thing.

We felt a lot better last night when we went back. Kristina got to hold him and he was resting and feeding well. They say he's doing good for his age. His weight is about the same as Thursday, but he is up to 22 mL on the feeds. He is also off the nasal canula (sp?) and is breathing room air.

Ren [Kristina's dad] visited with Caleb Friday morning.

Fathers and Sons

Caleb had a good day. He's resting well and doing great on his feeds. He's already taking 21mL of milk. That's a lot for a little guy. And he's up to 2 lbs and 7.2 ounces. That's very close to getting back to his birth weight. Encouraging indeed. Kristina held him again for a while today and I got to hold him tonight. He had his cool little ski cap on. We pray for many more days like this one.

Grandaddy came by tonight after church orchestra practice. We finally got a three generation pic!












Father and son...












...and mommy too.












Gettin' ready to hit the slopes!

Politician and a Baby

Chris' mom, dad and brother [Clay] stopped by after church tonight to see Caleb. He's doing good. Resting well and talking more milk.

Uncle Clay (who is running for the Jacksonville City Council in District 1 and you can view his campaign website here).












Nana.












Grandaddy.












Caleb was holding Kristina's hand, well, finger tonight just before we said good night prayers.












These past 10 days have strongly reiterated to me the great dependence I have on God's word.

I was reminded of that again today as I read the following verses in Psalm 19:

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

Tuesday

After getting a little too cold last night, he seems to be resting a lot better today. Not nearly as fidgity. He did have a couple of Brady's, but again that is to be expected. He keeps going up on his milk with less residual, and his weight went back up from a slight loss yesterday.

Aunt Chel [Chris' sister] paid Caleb and mom a visit this morning.












Just chillin'.

Hard to Leave Tonight

Hard to believe, Caleb's one week old today!

Each night it gets more difficult to leave him at the hospital. Today he had a couple of Brady's (bradycardia), and one while I [Chris] was holding him. Not fun, to say the least. He hasn't had one of those in a few days, but the doctor did warn us yesterday that this was to be expected. His temperature was also a little low, but was coming up and near normal when we left.

I did get to see him crack a smile for the first time tonight. That made it a little easier.

Anyway, here's mommy holding Caleb this afternoon.