The Ride of Life!

Happy Friday!

So, we have had a CARZY last week. It all started last Friday (January 8th, 2010) night when Sarah noticed more swelling than usual. Due to a history of high blood pressure we have a blood pressure cuff at home. It tested to be 170/117. She called the doctor on-call and he told her to lay down for the night and call in the morning if it was still high. (neither of us are happy about those instructions) The next morning her blood pressure tested at 175/115. We then called the doctor on-call (a different one was on-call). He instructed her to go to the maternity ward at the hospital to get checked out. The doctor conclude on Saturday that it was a reaggrivation of her previous high blood pressure. He prescribed medication and sent her home to take it easy for the remainder of the weekend.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon. Sarah’s blood pressure was still very high (165/112) at noon when she left work for the day. I asked her to give me peace of mind and call the doctor once more for verification that it was acceptable. The doctor was not pleased with the maintained levels and asked her to come in once again. Our good friend and neighbor drove her to the hospital where I met her straight from work a little after 4pm.

The doctor on-call at this point was Sarah’s doctor from her OB practice. This made us very happy. He was not pleased with Sarah’s blood pressure and given her symptoms, he diagnosed her with preeclampsia. From what I recall, the cure for this is to deliver. The risks involved are stress on the baby, continued stress on Sarah and an increased risk of seizures for Sarah. At about 5:30, the doctor admitted Sarah for monitoring of her and the baby. He speculated she could be induced on Wednesday. As the evening progressed, and Sarah’s blood pressure remained high, the doctor became more concerned. Around 7pm he began to speak about a c-section. He said that he was concerned about the baby’s lung development due to him being only 32 weeks along. He gave her a dose of steroids to help with the baby’s lung development. Doses needed to be separated by 24 hours and he wanted her to get two doses for the best effect. This concluded we were looking at a c-section on Wednesday morning. However, Sarah began having consistent contractions was dilated and the baby’s heart beat was at a good rate, but flat. It was also apparent he was not reacting well to contractions. At 9:30pm, the doctor stated we were having a c-section birth at 10pm.

At 10:32, we smiled at the sound of a crying baby. He weighed in at 2 pounds 13 ounces and measured 15.75 inches long. Oh yeah, I said “he”. Haha, that was a funny one. I sat at Sarah’s head keeping her company through the procedure and the doctor told me “Dad, why don’t you go see what you have over there”. So I went and smiled ear to ear. I stood there a moment soaking it in. I was brought back to when the doctor said “Dad, why don’t you let mom know what you have”. That was when we finally got to breath some relief for the first time in 6.5 hours as I told her she had just delivered our son.

That night we got to see him in the NICU on our way back to the room. I got to go visit him before sleeping that night and settled down to sleep at 2am. On Tuesday, Sarah got to hold him for the first time. She did what they call “kangaroo” where she holds him skin-to-skin on her chest. Tuesday afternoon we named him Caleb James Black. She then got to hold him on Wednesday and I got to kangaroo him. That was the most amazing thing ever. He was curled up against my chest. This was the first time he had both eyes opened. He looked right at me. I really cannot explain it, but can tell you it was so amazing. He was on a CPAP machine to help him with breathing the first night and at 12 hours old was downgraded to just oxygen. By the time he was 24 hours old, he was taken off of oxygen and breathing on his own! We were so excited by this because at 32 weeks his lungs shouldn’t be that strong. Wednesday Sarah got unhooked from everything and treked down to see Caleb on her own by foot at 4am. He has cleared so many hurdles. On Wednesday afternoon, they said his jaundice was bad enough to need a “billy blanket” (light to help his levels).

Sarah was released on Thursday afternoon. We stuck around for one last feeding before going home for the night. As it stands now, Sarah is doing well, spare some expected pain. She is doing great though and I am so proud of her for how she tackled the whole situation. Caleb is doing great. He is still on the billy blanket, but levels seem to be improving. He is having a central line installed today to keep them from having to move his IV around every 36 hours. It seems as though he is beating all odds and doing better than expected by even the doctors and nurses. He is truly blessed and a product of much prayer. Thank you. Monday was a very emotional ride, but your prayers were felt. It is clear the doctor made the right decision and the symptoms helped him to make a decision confidently. We continue to ask for prayers as he remains in the hospital and we are at home. We ask specifically for prayers in his growth and development, the doctor’s and nurse’s decisions, Sarah’s recovery and our coping with separation from him. Also, join us in giving praise to our heavenly father for all of the blessings in just this past week! He is so awesome and worthy of so much praise. They say he could go home in just a few weeks! We can visit him 22 out 24 hours every day and the staff is great there. Thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do. Many of you have asked what can be done to help. At this point meals is the biggest help. Our great friend and neighbor Jennifer Deboer is coordinating our meals. She is so awesome! Please let her know if you are interested in helping by emailing her at jenndeboer@gmail.com. You can check out all of the latest pictures here.

Thank you for your care and interest. May the Lord bless you for all you have done for us. Keep checking back for more updates as Caleb continues to clear hurdles placed in front of him.