Back from Caleb Visit 1.18.2010

We just got back from Caleb's 2pm feeding. He had his ultrasound done this morning and everything looked good. He is up to 17cc today for his feedings, just over a half an ounce. The nurse mentioned that at his 11am feeding he was "rooting" around (looking for something to suck on) so they are giving him his paci more now at feedings so that he associates sucking with his tummy getting full. The staff mentioned they might introduced a bottle here in the next few days!!!

Each day he is more awake and looking around. And such a blessing.

Caleb Update

Morning! Josh and I went to visit Caleb last night at his 8pm feeding. He was up to 14cc for that feeding, and only had less then 1cc left from his 5pm feeding, which the nurse was very happy about.
He was weighed and has gained 1.2ounces, so he is at 2lb 11.5ounces. And has grown .25inches, total of 16inches long!
We are waiting to here results from his ultrasound he had this morning and should hear the results later today. Caleb's IV went bad this morning, and for now they have decided not to replace it. He was on the lowest dose of IV Meds and since he is doing very well with his feedings they did not see the need to replace it in his other foot.

God is SO GOOD!!!! PLease contuine to pray for little Caleb to grow stonger each day.

What's in a Name?

What is in a name? Our first born son was named by Sarah and myself this Tuesday (January 12, 2010). We chose to name him Caleb James Black. A common question already is where his name came from. Clearly, little thought was put in by us on his last name. His first name though... We chose Caleb as his name because we both liked it and it's occurrence in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Caleb took over leading the Isrealites after Joshua. We thought this was a fitting choice as we have talked much of legacy and pray daily over his soul. As for James, I wanted a middle name starting with "J" and Sarah mentioned James not knowing my intention. Sorry there wasn't anything more special in that part. Thus, he became Caleb James Black.

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.

Time to Give Thanks

It is that time of year again... College football is winding down, college basketball is picking up, the air is a little cooler and all of the stores are boasting of their great sales. It's great that to this day, we all pause to join with family and friends to feast and give thanks. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year.

We are moving into our 26th week of pregnancy as our child is 14 inches head to heel. Many of you know of our trials at the beginning of the year, which makes us even more thankful to be expecting to meet this child in March. We are also thankful for our jobs. Though we are in a tough economy, we each have jobs where we are considered valuable employees. Josh continues to await test results from the Professional Engineering Exam, and we look forward to good news on that front. Best of all though, we are thankful for our family and friends who have been so supportive to us and continue to shower us with love and a Father in Heaven who is all about grace. As Paul writes, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We claim faith in the only world's religion that realizes we cannot be perfect and calls us to be saved by the grace of God rather than by our works. We are thankful to live in a country where we can freely worship and thankful to all of those who continue to allow us those freedoms.

Update: We have started our childbirth classes at the Hospital while we continue to get the nursery set up. Sarah has been having back pain and some trouble sleeping, so please be praying for her comfort through out this pregnancy. We also have chosen not to get the swine flu vaccine for Sarah, so please pray for a hedge of protection around her. The picture at the beginning is one of our favorite ultra-sound pictures so far. It shows the feet of our child at 18 weeks. These feet will be blessed to deliver the word of the Lord.

Thank you for being an important part of our lives! Have a blessed Christmas season!

Picking it back up

We live in the information age, right? Ever since getting Blackberry phones, we have realized how much information is out there. With sites like Twitter and Facebook, information available has shot up. People are letting you know when they get up, what they are putting on their sandwich and what they plan to do between now and when they next Twitter. Now, neither of us has gotten that into sharing the aspects of our lives (though I do admit to having a Twitter account, it is more for keeping up with others than for putting up my own info) but we have this nice little blog that can keep others informed.

As you can see, we haven't updated it in a long time. We are approaching the end of the summer of our third wedding anniversary. It has been a fast first three years. A lot has happened. We now have two dogs, Hemi and Coley. Our beloved fish, Lucy, passed on to the big fish bowl in the sky this past winter. I gifted Lucy to Sarah when she first moved into the house to keep her company. We have joined a Life Group at Forest Hill and done life together with people who have become dear friends. Some may know of our struggles this past February and we thank you for your prayers. I have been promoted at work and Sarah has left the Ballantyne YMCA for employment opportunities at UCity YMCA and the Metro YMCA offices. So much has happened, but we have grown and matured as a couple and just begun to realize God's amazing grace over our lives.

Looking forward... We are pumped about starting a new Life Group this fall. We will host meetings at our house and we look forward to meeting new people and forming new friendships. If you are in the UCity area and would like to join, you are more than welcome. Just let us know. Right now the desire of our hearts is for children and we ask for your prayers on this matter as Sarah is in her second trimester of pregnancy. In the mean time, we continue to build a loving home based on a strong marriage built upon the foundations of our personal relationships with Christ.

One year down and our toes in the sand

Neither of us can believe it has already been a year since we stood in front of our friends and family and vowed to have and to hold for the rest of our lives. It has been a great year. So many blessings! To celebrate our first year we planned a little trip down to Sunset Beach, NC. After dropping Hemi off at Mama & Papa Black's house, we headed eastward. We stayed at the Sea Trail Resort. We would reccomend not staying there. We just were not impressed and had some lodging/reservation problems off the bat the first night. Anyways, it all worked out and we enjoyed three days away and at the beach. So while we reapply a layer of cocoa butter, enjoy these photos!