Caleb's 1!!!

We can't believe that it has already been a year and what a roller-coaster ride it has been. A year ago we were making many trips a day to the NICU to visit little Caleb. He was just under 3lbs and now he weighs in at 17lb 15oz and is over 28inches tall.

Caleb has accomplished so much over the past year and endured a good bit too. Just last month, he had a upper GI Scope, a Gastric emptying scan and Ear Tube surgery. All three procedures went well, the scope and scan came back fine and so far no more ear infections! It was a huge blessing that everything went so well, God is good!

We were at the GI 2 weeks ago and since the scan came back fine and he gained a pound in a month, we are starting to wean off of his reflux meds!!!! Praying to be done with daily meds by the end of February!!!!

December Caleb had a good weight gain, (gained 1lb), but he is still not interested in solids. So right now we are being followed by a nutritionist and closely by our pedi. He gets weekly weight checks, and they would like to see him gain at least 1 to 1 1/2lb's per month for a few more months. Since he isn't really interested in solids our main focus/goal is to get him to eat one meal a day of solids and cut 1 bottle out.

Last Tuesday, was Caleb's birthday, and he started to get the courage to let go with both hands when standing. Right now he will stand for about 20seconds all by himself. He is cruising across all of the furniture, crawling up the stairs and everywhere else. And he is trying to crawl on top of things: laundry baskets, activity table, toy baskets!

Caleb has also learned to wave "bye-bye" and also knows the sign for milk. He also knows how to get the disks out of the Wii! Man do we have our hands full :)

Car rides are starting to be a little easier on all of us, Caleb got his big boy carseat for his birthday. Even though he can't be forward facing, he is sitting up and loving it! Can't wait for him to be over 20lbs so we can flip him around.

God has Blessed us so much over the past year and can't wait to see what he has in store for 2011. Please continue to pray for steady weight gain for little man!

Wow Caleb's 11months!

Well Caleb turns 11 months on Saturday! This year has flown by way too fast.

This winter started off with many trips to the doctors, and has been sick with ear infections (on his 3rd one now) and Bronchiolitis. Since Caleb is still not approved for synigis we are having to be very strict on where we take Caleb and who he is around. Caleb's Pediatrician is concerned about him getting sick again with Bronchiolitis, it is a very serious respiratory virus.

But right now the Doctors main concerns is his weight gain. This past Tuesday he weighed in at 16lb 11oz, he just hit the growth charts for his adjusted age (3% for weight). We are meeting with a nutritionist now concerning upping his caloric intake. Caleb had labwork done 2weeks ago to see if anything was abnormal, and causing the low weight gain, those all came back normal. Caleb has gotten better with solids over the past 2weeks, but is still at about 1/4-1/2 of were he should be. We have a follow-up appt with the GI this coming week.

Since Caleb has had a 3rd ear infection within the past month and half we are going to be going to a ENT by the end of the year.

Caleb's NICU book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Caleb: Upper GI Study

Well lots has gone on over the past few weeks. Last Monday Caleb had a projectile spit-up that contained black-specks (almost like coffee grounds). We notified the Pediatrician and called his GI doctor Tuesday morning. We were told not to worry, and that if it happened again to call ASAP. This was confusing to not worry, but act immediately if it happened again.  Over the next day or so, we just weren't feeling great with what the GI office said and since Caleb had not gained any weight since the end of August (not even an ounce) we were ready for a second opinion. The old GI doctor seemed to be pushing off the fact that his weight-gained had slowed and now stopped, and did not seem to take our concerns serious until we brought it up a few times.

Friday morning we went to see a new GI doctor at a new practice and were very happy with her response. She is the type not to over medicate, so we are dropping two of his medications and increasing the dose of one to match his weight appropriately. She also ordered an Upper GI Study for Caleb. What we like most is that she truly wants to find out whats going on rather than aimlessly medicate until it goes away.

Yesterday we took Caleb to CMC-Northeast (formerly Northeast Medical Center) and he had his Upper GI scanned. The staff kept telling us that he was the most well behaved child they had had for this procedure. He just laid their drinking his barium (radioactive drink) watching the screen that showed his insides. The scan only lasted 30min. From what the radiologist could tell he did not see any abnormal structure in his anatomy or signs of reflux.

Right now we are waiting to hear from the GI Doctor about what to do next. Please be praying that Caleb will start gaining weight again and that the Doctors will have guidance as to what tests or treatments need to be conducted to end his large spit-ups and improve his weight gain.  We believe that God is a healing God and we know he has the power to heal him.

Caleb and the Fish Tank

So, we realized pretty early on that Caleb liked fish.  On our last trip to PetSmart to get dog food, we ended up with a 10 gallon fish tank and 7 fish.  Don't worry, we didn't forget the dog food.  Anyways, the fish tank is set up in his room and often provides more entertainment than a TV would.  Even if you mention to Caleb (only 6 months) about his guppies, he will get all fired up.  Him watching the tank has become our new entertainment.  We posted a video below.  Enjoy!

Now I Understand...

July 11, 2010.  Probably not a date many circled on their calendar.  But it is significant to me.  You know why?  Caleb is 6 months old!  I always here, especially around graduation season, parents saying "I remember like it was yesterday when they were 5 years old.  Man they grow up fast!".  Now I understand.

It really is hard to believe it has already been 6 months since we were introduced to Caleb James Black.  That was a crazy, crazy day!  And we have been trough so much with such a small boy in the span of just 6 months, but we have been so richly blessed in those 6 months!  God has made himself known to us through this time, and all of Caleb's accomplishments are at the credit of no other than the maker of everything, our heavenly father.  Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and support.  It has been quite a ride already.

Update: Last time we posted an update we were really struggling with reflux.  That has since improved!  We are not 100% out of the woods, but it has certainly improved.  Thank you for your prayers.  He weighed in two  weeks ago at 13.5 lbs.  We continue to ask for prayers over Caleb, for healing of his reflux as well as his growth and development as we move into the time period where he really makes strides in development (rolling over, crawling, eating, walking, talking).  We pray for our little boy and we pray that each one who has taken time to petition the Father on our behalf for Caleb be blessed as well.  Thank you!

Blackberry Crumble

Yesterday we went to our favorite Blackberry Farm to pick. Summer Berry Farm in Concord, is very family friendly, and best of all they have thorneless bushes with no pesticides. So we get to sample as we pick :) Caleb did very well and was a cool dude with his sunglasses.

We picked a gallon and froze half of the berries to use in smoothies, a few cups in the fridge for munching and the rest went in a blackberry crumble.

Here is the recipe for Blackberry Crumble, I got this recipe at one of my weight watchers meeting and it was for Mixed Berry Crumble, but since we didn't have Raspberries and blueberries, we used all blackberries.

4 Cups blackberries

3/4 cup all-purpose floor

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted

Take floor and sugar, and mix in a bowl. Take 3 tablespoons of the floor mixture, and mix in the berries. Next add the butter to the remaining floor mixture. mix well.

Put berries in a glass 8inch pan. Then take flour mixture and crumble on top of berries. Bake at 350 for 35-40min or until berries are bubbly. serves 8.