Caleb's Original Due Date

Posted by: Steve

It's so hard to believe that today (March 11) is Caleb's original due date, and yet, somehow, he is already a week old now!

Let's just say this first week has been one like Johanna and I could never have imagined. We have together experienced so many highs and lows during these last 7 days, and our emotions and sleep deprivation have made things all the more interesting.

Some of you already know, many probably don't, but Caleb has had a fairly serious jaundice condition since birth, one that has required daily bloodwork and pediatrician visits since being discharged from the hospital last Thursday evening. His feeding has been quite difficult since being home (we've had to supplement his nursing with bottled formula per the doctor's orders, which we were hoping to stay away from), and he has been in a lethargic state (kind of like his parents) up until about yesterday.

The daily bloodwork has been a series of bilirubin tests (click on the link for more info) in which they perform "heel sticks". The results are measured by levels. Saturday, Caleb was a 15.8, Sunday it went up to 16.9, and yesterday, thankfully, it dropped all the way down to 14.2, and because of that we may be done with bilirubin tests, which would be great. If it had gotten any higher than it was on Sunday, we probably would have had to get him readmitted to the hospital for phototherapy. When it gets up around 19 or 20, it becomes pretty dangerous, and so the doctors were trying to stay ahead of that and use precaution. The other main thing we have had to watch is his weight. His birth weight last Tuesday was 7-13, by Friday it had dropped all the way to 6-13 (which is a bigger drop than normal for newborns), Saturday he was back up to 7-3, and yesterday back down to 7-0. Through it all, we are blown away by the miraculous gift of life that the Lord has allowed us to experience.

Thanks especially to our local friends and family who have been so patient with us...we can't wait to introduce Caleb to you soon, hopefully! For those of you who have been praying for us -- thanks...your prayers mean the world to us. Thanks to those of you who have helped us in some way or have offered. We really appreciate all the generosity and are truly blessed by it.

You'll see the video link. Feel free to check it out...nothing overly exciting necessarily, just little Caleb in action, doing what he does best so far, which is sleep...lol! My sister, Kristin, down in VA, requested video, so this is for you, Kris...and I plan to do more in the future also, when the time permits finally!