Today was a very full day between tons of meetings and orientation at Boston Children’s for Kaleb and non-stop post-partum follow-ups and meetings for Brittany at Brigham & Women’s, but God sustained us through it all. We’re both committed to taking this journey one day at a time, and leaving the rest in the Lord’s hands. That’s enabled us to not get too overwhelmed by wonderings of the future and instead focus on our tasks at hand and the opportunities God’s laying before us to trust Him, praise Him, and glorify Him.

“The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Labor and Delivery

God met us in some extraordinary ways during labor and delivery of Kaleb. We don’t want to forget these unexpected mercies. They encourage our faith in the midst of so many new unknowns and challenges. Our Father carries us, provides for us, guards us, and loves us so specifically.

⁃ Brittany had the best L&D nurse we could've asked for–a veteran and advocate who cared for all of us so peacefully and thoughtfully throughout the labor and delivery

⁃ A relaxed labor and quick delivery

⁃ There originally had been talk about Brittany needing to transfer to the OR to deliver (so there would be more room for the teams of people needed at Kaleb’s birth), but they decided instead that she could deliver in the same room she labored, which meant she could transition seamlessly into pushing without having to be moved.

⁃ Our nurse made it possible for Brittany’s mom and sisters to join us in the delivery room when she had Kaleb–an unexpected gift she’ll treasure!

⁃ An amazing church family who took care of Zion and River all day and night

Kaleb’s Heart (Medical Update)

We have only been met with wonderful kind doctors, nurses, and staff who have been great in caring and communicating clearly with us.

Day 1 was a wonky day for Kaleb, we discovered this morning (October 4th) that immediately after birth he was not doing well overall, worse than the doctors anticipated. In their words he is very unwell. They had been constantly trying to stabilize his vitals (low blood pressure, low heart rate, low oxygen) and reduce spiking lactic acid in his body. Overnight they decided to give him a blood transfusion and antibiotic’s as it seemed at some point along the way in the womb or birthing process had blood loss and had an infection in his system. They also decided to give him more sedation and a muscle relaxer easing things a bit more for his body to rest.

Today has been a much more stable  (with intervention) day for Kaleb.

There are a few things getting better: his skin color looks good, his blood pressure and heart are more normal and stable, his high lactic acid dropped significantly. The lactic acid continues to fluctuate right around 3 and 4 but it still needs to come down to 2 or less before they can start feeding him breast milk (hopefully in the next 24 hours).

Kaleb’s heart is still his main issue, it really affects all of these things. They have confirmed all their findings that were on the pre-natal ultrasound. He has Atrial Septal Defect (1 large and 1 small whole in the Atrium wall the divides the left and right ventricles). And both valves right and left have defects causing the back-flow of his blood. They have been giving lots of medications/supplemental care to help stabilize the flow to make sure he is getting adequate amounts of oxygenated blood out to his organs.

We have seen many specialist today (genetics, cardio, neurologist, and neonatologist) come by to see Kaleb and discuss his condition as they work on putting the pieces together. They sent off Brittany's cord blood for genetics testing but it could take up to 2 weeks (that's expedited) before it comes back.

Hopefully in the next 48-hours they will begin to slowly bring him off the muscle relaxer, sedation, and ventilator.

4 Immediate Prayer Requests:

1. Decrease in lactic acid levels

2. More urine, less fluid build up.

3. Left side of his heart to pump stronger

4. Smooth Transitions off muscle relaxer, sedation, and ventilator well

Our Hearts

Overall, we are doing remarkably well. Exhausted, yes. Emotional, yes. Overwhelmed, yes. But still finding grace at hand each step of the way. It is extremely difficult to feel so distant from your newborn baby. Brittany compared it to running a marathon (giving birth) and not being to embrace your prize at the end. That is the struggle. But we’re learning that the path towards joy is found in staying our minds on the unchanging goodness of God, in the good boundary lines He’s placed around us, and in the good gifts He’s placing before us.

Please pray for continued grace to stay our hearts there.

Thank you for praying.

You all have done so much, we are so humbled and grateful.