All Systems Go!!!

Well, I need to apologize for an extremely late entry. I will post a couple of entries now and then promise to be more timely in the future. First of all, thank you so much to everyone who has been praying. The more I hear from you all, the more humbled we are. I know there are people and churches all over the United States (and one in Tanzania) praying for us. It is amazing that God saw us a fit to be part of His plan in Titus’s life. Thank you so much for all your prayers.

As many of you know, the last week before Titus’s birth was a bit of a whirlwind. On Monday we found out that his bowel issues appeared to be no more. This was great news. We were however, still prepared for a 1 week stay in the baby Intensive Care Unit. The doctors all told us that most Cleft babies are transferred to the unit because of feeding issues and difficulty gaining weight.

Abi started having contractions at around 6pm Wednesday. They were severe and regular enough that we got up at 1am to head to Madison. We called our friend Rachael and she came over to sleep with our kids so we could go. Right before we left, Micah vomited all over her crib. That should have been our sign to stay homeJ She ended up throwing up 2 more times and Rachael treated Micah as one of her own. We are so blessed to have such good friends.

So we got to the hospital around 4am and the triage nurse told Abi that while she was likely in “pre-labor” it was going to be a while. We chose to leave, versus being admitted then and there. We crashed for a couple hours in my car, window shopped for some used cars, ate at the olive garden, and walked about 15 miles through target. At about 6pm we went back to the hospital and they admitted Abi. The contractions intensified, they broke her water at 12am, and Titus was born at 12:53am on Friday morning. I make it sound pretty easy don’t I? Well, Abi was a champ. Her best performance yet. She continues to amaze me with her strength and resolve.

I do have to tell one quick story about the birth. We knew we would get an “on-call” doctor that we had never met because we were going to a large birthing center with many OB docs. Abi was a bit concerned because Dr. Patricia Harrison, from Cherokee Iowa, had delivered all 3 of our prior kids, and she knew Abi and Abi knew her as well. So, in walked a young resident that I recognized. Within a minute we realized that he was Dr. Harrison’s student doctor who had performed two clinical rotations where we lived in little Cherokee Iowa. He knew us and we knew him! He had left Iowa for the residency program in Madison. He was great during the delivery! What a comfort to Abi! God is truly amazing in that he would work all that together for our good.

So…Back to Titus. He was born at a healthy weight. The cleft was present and pretty severe, but the symmetry of it is a positive as it often improves cosmetic outcomes. The three intensive care docs (there as a precaution) quickly left the room after seeing how healthy Titus was. He urinated immediately, which told us his kidneys were working properly. Not long after, he had a bowel movement and that was an answered prayer. His bowels are still working great and Abi and have resolved never to complain when he poops or pees at times that are inconvenient for us. We remind ourselves that it was an answer to prayer!

Abi and Titus were doing so good that they let us leave the hospital in less than 48 hours! What a dramatic change from what we were anticipating.

The following Friday (Feb 13) we came back to the UW’s Children’s Hospital for the cranio-facial clinic. We met with all the specialists (facial surgeon, ENT, oral surgeon, social worker, audiology, speech therapist) and got a lot of info. We also had Titus sized for a mouth appliance that may work to close his cleft a bit prior to surgery. We went back to Madison last Thursday (Feb 19) to get the appliance fitted. We are having some problems with it and may have to go back Monday to see if it can be adjusted. We are also waiting for a letter from the cranio-facial clinic to see when Titus’s lip surgery will be scheduled. It should be within the next couple of months.

At home Titus is doing great. The new mouth appliance has thrown a kink in things currently, but hopefully we can work through that. Otherwise, Titus is eating like a champ and not spitting up and choking on his food (which can be very common for cleft kids). His older brothers, Jon and Noah, are ecstatic to have him home. Micah, at 18 months, is also quite happy, but not so thrilled with sharing the attention of mom and dad.

Now that I have this post written, I will hopefully be more diligent with my updates. We plan on keeping the log going through Titus’s first year of life and the surgeries that will be in it. As always, thanks for your prayer.

In his grip,