Giving Thanks

On Wednesday I took Blake to see the Hematologist.  We were actually admitted to a children's hospital to have this appointment which took me a little by surprise.  Apparently, Blake has abnormalities in his blood and that is part of why the doctor in Utah was concerned.  The Hematologist confirmed the abnormalities after taking blood from Blake and looking at it under a microscope.  They needed a lot of blood, for other tests, so they took it from a vein instead of from the foot.  This was rather traumatic for both Blake and I.  Once that was done, Lana needed to go to the bathroom so I found the restroom and we waited for our turn to use it.  As we stood outside the bathroom I started talking with a father I had seen earlier, who had a baby the same age as Blake.  He was sympathising with me about Blake having blood drawn when I asked him where his baby girl was.  It was then that he told me that she was in a room down the hall getting her chemo treatment.  I was shocked to think of such a tiny baby needing chemo and what this poor father must be experiencing.  At that moment the bathroom door opened and out came a little girl about Bryant's age.  The girl was bald, had a stint in her chest, and was attached to an IV.  She smiled as she passed and tried to give Lana high five.  I had us quickly use the bathroom and head back to our room, feeling the urge to leave a place with so much sorrow.  The doctor came in a few minutes later and explained that he believed Blake's blood issues would be very minor and would very possibly completely resolve in another month (he said this is not uncommon in African American children).  The doctor also said that if Blake has G6PD, it should not interfere with his living a normal life.  He described it as a very minor blood disorder.  Shortly after this we were able to leave the hospital and head home.  I fought tears as I drove thinking of the wonderful holiday season ahead for us with our four healthy children and the anguish and pain of the families we were leaving at the hospital.  Those families were not worrying about whether their turkey would be fully defrosted in time or whether the pies would be made.  Those families were just trying to make the most of the days they still had with their children.  Tears come to my eyes as I write and I am reminded of just how incredibly God has blessed our family.  It is with a very grateful heart that I can say 'thank you Lord for our beautiful, healthy children'!

Quick medical update

Tomorrow I will be taking Blake to see the hemetologist to have further testing done.  After doing more research on the G6PD it sounds like we would have another child with huge eating restictions but with possibly more serious side effects if there were ever slip ups.  Also a number of common medications would be dangerous for him as well.  We do not know for sure that Blake will have any serious or long term issues at this point.  The doctor should be able to tell us more during the appointment tomorrow.

The kids love their little brother!

Little Blake

Early this morning as I was feeding Blake I was overwhelmed with God's precious gift to us!  Blake is such a blessing to our whole family!  God gave us what I would call an 'easy' baby.  Blake has started to string together 3 hour sleep stretches at night and he is an amazing eater.  The kids can sit and hold him and he appears to love any and all the affection he recieves.  We love our little teddy bear and praise God for such a sweet gift! 

(Kristen, thank you for the adorable snuggle outfit!)

Home

What a joy to have our family all together again!  Today we have been rushing around cleaning and unpacking. 

Picking up with our adoption adventure, Gary drove home last Friday to be with the girls since we had no idea when we would be allowed to bring Blake home.  On Monday I talked with our social worker in CO and she said she thought the paper work would be processed Tuesday or Wednesday and then we could go home.  Based on that information Gary drove back to Utah with the girls on Tuesday.  We stayed the night with our friends and then left for the border of Utah and Colorado.  Our plan was to stay in a hotel if the paperwork did not go through.  We drove for a several hours and it was mid afternoon when we realized we had to make a decision about whether to book a hotel.  I called our social worker in Utah one last time and they got the word (while I was on the phone with them) that we could go home.  God has been so gracious to us in this process.  We are rejoicing to finally have our son and be home.  Again, thank you for all your prayers, we feel very blessed!

WE ARE HOME!!!!

We arrived home late last night!  Things have been crazy and it was a miracle how God worked out for us to leave Utah!  Thank you for all your prayers, I will give details and more pictures later!

Biliruben test today

Blake's Bili numbers have finally come down and he can come off the lights!  We are rejoicing!  He will need more testing later this week, we are hoping to be home by then.

Reassuring the Grandparents

As far as the new baby goes, we are planning responsibly of course.  First of all, we recently bought a pit bull (named "Red Fang") that we are keeping in the house for added security.  Safety first, especially with a new baby!  Also, I have started breeding my pet pythons and anacondas that I keep in the house.  They are all over 20 feet long now, and I figure we can get several hundred baby snakes per year!  This will help support us financially as I have recently quit my full-time job.  With finances in mind, Jamie and I have begun refinishing wood furniture at the house.  The baby's room works out great for this.  It has a wall-size window that keeps the room bathed in direct sunlight most of the day.  This helps us to see our work, and also to quickly dry the spray-on varnish.  We also plan to save some money by not buying a traditional crib.  We will simply put the baby on top of the chest of drawers.  It has a nice 1-inch lip around it, so there is no chance for junior to roll off during the night.  Instead of pricey crib mattresses and sheets, we have come up with a really inexpensive alternative using layers of plastic grocery bags.  They are cheap, comfortable, easily replaced, and are non-toxic, in case the baby wants to chew on them.  Looking ahead a little, we have already lined up some cheap babysitting, too.  Our church has a prison ministry, and we know that the inmates would love to spend some time with an infant - a sort of therapy.  So, each Friday evening, we will drop all the kids off at the local prison and have the evening to ourselves, knowing that they are getting plenty of care and attention.  We figure that as the inmates are released, they will form an inexpensive (and experienced) base of babysitters for our future children, as well as those of other families that we make recommendations to.  Finally, as a surprise for Jamie, I am having a jacuzzi built into the floor in one corner of the baby's room.  Not only will Jamie be thrilled, it will be perfect for junior to crawl over and go swimming whenever he likes - we really want him to be comfortable around water.  So, as you can see, your grandkids will always be well taken care of.  You have nothing to worry about...  ;-)

Enjoying the evening

Here is Blake getting in a nap after dinner, he is resting up for tonight (my little night owl!). 

Conversation with my five year old

Last night I was sitting and visiting with Glenda (the wife of the couple we are staying with) and we were talking about Blake's Hispanic heritage.  Bryant suddenly jumped into the conversation with great concern, 'Oh no, that means when Blake starts talking he will speak Spanish'.  I then had to explain that Blake will learn to speak whatever we speak to him, so unless Bryant was planning on speaking Spanish to Blake, he would be speaking English.

On a very exciting note, Bryant lost his first tooth tonight!  That tooth has been hanging by a thread for days now, we are all glad to see it out!

Doctor's diagnosis

Blake continues to have jaundice.  His bilirubin numbers have been stabilized, but are still high.  Talking with our pediatrician in Utah today we were told to keep Blake on the lights through the weekend.  The doctor believes that Blake has a blood disorder called G6PD deficiency.  It is apparently most prevalent in African American males. This would be a lifelong issue that would be controlled by avoiding certain medications and foods that could trigger this deficiency.  We are just now learning about this and do not know many long term details, but the doctor seems to think it would be something we could control.  We will test Blake for this when we get home.

With Blake still under lights, we are all getting very little sleep at night.  The lights cause dehydration and require him to eat as often as every 2 hours.  Also, Blake hates lying on the phototherepy bed (he has to be naked and not swaddled and the bed is plastic).  We are very ready to go home and are praying that God would speed up the paperwork process and allow us to go home on Saturday.  Somehow it seems like a lot of these issues would be easier if we were home and had our family all together.  We are waiting on God's perfect timing.

Sleepy Blake

What we have been doing

We moved into the house of some friends Sunday, what a huge blessing!  They have a full, finished, furnished basement that we can sleep in.  Blake does not like his lights so I can share a room with him and let Gary and Bryant get some sleep in another room (this would have been a nightmare if we were still in a hotel).  Bryant finally has room to spread out and get rid of some of his pent up wiggles.

Blake's bilirubin numbers were up one more today so we will keep him under lights for at least tonight and tomorrow.  The doctor is running some other tests to rule out any underlying causes for Blake's numbers being so high.  Poor little guy is getting a little dried out from being under the lights so I am needing to increase his feedings to keep him hydrated.

Gary has an abscessed tooth that needed antibiotics to help him hold out until we get back to Colorado (it needs to be pulled).  Thankfully the couple we are staying with had a dentist they could recommend who was willing to see him today and prescribe something.  Along those same lines we had to stop at an urgent care yesterday so I could finally get some help for a sinus infection I could no longer ignore.  God has been gracious in bringing us medical treatment right when we needed it.

We will be in Utah until the paperwork for interstate adoptions is approved.  We need Utah and Colorado to agree to let us bring Blake home.  We have been praying that this would happen soon so we can go home sometime this week, we really miss our girlies.  Thank you grandma for taking such good care of them!  Until then, we are so grateful to be in a house, eating real food, with friends.

Jaundice

When I woke up this morning I was amazed at how suddenly Blake's coloring had changed.  I thought, wow, he is already getting his darker complexion.  When I finally took him into a good light I realized his complexion was actually turning orange.  We went to the hospital for a scheduled test to check his bilirubin and sure enough his numbers had almost doubled since yesterday.  The doctor ordered a phototherepy bed and bili blanket.  He makes a super cute firefly.  Gary and I will take turns staying up with Blake tonight since it was advised we keep him supervised.  We are hoping this process will bring his numbers down and keep them down after tonight.

Another picture

Here is another picture of Blake.  He has Hispanic and Spanish background, but mostly African American.  We have been told his hair will probably curl up and he will not look so fair.  Isn't he gorgeous!  That is all for tonight, I am beat!

Blake Scott Gilchrist

We were finally able to get in to see and hold little Blake tonight.  He's a cute kiddo!  Jamie is staying with him at the hospital, as they have him under special lights to help with jaundice I think.  Or maybe they are just wanting to see if he glows in the dark?  Anyway, we are thrilled, to say the least, and anxious to take him with us.  He may be released from the hospital tomorrow, or they may keep him another day... depending on how well he glows I suppose.  :^)  We will stay in Utah until the state-to-state requirements are met and we are allowed to bring him home.  Hopefully that will happen in the next few days.  We really miss our girls, and can't wait to have the family all together.

Bryant was excited to finally meet "Little Brother", whom we have been praying for as a family for quite some time.  And he wanted to see if Blake was indeed about the size of a football or not.  After giving Blake an exploratory poke, Bryant's comment was, "He's squishy".  Gotta love kids!

We spent a brief time with Mariah (birth mother) this evening.  It was emotional all around.  She loved this little boy, but had no way to keep him.  Please pray for her if you think about it.  This whole thing was very hard for her.  Jamie and I liked her very much, and wished that we could have demonstrated the love of God to her more, but we have been restricted from approaching her unless she initiated.  We have been praying that God would send a Christian friend into her life, and that she would come to know joy and peace in believing.  I do not know if we will ever see her again, but if not in this life, then we sincerely desire to in the next.

As I held little Blake this evening, I was awash once again with the wonder of adoption, and it's part (to our immense benefit!) in God's perfect plan for "summing up all things in Christ".  What a wonderful family we have all been adopted into!  I also felt the sobering weight of responsibility, as I did with each of our children.

Father, grant us grace to be a good parents to little Blake, to love selflessly and wisely, and to point him to You for life.  May he know You and love You more than anything or anyone else.  Thank You for blessing us yet again.

Pictures later today

We will be posting baby's name and pictures after the relinquishment papers are signed this afternoon.  Everything looks really good.  We were not allowed to go to the hospital last night but will be going in later today (maybe earlier if birth momma is up for it).  I keep thinking about what baby will feel like and smell like, I cannot wait to get my hands on him!

HE HAS ARRIVED!!!

Baby was born at 5:17.  He weighs 7 lbs 4 ounces and is 20 inches long.  Apparently, he is super cute!  The call came while we were in Target, it will now be remembered as THE phone call in our family.  We are waiting to hear what the plan is for tonight and whether they want me to stay with him.  Our precious baby is really here!!

A little change

We just heard from the social worker.  Birth momma is very slowly progressing (still only a few centimeters), but her water broke this morning so this baby is coming.  I do not think they actually gave her any pitocin this morning since her water was already broken, sounds like they thought she would progress on her own.  I would imagine they will put her on an epidural and really start into the pitocin if she still is not progressing in the next couple hours. 

Still waiting

I have called our social worker twice today for an update and she has not gotten back to me yet.  We are hoping this means that baby is coming and there is no time for phone calls.  I did talk with our worker last night and she explained that when the baby does arrive the birth mother only wants to hold the baby not feed or change him.  Since this is the case they will probably want me to stay at the hospital and take care of him until the paperwork is signed and he is released.  I am thrilled to possibly be able to hold him during his early hours after birth.  Sounds like I might be sleeping in the waiting room or in a chair in the nursery tonight.  I will try to update as soon as we know more, if I am at the hospital you may get a post from Gary.

A Quiet Day

Because we were not expecting anything to happen today with the baby we decided to visit a Dinosaur museum nearby.  It was wonderfully well done and Bryant had a blast looking and leaping on everything he could.  There was a very realistic set of motorized dinosaurs fighting.  They growled and moved and looked so lifelike I instinctively felt the urge to run away.  We had a really fun day.

Tomorrow morning momma should go in and start having the baby.  I will post as I hear details.  So exciting!

Baby is looking good!

The appointment for momma this afternoon found baby and mother doing well.  We were glad to hear that mother is progressing which would probably have her around 4 centimeters.  If she does not go into labor naturally they will induce Friday morning and I am guessing baby will be arriving this time.  Thank you for all your prayers, we have felt God's gracious hand on us through this past week and appreciate all your encouragements! 

Wednesday morning

Bryant is working away at his math, very loudly, and I am taking a minute to say where we are today.  Gary is working and will be giving a big presentation over the phone later today.  Bryant and I will use the time to catch up on laundry.  I have not heard anything new on the baby/momma front but hope to have some news after her appointment this afternoon. 

On a side note, Bryant was complaining of his teeth hurting yesterday while eating an apple.  I took a peek in his mouth and found that a big tooth was pushing on one of his bottom front baby teeth, yes, that would hurt.  My little man is getting ready to lose his first tooth!

Update Tuesday evening

I spoke with our social worker today and she said the birth mom was feeling much better.  She will go to the doctor tomorrow and get a full work up.  Unless they find something urgent tomorrow they have scheduled baby's momma to go in Friday morning at 6:00 and they will start inducing her again.  We are wondering if Sunday night the mother was already showing signs of sickness and maybe they did not give her much pitocin at all so she could rest.  We still do not know the details of what took place Sunday/Monday and continue to speculate.

This afternoon we drove out to Antelope Island and drove around.  We saw lots of buffalo and enjoyed getting outside a little (it was very cold).

Plans for today

We have not heard any updates on the birth mother this morning and continue to pray safety for her and the baby.  After much consideration and prayer we have decided to stay in Utah until the baby is born.  We could have driven back to Colorado today and maybe been able to stay a couple days before coming back to sign paperwork and pick up baby.  Everyone sounds like they are doing well at home and we really want to be available in case the birth mother or baby would need us before Friday.  This morning will be school for Bryant and I and work for Gary.  This picture is of the view out our hotel window.  The wet is supposed to turn to snow by later today.  Clouds have mostly covered the mountains.