Breanna gets to change Jack's diaper for the first time.
A day after he was born, Jack was taken off the ventilator and put on CPAP (a steady flow of pressurized air). His oxygen level remained solid, and the following day he was off of CPAP and breathing completely on his own!
Breanna, after getting the strength needed to be up and walking, participated in her first “hands on” time and change his diaper.
Everyone assured us that setbacks would happen immediately for a baby so small. We expected the first two or three days to be tough. But they weren’t
Thursday proved to be the hardest, probably the anticlimax, the sudden collapse of reality into our consciousness, and a bunch of other reasons. Breanna also had to deal with being in a bed, in a room, on a floor, apart from her baby.
I had the blessings of jet lag, and got up well before the sun to take a peek at Jack. I had mixed emotions looking at the little guy with small tubes and wires running everywhere. Small to me, but they appeared monstrously large on him. It felt strange to even try to talk to him. But I could pray, and probably thousands others were praying for him as well.
He didn’t hit any setbacks. And, through God’s strength, he progressed quicker than we thought.
After getting to see my first, long glimpse of Jack, the doctor told me his weight: 1 pound and 13 ounces.
I went back to the other room and showed Breanna the pictures of her new little man.
Initially, the plan, after checking in on Tuesday, was to monitor Breanna and Jack’s condition and see how things settle. The kids went home with grandparents, and I spent the night with Breanna in the room.
jerry and breanna during the c-section
However, Wednesday morning the doctor and staff were alarmed at the change in conditions between Tuesday and Wednesday. The same symptoms that were noticed on Monday in Nairobi had grown more alarming. The doctor looked at Breanna and said “You’ve reached your time.”
To avoid worrying us, he told us that Jack’s survival would be over 90%. It sounded great to us!
They planned a C-section for later in the afternoon. We called family and told them the news so they could hurry back to the hospital.
So Breanna and I prayed together alone in the room before it became busy. Once again we expressed our complete trust in Him.
After Breanna was prepped, I was allowed in, and stayed the whole time. The staff permitted me to take pictures, as long is they weren’t gory. The anesthesiologist told me to take a quick peek just as Jack was lifted out, and within seconds he was taken into the next door room.
After about five minutes, I did get to go next door and take pictures and the following video of him.