Two Weeks Old

In less than three hours little Kaleb will be two weeks old. In reality it seems like he was born two months ago, not only because I barely remember it, but also because he has changed so much. He is really becoming his own little person these days and has a personality all his own. I won't lie and say the last two weeks have been easy, but I think overall we have been very good about being positive and taking it one day at a time and it has really paid off. Of course there were a couple times when the stress of it all became to much to bear that tears were shed, but we let out the emotions that were pent up and hopped back on the positive train. I know Jennifer and I have only been married for eight months and one day, but the strength of our relationship over the last few weeks has really been amazing. We are such a wonderful pair, we both challenge and reinforce in our own ways at the right time and it is really so perfect the way we are matched. I can't be happier to have found such a wonderful partner who has not only helped me get through this difficult time, but has spent countless hours with our teeny tiny baby making sure it got all the love it needed to get better and come home. I am truly grateful for her devotion and could not be more certain about my love for her.

Enough of that sad, sappy stuff though and on to the stuff you really want to read about, Kaleb's progress. Sorry I wasn't able to update yesterday, but it was a busy day and I was tired when I finally got home. We are still on pace to have Kaleb home sometime this week. Yesterday he has gained 35 grams since Thursday morning putting him up around 3lbs 13oz. His tube for feeding has been removed and barring any uncoordinated feedings will remain out. Last night he passed his hearing and car seat test. For the car seat test they put him in his car seat for 90 minutes and make sure he can keep his oxygen saturation up while seated. Today he hasn't had any bad feeding yet, although I think I am up for the six o'clock bottle feeding, wish us luck. Jennifer and I watched a CPR video as part of our checklist of things we need to do before bringing him home.

The other big news of the day was that we officially decided to have him circumcised, which will be happening on Monday morning. We have gone back and forth on this for a while and settled on it just this morning. You see there is a great debate going on about the merits of circumcision. It seems to be a cultural and social tradition, since there aren't many studies showing it has much of a medical benefit. Not having it done increases the chance of some cancers by 10%, but the chance of those cancers in men is so small that it is unimportant. One person in particular helped change our mind, apparently he hadn't been circumcised and at some point in his thirties he needed to be for medical reasons and it pretty much incapacitated him for a month. So we decided if we can do something that will barely effect him now, but will prevent a serious effect later no matter how small the chance we might as well do it. I will let you know how it goes, but the nurse claims the worst part of the operation is restraining there legs, but after that they pretty much don't feel a thing.

Okay I have to get going to the six o'clock. I will have some photos later.

Keeg