2. Daily Photos

Lady Kate's Journal 2010

I wish to offer my gratitude to several of the long-standing members of the Daily Photo Community for inadvertently inspiring me to also continue with this project and participate here in this awesome community of multi-talented, inspirational creative artists! My purpose is to continue on with this project as a form of personal journal. Over the last half year or so, (it's now early August, 2010), I've had need to apply more focus in other areas of my life, which is still the case. I won't be posting on a daily basis; my intent is to journal more of the major events, adventures, people and creativities as they perk my life! This gallery begins by going backwards for a while in an attempt to catch up for 2010. Previous to the first image in this gallery, I posted only several 2010 images in my original Daily Photo gallery--which should have been seperated into two different galleries: 2008 and 2009. As it is, there are those two years presented therein. The last entry can be found HERE in "My Task At Hand".
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    May 5 - 10 During his first week in this world, Calix proved to be a real trooper! He had marked improvement with each day! Auntie Kamryn came to visit for the weekend, to meet her nephew, congratulate her brother, and spend Mother's Day with me! We were all relieved when the 72 hr. cooling treatment was over with; it was difficult to watch the baby shiver because he was cold, and at that point, no one was allowed to hold him. Shortly after his temp had been brought to normal, Dad & Mom were allowed to hold him! Also within a day or two of that, he was freed from most of the tubes, electrodes etc. The next task was to encourage his breastfeeding. His feeding would be one of the key reasons for him to be kept in the hospital for a longer period, but he was showing positive signs. Will finish the hospital story hopefully soon! Very quick version: Calix improved on such a daily basis, that he was released to go home sooner than expected!
    May 4 The birth of my first (blood) grandchild!! My son Travis, and his wife Kimberli, became the proud parents of Calix Lee. I was able to experience the priviledge of being with them for the birth, as was Kimberli's mom. As it turned out, the other 'Mom' and I ended up being there to take care of our own babies, when unexpected problems suddenly arose during 'normal' labor. Poor lil' Calix experienced a very traumatic birth; somehow his oxygen was drastically reduced and an emergency C-section was performed. Calix entered this world listless, and not breathing :( It took a staff of 10-12 trained specialists about an hour to get him stabilized enough to move him into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). God, and the universe, had it aligned for Travis and Kimberli to have selected the nearby Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital for this birth. An incredible facility which happens to have one of the top three neonatal units in the country! Because Kimberli was still 'under' anesthesia, I had the blessing of being with Travis when he first got to see, and talk to Calix. It was truly an incredible experience!! When we first walked in (after scrubbing and putting on gowns), Calix was now doing the typical newborn agitation--which we were all VERY glad was happening! Except that the lil' guy couldn't cry because of the tubes. The very instant that Travis touched him, and calmly, lovingly began talking to him, the baby totally calmed and even turned his head in the direction of the voice :) Yes, of course, there were tears running down my face. When the Neonatalogist first talked to Travis, she suggested that Calix would be in NICU for at least two weeks, during which time he would be given many tests and subjected to a Cooling Treatment for the first 72 hrs. The blue mat he is laying on is part of this cooling treatment. It is thermastically controlled to regulate his body temp. For the first 6 six hrs. on the mat, they slowly lower his temp to @ 92 degrees, and it's kept there for the 72 hrs. The treatment is a fairly new procedure; theory being that the body will work harder to repair itself when at these lower temps. At the end of the 72 hrs., they would begin to raise the body temp to normal, over a six hrs. period. I stayed for one week, with most of our time being spent in the hospital and going to and from. It was a very rough week:( However, we are so grateful for medical technologies and the Loma Linda NICU. I told several of the nurses that I think they are angels in human form! We have been told that chances are very high that if they weren't birthing the baby at a facility like this, that we probably wouldn't have a baby:(