Welcome Home Caleb!!

We proudly announce the arrival of our son Caleb William Caplinger! When we went for our first ultrasound in March, our doctor looked and said that once again we had lost our baby. She said the sac was flat, not round, and that there was no heartbeat. She asked us to come back in a week to recheck the ultrasound. In that week many prayers were lifted up. On our next visit we looked in amazement as the doctor showed us a perfectly round sac as well as a heartbeat. Our doctor said this was nothing other than a miracle.

We had been warned early on that Kathy’s back problems could potentially lead to a few months of bed rest. The entire pregnancy went wonderfully, and there was not one day she spent on bed rest.

The week before his arrival, our doctor performed an ultrasound to get an idea of how big he might be. To our amazement, she said it looked as though he was well over 8 pounds. Therefore, we scheduled an induction for the following Tuesday, his original due date. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am on November 7th to begin induction. Kathy labored the entire day and into the night for over 16 hours. At 5:30pm that evening, the nurse said that Caleb was not descending into the birth canal, which probably meant there was some problem, and he would likely need to be delivered by c-section. Just a few minutes later, the nurse checked her again and said it looked like things were better. So, we decided to continue laboring.

After several more hours, Kathy was nearly dilated to 10cm and attempted to push a few times. At 11:30 p.m. the nurse decided to call the doctor because Caleb, though fully dilated, was still not descending. The doctor explained that babies often let us know there is a problem if they do not move down the birth canal. So, we decided to proceed with a c-section. As they wheeled Kathy down the hall, they knew the timing would be close and even jokingly asked if we would rather have an election baby (Nov 7th) or a baby born on Nov 8th? Kathy said, “I don’t care, just get him out safely!”

Earlier in the day, we had decided if surgery was required that we would ask my sister, Leslie, to come into the operating room with us to be with Kathy as Gary followed Caleb. Part of the way through the surgery, Kathy’s body went into medical shock and started shaking and quivering. Caleb was delivered at 11:59pm! Our nurse kept saying, Caleb just had a 30-second birthday! Our amazing baby boy was born 6lbs 13oz and 19¼ inches long. Kathy only received a quick glance of Caleb, through the window in the operating curtain, as they pulled him out. She knew there must be a problem because they were supposed to put him on her chest and allow us a few moments together as a new family, before taking Caleb to the nursery. When Kathy looked to her left she saw that Gary was gone, and she still had yet to hear Caleb cry.

After a series of standard tests, there were some concerns from the NICU nurse present that Caleb’s color was not good and he was having difficulty breathing on his own. The doctor had just explained to us that the reason Caleb had not descended was because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck two times. Gary and Leslie saw that his coloring was white and splotchy. The nurse soon hurried Caleb out of the operating room, and Gary was asked to follow. She attempted to acclimate him in the regular nursery. After introducing oxygen and breathing treatments, however, she saw no immediate improvement and quickly rushed him to the NICU for further care.

On the way to the NICU, as we passed by our waiting family, the doctor told Gary that Kathy was OK and that he should follow Caleb to the NICU. She insisted that she would get the family up to speed on Caleb and Kathy. In the NICU, Gary watched helplessly as they gave Caleb oxygen, a feeding tube, an IV, and ran many other x-rays, bloodwork, and tests on him. He couldn’t help but continue to think of Kathy, as he had last seen her in shock in the operating room.

Leslie was able to accompany Kathy in the recovery room. She knew that Kathy would not be holding or seeing her son for the first time that night. Leslie, Gary, and the L&D nurse decided it would be best to give Kathy some meds to calm her nerves before telling her that she would not get to hold her baby that night. Leslie said that Kathy talked like a little girl as she sat up in bed every few minutes, asking to have her nose powdered before seeing her new baby for the first time. Inside Leslie was dying knowing that would not be the case. Kathy’s nurse said she was going to put some Demerol in her IV. Kathy asked that she not, so she could be awake to hold her baby for the first time. The nurse proceeded, saying it was “normal procedure.” Leslie says that Kathy eventually leaned over to her and whispered, “there is something wrong isn’t there.”

Just about the time the nurse explained about the cord around his neck, the meds were beginning to kick in. We know this because when Gary told her that Caleb was in the NICU and that she would not be holding her baby that night, she responded, that it was fine, she would just see him tomorrow! Anyone who knows Kathy knows that she would never say those things in her right mind, and that she would have gone crazy when told me she would not be seeing Caleb until the following day.

That night, Kathy had to begin pumping for breastmilk every two hours, since she was not able to nurse Caleb. On one of Gary’s many visits to the NICU during the night, he was able to touch Caleb for the first time while he was still connected to many different monitors and a breathing apparatus. That morning Gary and his mother Karen were told they could come to the NICU to see Caleb. Kathy called a little while later, when her mom arrived, and was told that she could come too (though she was not supposed to even be out of bed until late that afternoon)! Kathy’s nurse brought her a wheel chair, and Gary and Kathy headed down the hall to see Caleb and hold him for the first time. By this time, he was off of the breathing machine. The doctor said he would probably be released from the NICU that afternoon, and would hopefully be in our room soon after.

I will never forget looking at him and holding him in my arms. Though nothing had happened like we had planned or expected, finally holding him in our arms made everything right. They wheeled him to our room just after lunchtime. We asked the nursery nurse what we needed to do next, when to feed, change, take him back to the nursery etc. She said, “he is yours now, do what you want!” we looked at each other in shock. One minute he was having trouble merely taking his first breaths, then he was hooked up to every possible thing, and now he was just handed to us looking perfect and he was ours!

We were able to leave the hospital on Friday and were welcomed home by our loving families with balloons and a stork, with Caleb’s name, posted proudly in our yard. Matthew had learned to do jumping jacks and was jumping all around as he anxiously and enthusiastically welcomed Caleb to his new home.