Each Day is a Blessing

Kelson has blown past the 48 hour mark, and now passed 72 hrs and counting. It's hard to believe the time that has gone by. Sometimes it seems like just hours ago he born, and other times it feels like we have been here for an eternity. We were able to get some solid rest last night, which was much needed. The day started out about the same, his fluid drainage tubes were changed again. They were able to manually pull off over 40 mL from one lung, so that had to be a big relief for Kelson. After breakfast, we went back to see him and they were in the process of taking a stomach xray to determine how much fluid/air there was still in his abdominal cavity. While they had his isolate open for the xray, the nurse said we could touch him and give him a kiss. He was very alert, and had his eyes open for quite a while. The nurse let Krista wipe his eyes and mouth, and assist with the diaper change. These simple moments were the highlight of our day. It may not have been much, but it was nice to feel helpful and needed. Tomorrow we have the same nurse, so we will get to assist her again. The day remainder of the day was so full of visitors we almost forgot to eat. My cousin Sherri was in town from Colorado to run the champaign marathon, so she popped in for a visit. We also had a visit from "Nurse Becky", who works at GAH, and her parents. Becky is Kristas cousin. She took care of us when Claire was born, and took care of Krista following the c-section. We also had a visit from Audrey Angus, who brought us a big bag of supplies (extra toothbrushes, razors, etc). Kelsons big sister Claire was here today too, along with all 4 of his grandparents, his Uncle Kirk, and Kenneth, Kathi, and Kara. We had to give up the room we had been sleeping in at the hospital, and have moved across the street to the Carle Auxillary Guest House. It is a great place, but it was hard to leave tonight. Even though we can see the hospital from our window, it feels like we are miles away from Kelson. As for Kelsons health, there still have not been any major changes. They continue to drain fluid, and there is less swelling. The biggest issue being delt with is metabolic balance. For example: his blood ph has been low, so they give him sodium bicarbonate to help reduce it, which then raises his sodium level, so they have to administer another drug to counteract that. He has been on high levels of dextrose for energy and nutrients, which raises his blood sugar, so they have to give insulin to counteract that...and so on and so forth. Tonight they will check his blood every 3 hours, and continually make adjustments to his medications. We have had the same night nurse for three nights in a row, and she says she is seeing improvement. It is hard for Krista and I to notice the improvements when we see him almost every hour. I will be excited to go see him in the morning, since we are sleeping away from him tonight. Thanks again to everyone who has taken time out of your day to read this. We know Kelson has people all over the world praying and cheering him on, and we cannot express how much that means to us.

Kelson's progress

Today has been a busy day, and we are quite overwhelmed at the support we are receiving. Kelson had a restful night. They had to clean out his chest tubes this morning, because they had gotten blocked. The staff is impressed that every time they stimulate him, or do procedures, his blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen levels stay strong. Normally this type of activity will cause changes in blood pressure, etc. Each chest x-ray shows that the amount of fluid on his lungs is being reduced, so the drains and meds appear to be helping. This morning we had a great visit from two of my co-workers, Roen and Paul. Paul had twin girls in the ICU a few years back, so he has been a great support. Kirk brought us pizza for lunch and was able to meet his nephew for the first time. We also enjoyed a visit from college friend Emily Morehouse, along with a vist from Ron and Sharon Monroe. Ron is cousin of Kristas, and Sharon is the Pastor at Mansfield United Methodist. Sharon brought some items that members of her church had prayed over, including a hat for Kelson. We were able to put the hat in Kelsons isolate, so it is close to him. My parents were able to be back again today, and Kristas parents brought Claire so we could spend some time with her. I cannot begin to explain the wave of emotion I felt getting to hold Claire for the first time since this happened. Even though she cannot fully understand what is going on, she can sense the fear and sadness around her. She is being a real trooper. My parents took her home with them for a night or two. We were also happy to have a visit from John Todd, and Kristas cousin Kara. I wish I had more to update on Kelsons status, but at this point, no news is good news. Today we surpassed the 48 hour mark from the time he was born, so that was a big milestone. He is remaining stable, resting, and gaining strength. Krista is doing remarkable. It is hard to believe she just had surgery. Krista and I cherish each person who has read this blog, and lifted our family up in prayer. The comments, facebook posts, texts, and calls are helping give us strength and keep us full of hope. We are truly blessed!

Kelson Ray Kuipers

As most of you know, Krista and I were expecting the arrival of a son around June 28. Little did we know, God had different plans. Last weekend, Krista had noticed the little "kick boxer" wasn't moving as much as he had been the past several weeks. Although the doctor wasn't too concerned, she advised Krista to have a "non-stress test" to measure the baby's activity, and put our worrying minds at ease. On Wednesday April 25, we went to the OB department at Gibson City Area Hospital (GAH) for the test. The baby's heartbeat was strong, but activity was not. This was followed by an ultrasound. As the tech was finishing the test, our doctor, Dr. Austman had arrived. I knew immediately by the look on her face that she was concerned. We were told that the baby had fluid on his lungs, and we could potentially need a c-section soon, even though the baby was only 31 weeks. The started Krista on an IV, and started administering steroids for the baby's lungs. The remainder of the day is kinda a blur. The nurses began moving much more rapidly. I called Kristas parents, and my parents, so that everyone could be on standby. We were then notified that the neo-natal team from Carle was being flown in, and Krista was being prepped for surgerry. I was able to scrub in, to be by Kritas side during the surgery. I had just enough time to call our pastor, Liz, and send our parents a frantic text message. The moment the Carle team was in place, the GAH team began the c-section. The baby was delivered, and taken next door where the Carle team began working on him. I was able to meet my son, Kelson Ray, and squeeze his hand. He was very purple, and incredibly swollen. There were people everywhere so I sat in a chair just within view, but out of the way. Things got pretty scary, so I was able to have Pastor Liz come sit with me and pray. I needed someone strong to help me stay calm. The main flight nurse was acting frustrated, so she made a phone call to get another opinion. I heard her say "ok, I'll try" and hung up the phone. Whatever advice she was given on the phone apparently worked. She had been able to release some fluid off of Kelsons lungs, and his heart rate started to rise....hope. I went back to give Krista an update. It still amazes me how strong she was throughout this entire process. After all she had just went through, she had yet to shed a tear and just kept smiling that beautiful smile. The got Krista cleaned up, and wheeled her to recovery. The plan was to pack Kelson up in the portable incubator, and roll him down for Krista to see. However, after putting him in the incubator, his stats started to drop and he was back on the table getting chest compressions. They sent a wheelchair, along with three strong male paramedics, down the hallway to get Krista, since she was still numbed from the surgery. Krista was able to meet Kelson, just before they packed him up the second time into the incubator. Kelson was then taken to the helicopter and airlifted to Carle. I am amazed at how well the medical staff from both hospitals worked so calmly and efficiently. The cooperation, consideration, and compassion from everyone involved was truly inspiring. I will be forever telling the doctors and nurses "Thank You". I was able to get dressed, and spend a few minutes with Krista, before leaving to go be with Kelson. I hated to leave her, but her parents, brother, and "sister" Ria were there to take care of her. I needed to be with our son. Pastor Liz was able to drive me to champaign, which was a great help. Once I arrived at Carle, I was met by our dear friend Amy Rademaker. Amy was able to guide me to the NICU. My parents, and another great friend Marla were waiting there. I was able to go back to the restricted area, and taken to a room to meet with the Doctor. The doctor said a lot, but I really only heard two things...he is stable, but critical. That was all I needed to hear. Kelson was alive so there was still hope. I was able to go back and see him, hold his hand, and let him know I was there. They had to do some major work, so I then had to go back to the waiting room. I suddenly realized I had not even had anything to drink since about 10:30 am. It was almost 5 pm, the previous 6+ hours had seemed like an hour at most. I drank some water, and was brought a bowl of soup. About an hour later, my parents, and I went back to see Kelson. The nurse explained everything that they had done. He was still very swollen, but when I compared it to the picture I took at GAH, it was obvious he had made huge progress. Kristas Mom, Dad, and Brother came, and I was able to take her parents back to meet their grandson. After spending some more time in the waiting room, it was decided that my mom would stay with me at Carle, and Kristas mom would go back to GAH to spend the night with her. Kristas Aunt Kathi and Uncle Kenneth came and were able to go get me some food to have overnight. I didn't really sleep, but was able to get a little rest overnight. Today, thursday, has been long, but good. We learned that Kelson has a syndrome known as HYDROPS, which means he has excessive fluid and swelling all throughout his body. The cause of this is still unknown. He remains steady, which is a good sign. Krista was released from GAH at about 2PM. It was rough on her to see Kelson, but she is staying strong. We were able to have Pastor Liz do a baptism, and pray for God to continue to give Kelson the strength to fight. The staff here at Carle has been amazing as well. We are getting to stay in a private room within about 20 steps of Kelsons bed. Krista has been asleep for about an hour, and I am going to join her soon. I know this has been a long rambling, but I wanted to answer everyone's questions. Kelson is critical, and just needs to rest and gain as much strength as possible. I will continue to provide everyone with updates on here as we get them. Feel free to call or text...but most importantly, Pray. Thank you to all for the support!

20 weeks....almost

We're halfway there! Halfway to meeting baby #2 that is! The word has been out for a few months now but since we know what to expect this time around we haven't had as much to share. We had an ultrasound right before Christmas because the little booger wouldn't cooperate for us to hear a heartbeat. We did get to see the heartbeat though and Claire got to see the picture on the computer screen. She wanted to hold the baby! I was back to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and there was a nice strong heartbeat so no worries!

I'm finally feeling pretty good. I'm not nearly as tired as I was until about 18 weeks. I'm starting to feel some movement and have had more discomfort in my stomach this go around. The doctor chalks it up to this being my second pregnancy and carrying around a 2 year old doesn't help.

Claire is very excited to be a big sister. She calls this baby "Shout" after a character on one of her favorite tv shows and we've run with it. She's convinced it's a boy and I'm pretty sure she's going to be ticked if it's a girl and if we don't name it shout. She thinks she can touch the baby if she puts her finger in my belly button and likes to give my belly kisses, especially if she bumps in to it. Every morning I tell her to be a good girl and she responds with "be a good mommy. be a good shout"

I go back to the doctor in a couple of weeks and on March 12th we head back for another ultrasound. Hopefully he/she will be cooperative and we can find out if he/she is a he or a she!

Pre-School Screening

Today was a big day for Claire. She got to go to "Practice School". Most normal people call it pre-school screening but Claire was so excited to go to school that I had to explain to her that it was just for 1 hour and not every day. Plus, we didn't go to a school, we went to a church.

Claire was scheduled at the same time as her friend Alex which worked out nicely since Alex's little brother had a "screening" of his own. Everything was play based and there were about 5 ladies sitting around watching them play and taking notes. There was one girl that played with the kids and encouraged them to try out the different activities.

Some of the activities included identifying animals, colors, shapes and food. She did a good job hopping through the rings, kicking a ball, pedaling the bike and throwing the ball. She struggled a bit with the scissors but we don't let her have scissors so that didn't surprise me. She also did a good job interacting with the other kids, being polite, following directions and asking questions back to the teacher.

Needless to say, Trever and I were both very proud of how well she did. But, we're a little bummed that she most likely won't get in to the public school program. There is a private nursery school in the area that is an option for us and Claire and I might go check it out at the end of the month.

Piglets, Goats & Birthdays...OH MY!

On January 20th we packed up and headed to Ohio to celebrate some very special birthdays. Friday night we headed out with Aunt Kyla to do some evening chores. Claire was very excited to hold a baby pig!

She really enjoyed the goats too, but we definately don't need any of those at our house.

She and Maddi are best buds! Until one of them has something the other one wants.

The real reason we went out was for Mr. Kempton's 1st birthday! His mommy really went above and beyond with the birthday cake!

And Kempton REALLY got in to his cake! It tasted awesome so I don't blame him at all!

After getting hosed off he got to try out his new toy! Isn't he too stinkin' cute!?!

A snowy weekend

A few weeks ago, in early January, we finally had some snow. Claire couldn't have been more excited to play in it! Luckily, Saturday morning the weather was beautiful and it wasn't so cold we didn't want to play with her.

There are lots of pictures on facebook if you want to see more!