"Hello Earth"

WOW! Where to begin....................

Those of you that know, welcome to the easiest site for updates. Those that don't know, the story starts here.....

I was running from the entrance to Costco to the car on a rainy Thursday night. It was 11:00 pm and I rang my wife, as is our custom when I get out of work. She didn't answer so I figured she was asleep. Boy was I wrong!

Most times my trip home takes 20-30 minutes, so the miracles of the night, and all time until today, just started. My trip took me 15 minutes to get into our community. At that time, she called me to tell me she was sleeping and missed my call. Normally, no big deal, so I began chit chat when she stopped me to tell me she had experienced a "cramp" and was now lightly bleeding into our bathroom toilet.

Being 26 weeks pregnant, we figured I would pick her up and take her to an emergency room, no big deal. The next call, 2 minutes later, as I pulled up to the door to get her, was a tad more frantic. She was REALLY bleeding now and time was of the essence.

I went inside and figured she would be downstairs ready to go and found nobody there. My mind raced into very bad places and I screamed for her. I found my Sister at the top of the stairs (another miracle that she was there) pale faced and my wife in the bathroom, her underwear covered in blood and panic stricken.

We rushed her into the car and down the highway we flew. "Only" 40 minutes to the hospital. I kept a countdown for her as she complained that she had to go to the bathroom the entire way. I am no doctor, but I figured that was not a good plan, given the flow of blood I saw back at the house.

We got to the emergency room right around midnight and she was rushed in. The first nurse examined her and as she lay there in bed, she covered pad after pad with blood. I can safely tell you this was the scariest thing I have ever been a part of. As she turned to me with the worst look in her eyes I have ever seen and managed to whimper "I am loosing the baby," my whole world crashed.

I held her hand as the doctors examined her. I called her family, then mine, then a friend I was on the phone with when she rang in the first time. Word traveled quickly at that time of day apparently as we were the recipient of what can only be described as answered prayers.

The doctor diagnosed her as being fully dilated and fully phased. Quite a shock this early into the pregnancy and VERY shocking given that there were no contractions. At this point there was no choice, this baby was going to be had right here and now. We were given the decision to have a C-section or attempt a vaginal birth.

The doctor apprised us of the pros and cons of both and pretty much told us we had no more than a couple minutes to decide. Seeing that a vaginal birth (my wife's preference all along) may be too traumatic for the baby at this point, we opted for the surgical procedure.

We were rushed into an emergency C-section and mom was a pillar of strength in the face of such adversity. For a woman that fears needles over anything else, she took everything like a champion. The same could not be said for her husband who had his entire body in his throat through the entire procedure.

He was born at 2:01 AM on the 17th of September and let the world know of things to come with 3 short screams before he was surrounded by 5 of the best doctors we could ask for. He was being worked on right there in the same room while Mom was being closed up.

He was moved downstairs into the intensive care unit while Mom was transported into her hospital room for rest and recovery.

I went down to see him a couple hours later and took the photo at the top of the page. I was flanked by the best support in the world in the form of Matt, Tony, and Brandon. We took a couple moments to chat with the lead doctor about what to expect and I heard nothing as I looked past him to take in every single sight of him I could. After all, this might be the only time.

We left and went back to Mom's room to show her photos and take care of her. About 3 hours later, we got a phone call.................

The doctors decided that the hospital we were at (one of the largest in the state) did not have the facilities to properly care for a baby of this size. He was under 2 pounds at birth (900g) and was 13 1/2" long and was going to require more than they could provide.

So the flight team rolled him up, in an incubation unit, to the room so Mom could see him before he took off for the University Hospital. We spent a moment together, with 6 or so total strangers in flight suits, before he headed for the roof. Unfortunately, heavy fog had set in and so they couldn't get the chopper off the roof and so an ambulance ride was in order to get him out of there.

Since then, he has been fighting every single step of the way, to stay alive. He has made tremendous progress so far and has shown a spirit beyond my comprehension.

He is off of forced breathing as I type this (off after 36 hours) and is taking on breast milk. Both of those, as we are being told, are amazing feats that babies in this condition do not undertake so quickly. Miracles DO happen.

Mom is here at our home and is sore, but recovering. Baby is doing great so things are off on the right foot.

This site will be updated with photos and video every day so you can all follow his progress. Check back as you wish and feel free to leave comments.

In all, God is great and has been holding this baby from the start. The road is going to be long and will have its ups and downs, but, so far, everything has been positive. Keep us in your prayers and I promise my writing will get better and better as we go. Mom will write at another time, but her input is included in every posting.

No name has been selected yet, but we are getting closer so at this point we are calling him "little man" or "buddy" or just "baby"

Take care everyone and thank you all so much for your unconditional love and support. We love you all and he does too!