Caelan James Perry pictures

Caelan James Perry; July 1, 2008 at 1053 pm;

5 pounds 9 ounces; 19"

Minutes after he was born





A couple of hours later in NICU. He had a collapsed left lung- pretty pink though! The thing on his face is a CPAP- just like what adults with sleep apnea wear- so that is no big deal... everything else looks bad but isn't- mostly monitoring stuff.

Barbara (birth mother) and her mom

This is Tom Bonhoerst- he is the social worker with Catholic Human Services that we have been working with for 9 months- awesome guy! We're in NICU just watching Caelan.

Hey Little Guy! I love this cause his eyes are open! This was around 3pm on Wednesday July 2nd. We had gotten a call around 3am (right after we went to bed the night he was born)- they had put in a chest tube for the collapsed lung and intubated and put him on a vent to put medicine straight into his lungs- they told us he would be on that for 24-48 hours. NOPE! Not our little guy- he was off that in less than 10 hours- that's my boy! So these are from a couple hours after that- you can see his face now! He is only on a nasal canula for oxygen now- the chest tube is still in though.

This one was taken in night mode- we can't use a flash in NICU. The color ones simply have the flash turned off... but it still shines light in his eyes as it focuses... too much stimulus is not good for preemies so we do some of them in night mode. It is easier to get him with eyes open too.

These were also after his diaper change- I got to do it! It was that gooey, tarry, sticky stuff- meconium. It was cool though to be able to take care of him.... the nurse will let us do whatever we are comfortable with... I told her I will do WHATEVER she will let me do! I just don't want to cross any boundaries. So I took his temp, relocated his pulse monitor, changed him a couple of times. The challenging part is doing those things through the little holes on the sides of the incubator... and then around all the wires. Awesome though! He did NOT like having a dirty diaper! Once that was taken care of- he settled down and then just laid there looking around. I could sit and just watch him forever- and I love seeing his eyes open!

Because of the things he has been dealing with... he hasn't eaten by bottle. Once all of this thing with his lung settles down, they will work on his feeding. Right now it is just through a little tube in his nose. So... he has to graduate out of the chest tube and into feeding class! Once he can eat, I am sure we can go home. Hopefully no more than a week.

So that is the latest in our little world... our son is only 28 hours old right now. Wow. Can't wait to see him tomorrow.. cant wait to HOLD him!

Thank you all for the continuous prayers and support! We love you all and blessings to you!

****** REMEMBER**** Clicking on the picture should open it to a full size on your screen!**

Pictures

ok.... just tried to post and got an error message... I need to get up to the hospital so I dont have time right now to focus on that... sorry! Love everyone much!

Caelan James Perry

He's here! July 1st at 1053 pm; he is 5 pounds 9 ounces; BEAUTIFUL! It was such an amazing moment- beyond what I can express- and since it is currently 2am, it has been a LONG day- we are exhausted- I will put up the extra details later. He is in ICU as we expected- he is having a problem with his left lung- air around it (pneumothorax) and the lung collapsed. They are watching it tonight- trying to avoid a chest tube; they gave him some meds to keep him relaxed to get through it. Barbara was amazing and she is doing really well. Thanks for all of the support and prayers!
amanda, matt & caelan

Oh Baby!

Well... some of you know by now... they are inducing Barbara in the morning at 7:30. Her doctor had called and the baby had lost weight from the 32 week sono to the 35 week sono (the one we had last week). So he will be 4 weeks early and will go straight to the NICU- we are more than ok with everything, just so much so fast! I will continue to update here as things occur- I will be there with her through labor and delivery so I may not even be home for a couple of days much less on line. Please keep them both in your prayers! We're gonna be parents!!! TOMORROW!!!

Ultrasound

I went with Barbara to her ultrasound appointment this afternoon- it was so cool! I have a couple of printouts- one of his face (I have a hard time seeing that) and the other is a shot of his foot- it was so cute, he was wiggling his toes! I will have to get Matt to scan them into the computer so I can post it. She also had a non-stress test- they hook Barbara up to the fetal monitors like they use in labor and they watch his heart rate while she just lays there and what his heart does when he becomes active- everything was normal today; they do want her to have a non stress test twice a week though. The only thing that has been mentioned is that he is "small" So is Barbara though- there are no real concerns. He is currently 4 pounds 5 ounces according to the ultrasound- that can be off as much as ten ounces though. His femur is 6 and a half centimeters long- someone do the math for me to figure out about how long that makes him please. I could see all the organs- his heart (cool), liver, kidneys, stomach; his spine was quite obvious too. He is already head down- just waiting! Thanks Barbara for the great afternoon!

Beach Bums Game

We have started the tradition of taking Samuel to the Beach Bums baseball game at the beginning of each season- the Beach Bums are only in their 2nd year here but have become a really big part of Traverse City. We took Samuel to opening game last year and to the first Friday game this year. It was a bit cool this night- thats ok- we snuggled in our Beach Bums blanket! We both wear our Beach Bums t-shirts to the game and of course he has a baseball and little bat too. He has a lot of fun cheering on the players and loves the mascots, Suntan and Sunburn (which is his favorite) I never had a chance to get a picture of him with them though- just in front of the poster. Of course we also have to have popcorn and hotdogs- and I taught him the baseball song (Take me out to the ballgame) and he likes to sing it on the way to the game. He is such a wonderful little boy- we love him to death!

(PS- if you click on the pictures, they will open to full size on your computer)

Samuel and Amanda Banana snuggling in our Bums blanket

I haven't figured out how to rotate yet- sorry! Just tilt your head to the right!
Grandma and Grandpa went this year as well

Uncle Matt and Samuel
Sunburn and Suntan cheering the team onto the field

Sunburn... Samuel missed it! He and Uncle Matt had wandered over to the playground just before that
Suntan

My Beautiful Drive Home

I absolutely love where we live- I think it is one of the most beautiful places there is. And since I drive 30 miles each way to work, I have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty quite frequently- over a few days I took several pictures on the way home- I work mids so these were all taken after 7 am.

Carpets of Trillium through the woods..

Beautiful cherry blossoms!

Baby cherry trees


Older trees
Rolling hills of orchards
(notice the trees in the foreground have already lost their blossoms while the ones in the back are in mid bloom)
Wild Flox (LOVE these!)
See the bumblebee?!
Farm life
Black Star Farms
(local equestrian, cheese and winery)
Another cherry orchard- with the bay in the background

Cows!
The windmill
Silver Lake- where we live

Home....

Home...

Home...

Home...

Home.

More about Barbara

I wanted to tell a little about Barbara. She turned 22 in May and lives locally; she works in customer sales at JC Penny and goes to college part time with an interest in psychology or criminal justice. She grew up in a close knit family who spent a lot of time together and have strong Christian values. She enjoys singing, art, drama/acting, photography & writing. She really enjoys reading and enjoys being outside. She likes horses and horse sports; she likes cats (good thing!) She refers to TV as "brainwashing" and "neuron shrinking" I love that!

She is smart, laid back, very confident, level headed, and out going- these are the things that I picked up on right off the bat and really appreciate about her. She takes life one day at a time and grows through experiences in life. She is also very caring- this is obvious to us simply because she is going through adoption. We like her a lot and look forward to getting to know her more.

The "stats"
She is 5'5" with a small frame, pretty brown hair and blue eyes, fair skin- she comes from predominatly Irish family.... there is some German and a little Italian in there as well.

The birthfather's name is David. He doesn't want anything to do with the pregnancy so we don't know a lot about him. He lives in Petoskey and was discharged from the Navy. He is about 6' and husky with darker skin, dark hair and brown eyes. That's it.

We will be getting together with her for dinner soon. We will keep everyone up to speed!

We are gonna be parents!

We got our call from Catholic Human Services on the 19th. Barbara (the birthmom) chose our portfolio and we met a couple of weeks prior. She liked us a lot and came to see where we live. Tom called us on the 19th a little after 9pm to tell us Barbara had chosen us- we are so excited! We met with her again on the 28th to go over other details. She is due between July 28- August 1st; it is a little boy. I get to be in the delivery room! How cool is that? I get to watch our son be born! We will continue to get to know her more over the next couple of months (Catholic Human Services steps out of the middle at this point unless we need them). We have LOTS to do! We have done a little shopping and started working on the nursery. I will post soon to tell all about Barbara. Keep us all in your prayers!

His name will be Caelan.

Hello....

I had typed up an entire post.... lost it.... love computers.
Hey.... in the meantime.... here are some older but still fun pictures!
Also.... check out the new section on the right titled "Site Links" These are a couple of my favorites, clicking on them will take you to the site.
Hope all is well with everyone....I will type another post later when my patience has come back (did I mention how much I love computers? Especially when stuff just suddenly disappears?)

Happy New Year!

A late Merry Christmas to everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR Greetings! Life has been busy for us as I am sure for everyone. Mom came up for a visit Christmas Eve for about a week- a very trying trip and no luggage for a week, but all in all it was a great time!

We had Christmas Eve with Matt's family (Pat had the kids) which was a lot of fun. It was the first time my mom had met Erin and Grace, and Samuel since he was only a few months old. Erin LOVED my mom! Matt's mom made a birthday cake for Jesus and his dad read "Night Before Christmas" to the kids.

Matt's Family

Dave and Karen, me holding Erin, Matt, Pat holding Gracie, and Samuel sitting in front

Then came LOTS of gifts for the kids!

Samuel got more Thomas trains Gracie and Erin

ERIN

GRACIE

Mom got to enjoy the snow all week (from a 'distance'- she was not out building snowmen quite yet!) We got a lot of it though- it is

beautiful!

I took her up to the Great Wolf Lodge (Pat's hotel) for a day- we had fun taking pictures, snacking and watching the water park.

The site is obviously still in progress... I need to get Matt's help in setting up some of it. Please keep up the patience- it will get there!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Take care and be safe!

Happy December!

Hard to believe it is already here... somewhere in my head it is still only June or so! We got a LOT of snow last night... the roads aren't even plowed in some areas. There was about 18"- a foot in our driveway when I left for work at 6 this morning. The Jeep handles these conditions better than I ever could have dreamed. There is still some coming down, but the 'storm' part is over... wind is gone; that's what makes it cold.... the wind! I can handle 10 degrees with no wind much better than I can handle 30 degrees with wind. All in all though.... I LOVE it! It is beautiful and peaceful.
We cut down a Christmas tree last weekend.... the first time I have ever done that. It is the perfect shape and BIG! Some would say it is too big... I think it is perfect! We will get all the decorations on it this coming weekend when I am off work.
Pat (Matt's brother) and the kids decorated their's a couple of days ago.... Erin liked to taked things off the tree. She was very excited about the lights. She also very excitedly kept telling me it was snowing.... "It's snowing Mana!!!" Erin and Grace are just over 2 and Samuel is 4 1/2. Those kids have my heart!
Our 'kids' (the cats) are excited about the Christmas stuff everywhere also... Bruce has been giving me more help than I need with ribbons.
My mom is coming up to visit for a week over Christmas... we are both looking forward to that.
That is about all for now.... difficult to get too in depth while I am here at work.
There are a few prayers and thanksgivings to the side.... please place them in your heart.

Happy December!