Sunday, January 29, 2006

Life goes on...

Hello all! We’re doing well here, trying to get into a schedule still…as many of you parents out there understand.
Noah’s doing great, eating, sleeping, and pooping, just as any little guy should I suppose. He’s gaining weight, and growing taller too. Here are some more pictures of Noah for all to be glad about with us! We praise our Savior Jesus for Noah’s life, that He chose to allow him to live! Thank you all for your prayers, once again. Email us if you wish, we’ll now be able to get back to you! (Email: bbbacheller@yahoo.com)

Aaaahhhh....

How could a person NOT want kids? Look at that stare! Posted by Picasa

Sooo expressive!

What an expressive guy! Wow! Posted by Picasa

Mommy finally at peace with Noah home

I love them both!
Ben. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Women Just Love Me!!!

Nana and Aunt Joy think I am soooo cute! They gave me so much love and attention while visiting. I am going to miss them very much. Posted by Picasa

First Official Outing!

My first official outing! We went to the zoo with Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Joy on Friday. They let me pretend to be a koala bear and I saw gorillas, sea lions and penguins. What a fun afternoon and I’m so thankful to get out in the sunshine and not have to wear a bili-blanket anymore. What freedom (and I know mommy and daddy are excited to get out of the house now too)! The doctor says I am doing really well and that my jaundice will start to get better on its own. I am also eating really well and am excited just thinking about my next meal. Thank you for praying for me to get better! Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

More tests...

Hello all. First of all, thanks for praying.
My parents (Ben) are here—Nana and Grandpa, and Aunt Joy (my sister). We’re glad they can visit—and cook all meals for us as well as wash the dishes!

I took Noah to the doc. today again—his jaundice isn’t improving, unfortunately. We’re going to have to take him to the hospital lab tomorrow to get a more precise test done to see if there’s anything else affecting his jaundice, such as a bad liver. Please DO pray, for Noah to heal, to get better. Pray also that he’ll feed better and better each time, since the jaundice/reflux medicine really makes him sleepier than the average newborn. We’ll keep you posted, and thanks again for your prayers.
Ben (for Becky & Noah).

Friday, January 13, 2006

Daddy holding Noah

Noah: "Ahhhh...I love sleeping..." :-) Posted by Picasa

Another development...

Howdy folks. Well, another event to slow things down. Noah had his first check-up with the pediatrician today. His jaundice has developed again, and the doc. just wants to make sure he doesn’t get back to what he was like in the hospital. So we have had to “bring the lights” home—there is a fiber optic cable that shines light onto his skin at all times, only on his back—we can still hold him and everything like the last two days—just one more machine he has to be hooked up to all day.  I don’t think he minds too much really—still feeding, pooping, and sleeping fine! Although, the jaundice DOES slow things down a bit unfortunately—the feeding and pooping, that is. It makes him more tired.
Anyhow, would you please pray for him? Continue to pray for his rapid recovery, and speedy growth. The doctor today DID note that he’s putting on those rolls—breast milk is helping! Our God is good—He’s faithful. Do you trust in him? We do.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

He's Home!

Hey folks—Noah is home! Last night we came home around 6pm, and we are sooo glad he’s here with us. Yes, we’re tired…yes, he’s just like any other baby—gotta eat regularly, poops and pees a lot, but doesn’t cry a lot. He’s doing well, taking medicine for his reflux, eating well, thankfully! He seems to be keeping the milk down ok, burping normally, etc. We’re so thankful! We believe it is only because of the prayers that God has heard from all of you who have prayed with and for us. We are so grateful to all of you.
Many of you have sent emails to us—we DO READ them! We have not replied because, as you can imagine, we are quite busy with this little guy coming home and all…but, in due time, we’ll get to them. Thank you so much for your encouragement! Please continue emailing if you like, and checking back on our website. We’ll keep you posted. Once again, thanks!
Thankful for God’s hand in this world, and specifically for caring about our little one, Noah…Ben & Becky.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Coming home?? Really??

Today the doctors have told us that we’ll probably be able to bring Noah home tomorrow! Wednesday! On his one week birthday he’ll finally be coming home! We’re so excited for him! He’s been eating well and keeping it all down, gaining weight, and even showing his personality through his facial expressions! All the tests have come back normal, and the only thing of concern is his reflux. But it’s a manageable condition, as his father (me, Ben) has it too! So, like father, like son, after all. Basically he has to sleep raised up a bit, feed raised up a bit, etc., so as not to have it all come right back up and choke on it.
Right now he’s still under the “lights”, for billyruben (jaundice), a condition common to many babies. But he’s doing #2 (poopy) very well, as Ben had an experience he’ll never forget yesterday when changing his diaper! It is every mother’s dream come true when the baby poops or pees all over daddy! Boy, did that happen! I had even said to Noah: “Now, Noah, don’t you go pee until I’m done changing you, ok?” He obeyed me, and squirted green stuff all over me and the isollette! Yuck! So, he’s doing quite well—much better than us—we’re tired, and drained—welcome to parenthood, right?

We want to say thanks to all of you who have prayed for us over this week, we have felt the Lord’s protection and strength given to us as well as Noah. This whole event with Noah just makes me ponder the greatness of God. How He does these things…why He chooses to allow this life over another, why He chooses not to take our son’s life, but to give him a second chance… Have you thought about that lately? Why has God allowed you to survive the last few close calls? God has a purpose for everything—and we are thankful for Noah’s life. Thank you for your encouragement.

Ahhhh....mommy and me...

Oh! Here she goes, kissing me all over again...well, it's worth the wait...dinner is coming!
Isn't he cute folks?? Posted by Picasa

Monday, January 09, 2006

Look at my cool shades!

Hey folks! Here I am, taking in my first tan...wish you all could see me! Havin' a blast here...what a life. They change my diapers, feed me, then put me in here! I love it! Man, hope I don't have to go home too soon...
Yeah, that was Noah. He doesn't know it, but we really want him to come home soon. He's getting phototherapy here to get rid of his jaundice, and will soon be done with a 7 day dose of antibiotics. He's feeding well, AND feeling much better it seems! He's now starting to show his personality when we talk to him, and we can't wait for him to come home soon. Please pray for him, and us as well. Thanks! We'll keep you posted. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Here's our guy! Noah!

Isn't he so handsome! We're so proud of this warrior! He's strong! Posted by Picasa

Improvement

Hello folks. Just wanted to let those who are wondering...that Noah is ok. He's improving more and more, and praise God! He is breastfeeding! A friend from our church, who is the lactation consultant at the hospital with the NICU babies, convinced the doctor to let Becky try breastfeeding. She started yesterday morning, and he's still eating and holding it down!

They have taken all but the IV out of him, while they continue to monitor his condition. From all aspects, he looks and acts like a healthy, strong, newborn baby! Which he is! He's on medicine for reflux (like his daddy), but doing fine. The earliest he'll be out is next Tuesday, they are pumping him full of antibiotics until then, just to make sure there's no risk of any infections. When we DO bring him home, he'll be on a monitor for breathing and heart-beats.

We thank you for your prayers, and we covet them. Please continue to pray, and pray now for Noah's quick recovery (as he HAS been doing, thanks to the Lord hearing all of our prayers!), and for mom and dad to have energy beyond the few hours of sleep we get with a baby in the NICU.

Thanks!
Ben (for Becky and Noah).

Friday, January 06, 2006

Please pray with us.

Hello all! Praise our God that Noah, our son, has arrived! At 7:15 on the dot, Wednesday evening, he arrived! It was a normal birth, and Becky did great! Noah was born two weeks early at weighed in at 7lbs. 12oz., and was 19 1/2 inches long! Glad we didn't wait two more weeks! He'd be a bit large! I'd hate to be the one pushing! I was there through it all--and I was thinking I'd pass out! But we have a prayer request for you.
Noah breast-fed for a short while after he was born, but within 40 minutes, we noticed he was getting colder, turning blue and purple, especially on the extremities. So we asked for another blanket to change the one he was in, which was a bit damp. Our nurse never got the message. However, she DID have this feeling that something was wrong specifically in our room, and she came in to check. Once she saw Noah, she knew something was wrong. She took him from me, put him down on the baby "warmer/incubator", and quickly called in the NICU team (Newborn Intensive Care Unit). Within 30 seconds they were in there, even less, working on him. Later, what we found out was that he had stopped breathing on his own for some reason. Anyhow, the NICU team started doing CPR on him, pumping his chest and breathing for him. Within a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, they got his breathing going with a respirator and took him up to the NICU floor. They did all this in our room, and I turned away from it to block Becky's view from the bed, and I reminded her (and myself) that our God is great, and that our God is good. Our God is a God of miracles, he can bring people back to life...he can take life too. We prayed like we've never prayed before, as most if not all some of you parents out there understand, with groanings we utter because we have no words to say. We thought we had lost Noah, and our thoughts were all over the place. The blame one can place on themselves for allowing something like this to happen...but I reminded Becky that she's never been a mom, and I've never been a dad. There's nothing we did wrong or could have done differently to prevent what happened 40 minutes after his birth. Eventually, the NICU team told us that they don't think his heart ever stopped beating, but he HAD stopped breathing for a period of time, we're just not sure how long...but long enough to turn blue and purple at the extremities.
So they put him on a respirator, and had all kinds of tubes in him...and then, and hour and a half later, he pulled out his own respirator!! This guy is STRONG! He WANTS TO LIVE! He has been breathing on his own since then, while they did all kinds of tests on him. He is a strong boy! He takes after his mother---and father too I guess.. :-) All the tests have so far come back completely normal, he's a strong baby! The one thing we found is that he has pretty bad reflux! Anything that goes in, comes up to the vocal cords and makes him gag--stopping his breathing! This is likely the cause of the incident once he was born. 13 out of 100 babies are born with this condition. So now we're trying different medications for him, and if all else fails, he's have surgery--a normal procedure. He hasn't been able to breast feed since that first time Weds. night, which is difficult for Becky, but we'll continue praying. Will you too?? Please, do.
Through it all, we know our great God is in control--He is the One who brought us Noah, and Noah belongs to God. He never was ours, and never will be completely ours. He is God's--isn't that what we are supposed to do as parents? Wow, interesting how God's teaching us lessons so quickly! God is GOOD! We are thankful for Noah's life, and ask you to praise God with us! If you don't have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, I don't know how you'd get through something like this. We are finally at peace now, and able to get some more rest. I haven't included all the details, since there is so much going on. But please, do pray, and give thanks to our God. We will keep you posted, and check our website (http://bachellerfamily.blogspot.com) for more details, it's easier than emailing everyone!
Thanks! May God be with you as He has been with us during this time.
Ben (for Becky and Noah).

Here's Noah!

Our son Noah! Posted by Picasa

Monday, January 02, 2006

Is the media balanced?

What do you think? Does the media in America have a balanced view? I sure have my opinion...read this article from a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. The website is:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/152005mf.asp
What's your opinion? Do you agree?