14 years...seriously? It's been that long? I know many people know the story, and I certainly know there are way more difficult stories out there...I'm just wanting to share ours as we celebrate the precious gift that was given to us on July 28th, 1997.

14 years ago was simply one of the best, and then worst days of my life.

The day started with Liz's water breaking...being that she was 9 days overdue, our first thoughts were, "It's about time!"

So we went to the hospital, called family and friends and anticipated what every couple about to have their first child do; that we didn't really know what to anticipate, but were totally excited to go through the experience!

As the day wore on, and we began to see worrisome looks on nurses and then doctors faces, we had little idea as to what we were in for over the coming hours, days, weeks and years. We knew it was very serious when we were told that Liz's sister wouldn't be able to be in the delivery room. It was for husband only. Just before the emergency C-section that was now in order (due to not being able to get a good heart reading on the ultrasound/ekg thingy) they had a brief meeting with us to let us know a "worst case" scenario. In that scenario there was the possibility of about 7 different things that could all happen, up to and including Liz not being able to hold our son right away, and me having to follow them out of the delivery room to the N.I.C.U. (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Well of course, the entire worst case scenario they had laid out happened, all of it...

They didn't want our new baby to cry right away, as they were aware that he had Meconium Aspiration and the risk of developing pneumonia was a good one. This is basically where the baby has a bowel movement while still in the mommy's tummy, and then runs the risk of having it get into the lungs prior to birth. Obviously, a very dangerous thing. So as soon as Caleb was pulled from the tummy they tried to suck out all of everything with big turkey baster looking things. Not the best thing to watch as they put them in both nostrils and down his throat.

From there, they do the response test on hands, feet, etc to check for initial reactions, etc (APGAR?). This all took about 2 minutes, then we were off to the NICU...

I can't even tell you everything that was going on...so many people going a million miles an hour while I just sat there alone...praying, crying, wondering if my wife was ok, and if I'd be able to ever hold my son. We had a lot of family and friends in the waiting room, hoping to do as most do, celebrate, but I couldn't really get them word.

Within about 20-25 minutes of his birth, Liz had been wheeled down to the NICU, and we were talking with the head Doctor. She told us that there were indeed a lot of complications, among which he was at a very high risk of Pneumonia, and that an initial x-ray/ct scan/something showed his heart might be deformed. That it was showing as "boot-shaped". They felt that an open-heart surgery, and possibly even the need for a transplant was a possibility. (We later found that this was due to the valve that is supposed to close allowing a human to breath oxygen instead of fluid hadn't closed properly yet. This usually happens when the baby takes the first big breath I guess, but I'm not totally sure). They gave him a shot that closed the valve over the next few hours and now it was wait and see about the pneumonia.

I had gone out to give a brief update to the family and friends and there were a lot of tears and prayers, then I went back and forth between my wife and son.

In the coming days, Caleb began to show just how much of a fighter he would be. He battled the pneumonia for about 72 hours and it was definitely touch and go. He improved though and was just about ready to come home when the Doctor noticed him having "Focal Spike Seizures". Basically his eyes would fixate looking up and to the right and his body wouldn't do much at all. It became apparent that something else was significantly wrong....

After MRI's and CT Scans and who knows what all else, it was confirmed that he had indeed incurred some brain damage, but there was simply no way to determine how much....now here's where the story gets really good and the motivation for this blog...

For weeks we hung out in that NICU. Liz and I would pray, and just ask God to let Him come home, in whatever capacity God saw fit. We would tell him about Jesus, and the Angels that were protecting him. I would go in and just talk baseball for hours, tell him all about how the game was played and the people who played it.

At one point in those first few weeks that Caleb was in the hospital, my wife asked the Doctor, "Will he know he's even alive?" and the Dr's response was simply, "I don't know"

My son may have Cerebral Palsy, but we are so totally blessed to he his parents. We believe that God specifically chose us to be this special young man's mommy and daddy, and it's an absolute joy each and every day. He is relatively very high functioning considering what he has been through.

Well, as I sit here listening to him in his room playing his new MLB2k11 Video game (thanks to Roger and Missy!), and doing his own personal play by play of every pitch, he's cracking me up! One of the greatest joys Liz and I have is to hear my son laugh, or make us laugh, or put a smile on other people's faces (let's face it, my kid is hilarious!) and looking at each other and asking...

"Does he know he's alive?"