Dear Friends and Family,
We wrote you our last update right after tracking Zach's fever for an hour as it rose from 99 to 102. FOrtunately, right after we sent the message, his fever tabled out and stayed at 102 the rest of the night. He doesn't have malaria. That is fabulous news because it means he probably won't lose very much of the weight he's gained while here. Unfortunately, he has a doozy of a cold instead-- the cough all night, can't sleep, try to scratch off your throat because it itches inside kind of cold. We shouldn't have been surprised-- his Grandma and Grandpa have had this cold since a few days after they arrived, but they didn't have any fever. The really sad thing is that Micah started coughing and sneezing and having trouble breathing the day before yesterday. He is only ten days old :(. We were hoping that antibodies from breast milk would help him avoid this one (I haven't gotten it yet) and we have carefully made sure everyone washed their hands a million times and kept Zach away... oh well. Now we can just pray that it doesn't hit him as hard as everyone else and that his very tiny body is able to cope. He has gained back one quarter of the pound he lost, but needs 3/4 more if he is going to make it back to birth weight by the two week mark. (Most babies make it by one week). Sleep has been a rare commodity around here lately with Zach waking up with nightmares and coughing and Micah eating and now having the cold too, which makes him even more of a sleepy eater-- we spend lots of time trying to wake him up. I am thankful that in the absence of a church family to send casseroles we are staying here at the guest house. It is such a blessing not to have to cook right now. Jesse's parents have done an amazing job helping with Zach, too. I am also thankful we are here near a good pediatrician and Children's Hospital if we need them. Pray we will have the wisdom to know if it gets serious enuogh to take him in. The doctor says that with a baby this young we need to watch carefully for signs that it is turning into pneumonia.
On a positive note, the agent we hired to meet with officials regarding Micah's birth certificate was able to obtain it in only four days-- a personal record-- he told us that even with all his connections it usually takes him two weeks!! God definitely did a miracle there-- in case we needed a reminder that he's the most important connection of all. Once that was in hand we headed to the US embassy. They have to actually see the baby in order to start his paper work, so we all went along for the outing. As a side note, they also wanted to know some pretty crazy things on their forms, like the exact date that Jesse and I first met :). They also wanted to know the exact dates of every period we spent in the US from birth to the present, and with our lives that took us a while to reconstruct. Anyway, to make an already long story even longer, they have promised to have the Certificate of Birth Abroad and a temporary one year passport ready for us to pick up Tuesday afternoon, just in time for our flight home Wednesday morning. Provided Micah is well enough to travel, we will be home before his two week birthday.
This whole season of needs and answered prayer is what prompted us to choose Michah's name. It means, "Who is like Yahweh?" Jesse picked the Kirundi name Ndikubwayo ("I exist because of God") to pair with it. We want Micah's name to be a constant reminder to us of the incredible power of our God, and that everything we are, have, and do is in His hands. I am working to rest in that knowledge as I nurse Micah through his cold.
Thank you again for your notes of congratulations and for your prayers.
Love you, Jesse, Joy, Zach, and Micah
