Visit #2... and many prayer requests

Today we had our second visit with Caleb, who they call Maksat here. We left the orphanage very concerned yesterday about some of his behavior, specifically how he kept arching his back. It seemed like he was trying to get away from us and that he also just couldn't get comfortable. We decided that when we visited today that we would try not to overstimulate him. We realize he has probably never been held for 2 hours straight in his life, or had people talking to him and loving on him like we were.

When they brought him out he was wearing one of his new outfits! They chose a size 6-9 month outfit that we brought and he is clearly not a size 6-9 months!! The pants kept falling off so they eventually brought us a different pair of pants that were smaller and told us that we could take him outside... but only if he had a hat on. I guess they think he needs to stay super warm since it was at least 80 degrees outside at 10am. Here's a picture of Bryan carrying him from his baby house:

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We really enjoyed holding him outside. He is a very sweet, laid back and darling little boy. I thought he looked pretty funny in the hat they gave us. In this picture I think he kind of looks like a little old man with that hat on:

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Here is a picture of Caleb with his Daddy:

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Caleb seemed content to be held today. He only arched his back once or twice. We focused on not giving him too much eye contact, and on many occasions he would make eye contact with one of us. We would look back for a little bit and then look away to give him a "break". When we would turn back to look at him again he would still be looking at us. At one point he reached up and touched my cheek. To say we are in love with him is an understatement.

He started to get sleepy so I rocked him back and forth (one of his favorite things!) and sang Amazing Grace to him until he fell asleep. There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

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After our visit was over we met with the orphanage director to go over his medical history and background. We came on this trip with a few medical concerns already, so we knew she would probably mention his developmental delays since at age 4 months he can't hold his head up yet. What we didn't expect was for her to tell us that they think he has been having seizures and started him on anti seizure medication a few weeks ago. We are not sure why we had not been told this information as it was happening. Regardless, it is upsetting for us to hear and hard to know exactly what is wrong with him. We are unclear if he is having seizures (we haven't seen them happen) and we don't know the cause. It could be from a vitamin deficiency (highly likely due to the poor diet he recieves) or it could be a more serious seizure disorder coupled with other neurological problems.

We met with Saule (our in country coordinator) after we got back to the hotel and were able to share all our concerns with her. Saule had already begun trying to get an appointment with a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital in Bishkek. She had been told the doctor was on vacation for at least another week. By the grace of God the doctor called her while were sitting there and said he was back from vacation and would examine Caleb tomorrow morning. We truly believe God is at work, and although we are unsure of the outcome and how we will proceed at this point we can clearly see that He loves this baby boy and has a plan to help him and bring him an amazing future. We are praying that his future will be with us.

We covet your prayers right now as we await the doctor's appointment tomorrow and prepare to make a decision about adopting this adorable baby boy. We know God will not give us more than we can handle, and that when it feels like too much He will take over and handle all of it for us. Please pray specifically for these things:

-For Caleb, that he would be healthy and that his needs would be met at the hospital tomorrow
-For the doctors, that they would have clarity and wisdom as they examine him
-For Bryan, that he would be able to understand the information given to him by the doctors and that God would be with him as he guides us in a decision about Caleb's medical issues
-For me, that I could be strong and trust God to be with us and for my health as the stress of all of this has made me physically sick
-For God's will to be done in this situation, and that we would have the courage to seek it and follow it

Right now I am reminded of a verse I packed with me as part of my 'spiritual equipment'. The passage is from Paul's letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:4-21) and he is telling them what his prayer for them is. Paul talks about how complete God's love is, and how he hopes they will understand how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. We can feel the love of God for us and for Caleb even in the midst of this struggle. His love has been wide enough to reach to the corners of Kyrgyzstan. His love is long enough to span our entire lives and the entirety of Caleb's life. His love is high enough to accompany us on our most joyous days - like meeting our son - and is deep enough to carry us on our darkest moments, like when we are terrified for this baby boy's health.

Please pray for us and for Caleb. We know that God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine just like Paul says to the Ephesians. We ask that you keep this information about his medical history private as we don't intend to share it on our public blog at this point. It is difficult news to share but we know we can only benefit from having more people praying for us and for Caleb.