Nov 29, 2005

  How can we say thank-you for all the outpouring of love and prayers before and since the arrival of our little Baby Brett Alan. He was born cesarean on Nov 26, weighing 4 lbs. 8 1/2oz and almost 20 in.long. After stabilizing him, he was taken to Riley Children's Hospital in Indy several hours after his birth. Val was released from the hospital on Sunday and by mid-morning Monday the trip was made to see our new little bundle and start the meetings with the doctors.

Some of our Concerns:

1. Brett has a cleft lip and a cleft palate. It appears that half of the palate is missing. Surgery for fixing this will not occur until Brett is app. 6-9 mo.

2. Brett has Hypospadia- the tip of the urethra is underneath. Surgery for this would be as early as 6 months with no upper age limit.

3. The Geneticist also picked up on several other less obvious abnormalities. The most crucial being low muscle tone.

What do we know at this point?

1. Because of poor muscle tone, Brett is unable to get nutrition from bottle or breast. Tuesday he began getting 3 oz. of breast milk via a tube down his nose which empties directly into the stomach. He will continue to get nutrition through the tube until his muscle tone increases. Part of the problem is that the muscles around the trachea are also weak, which makes the coordination of swallowing and breathing difficult. The nutrition specialist tried to bottle feed Brett, but because of concern with aspiration during the feeding and food getting down into the lungs, it was decided that it would be best to do tube feedings until later testing proved he was ready. This could take weeks to months.

2. The Geneticist is suspecting the Brett could have 1 of 3 chromosomal syndromes. The chromosomal testing is due back to Riley on Wednesday the 30th. This "rapid" test, as they call it, would show any "big" abnormalities in the chromosomes and verify their suspicions or nullify them. Another test will come back in 2 weeks that is more in depth.

3. Brett continues to get a little bit of oxygen. The flow of oxygen also helps to keep the trachea open.

4. After talking with the pediatrician today(Tuesday), we began to get vibes that by the weekend we would possibly bring him home. He would come with a tube for feeding and probably still on oxygen. We will take lessons on how to insert the tube through the nostril and down the back of the throat into the stomach. Before they would send us home with him they would give us a trial run in the hospital, putting us up in a room with Brett, the tubes, and a monitor. Back-up help would be there if we needed it. If we feel confident of our own abilities, we would come home. We pray the timing of all of this will be God's timing.

How are we doing?

By God's grace we keep going. We feel the prayers and the love of our family, our church family, and our friends. There are moments we cry and moments we fear what is ahead. By God's Word and counsel we strive to keep all things in perspective. We know this is a life changing event, and yet we know that God will bring good from it. Maybe somebody will come to the Lord, or come back to the Lord. We keep hearing that we may not know the reason for this now, but down the road we will. God keeps putting people in our path that encourage us. Some even say they would never trade their own similar experience because of how it has changed them. God is so faithful to us. The week before Brett was born, four different times Val opened to Isaiah 40: 29-31. We know that waiting on Him, trusting in His strength, and being ready to suffer for Him is what will keep us going and alive spiritually. Not one of us knows what tomorrow holds, but praise God that we can rest in Him. Jan's sister Joan made a comment on Sunday after she met Brett at Riley. She said, "God did not say "oops" when Brett was born". This is so true. Col 1:16 says that "For by him were all things created". Brett is no mistake and by the grace of God we will go on and learn to love Brett just like all our other children. Tess is doing a great job running the house. Family is jumping right in with help and meals. Our wonderful church family is praying and offering meals and shopping trips. We are overwhelmed by everyone's love and care. We will stay home until Thursday before heading back to the hospital and finding out what the results of the chromosome report and whether Brett is ready for us to "try it on our own." Again, we are trusting in God's timing. We love and appreciate each one of you. Continue to pray for us. We want God glorified during this bump in our life. Your can specifically pray for:

Pray that Brett will have no chromosome abnormalities, and if he does, that we can accept this as God's perfect will.

Steady hands to learn to insert the tube into our tiny son's nose

For our children who miss "normal" life and an increase in their patience level during this difficult time of transition

That God will give us longsuffering and patience and the help to continue to daily cast all our anxieties to Him, the creator of life.

A special thanks to Ron and Linnea Shick, our wonderful partners in Haiti. They very willing will be going back to Haiti to be there for the December construction team from Bluffton. We can't thank them enough for changing their plans and going back to Haiti early.

Our home address while in the States:

Jan and Val Gutwein
6481S 1600W
Francesville IN 47946

In His Care, Jan, Val, Tess, Alisha, Mark, Derek, and Baby Brett