On Track for Baby Stack

6 Months Later...

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 11:06:26 -0700

Our little Micah man is 6 months old! We can't believe it! It seems like we were just bringing him home from the hospital and setting up all these extra doctors appointments for him. He looks like a totally different baby from when we first met him. He's added a couple extra chins, his personality has blossomed, and he is hitting all of his developmental milestones on time!

Tuesday, June 29, our family traveled to mid-Illinois for Micah's adoption finalization court hearing! He is officially a part of our family! Micah slept through the entire thing and only woke up to take a picture. Evelyn liked the part at the end where we all clapped.

Life at home as been busy for the summer! We took some family trips, but have mostly been watching and helping these little personalities grow and blossom. Evelyn still takes on the role of big sister very well. She likes reading to Micah, entertaining him when he's playing on the floor, and giving him lots of kisses and hugs.

Micah has started trying to sit up on his own. He can do very well for little bits of time but then he tips over. Evelyn is always ready to tell us "Baby fall down" when that happens. Micah's newest interest is food! He is still getting the hang of eating from a spoon, but he's been enjoying bananas, avocados, and blueberries so far! Micah also thinks anything in a cup is for him.

We are not sure what the future holds for us in regards to what our family will look like. We have talked about enjoying where we are as a family right now and waiting to see what direction God is going to lead us. We know that we would like to possibly get involved in foster care at a later date. Whatever our next adventure is, we'll be sure to keep you updated.

As of right now, all of the hospital bills from Micah's extended stay in the NICU when he was born are still being processed through insurance. We are continually calling to check on the billing process and are hoping that is...Read More

Family Update

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:16:50 -0800

So much has happened since we last posted!

Early February, Micah got sick. He was so congested, wheezy, and coughed so much. He was still on the oxygen so the doctor was concerned about a respiratory infection. Luckily, he tested negative for that and it was determined that he just had a cold. It was still pretty scary for our 6 week old little man to be sick, knowing his lungs were still not strong enough to go without additional oxygen. Luckily, he recovered just fine!

Mid February, we finally thought Micah was strong enough to be taken off of the oxygen long enough to take a bath in the bathtub. He loved it! After his bath, we kept him off the oxygen to see how he would do. We still monitored his numbers. He did so great that he never went back on the oxygen!

Everyone is happy that Micah is more accessible. Evelyn tries to pick him up (yikes!) and she loves holding him. It's pretty obvious that Micah likes being more accessible too! He gives the biggest smiles and loves talking to you. He is such a happy little boy!

Evelyn has grown into her role as big sister very well. Besides holding him, she loves to read stories to Micah, do tummy time with him, give him his pacifier, throw dirty diapers away, and help burp him. He's the first person she looks for when she wakes up!

Next week, Evelyn turns two. It's been amazing to watch her grow. She is so smart, sassy, silly, and caring. Her greatest joy comes from helping you do something- whether it's laundry or cooking- she just wants to be with you doing what you're doing. She has so much love in her heart! We can't wait to see the wonderful things she is going to do and be!

*For those of you wondering, Evelyn and Micah are 21 months apart. Evelyn was born March 15, 2019 and Micah was born December 13, 2020.

Micah Medical Update

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 10:12:16 -0800

We're home! Micah was discharged from Children's Hospital in Saint Louis on December 23.

Micah spent a total of 10 days in the NICU. When he was born, the doctors thought he had an infection because he was not eating nearly enough. We later found out he did not have an infection, but a feeding tube did need to be inserted to help him maintain his weight and get the nutrition he needed.

Three days after birth, he started retaining so much water that his sodium levels had dropped to a point where he could be having seizures or other brain injuries. The NICU team at the hospital where he was born decided to have him transferred to Children's Hospital in Saint Louis as he needed a higher level of care.

Within a couple hours after arriving, Micah was able to lose all of the water weight! His kidneys had finally caught up! He was no longer swollen. The doctors at Children's took precautions and did a brain ultrasound to make sure everything was ok- and it is! After being in Children's for 12 hours, Micah was placed on oxygen due to some low intake numbers.

After two days, Micah decided that he was REALLY hungry and the feeding tube was removed. He is on a "eat whenever and however much he wants" schedule, which means there is no feeding or sleeping schedule whatsoever. He will now eat a full bottle every 2-4 hours.

Since Micah was eating well and gaining weight, the only thing keeping us at the hospital was the oxygen intake. A couple of nurses brought up the idea that we could go home by Christmas if we were comfortable with in home health care. After a quick training on having oxygen at home and signing a bunch of papers, we were discharged on December 23, just in time for Christmas.

Evelyn has taken on the role of big sister well. She helps get diapers, throws dirty ones away, brings the bottle, helps *gently* pat him on the back to burp him, and gives him sweet kisses.

Please continue to pray for Micah to gain weight....Read More

Surprise!

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:20:09 -0800

Meet Micah David, the newest member of the Stack family.

Micah was born December 13 at 1am. He weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces and was 18.5 inches.

Micah has had a bit of a rough start. He was born at 36 weeks, and his body is needing some extra time to continue to develop. We have been in the NICU since he was born.

He's darn cute and already very much a part of our hearts.

I guess this means we need to retake our Christmas card pictures!

GoFundMe

Tying Loose Ends

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 16:49:43 -0700

This is a quick post regarding things people may have questions about, but probably don't want to ask.

Does adopting during the current Coronavirus scare feel different?

Yes. I would not say these are all feelings specific to adoption. I think most parents, whether through adoption or not, have some weird feelings about protecting an infant during these times. For us specifically we see communication breakdowns that are the result of our agency not being able to interact as normally or freely as they usually do with hospitals, clinics, us, and potential birthmothers. It isn't all bad, but sometimes we feel like information is a bit disjointed...because it usually is. We recently completed a home study update...via video call. Its strange and adds to the disjointed feeling generally experienced by our society today.

Why are you raising $10,000 dollars this time? (we raised $20,000 last time)

When we were raising money to adopt last time, we planned on completing our adoption through Bethany Christian Services (called a domestic adoption). The agency does not collect that full amount up front, but in stages as you progress through an adoption. (Click here to see the steps to adopt and the money required at each step.) We paid close to $15,000 becoming prospective adoptive parents, but the agency charges additional amounts as a child is placed in your home. When we adopted Evelyn, it ended up being a private adoption, meaning it was not completed through our agency. The remaining raised funds completed Evelyn's adoption fees rather than going to the agency. We did need the agency to certify and complete our home study for the court, so that partnership was not without benefit. We had not planned on a private adoption, but God provided in a wonderful way. Anyhow, we are raising $10,000 this time because we are not starting all over with...Read More

... And We're Back On Track

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 10:17:41 -0700

This picture is from when my family took a road trip through South Dakota to see the Badlands (pictured above) and Mount Rushmore, Wyoming and part of Montana to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. For as much arguing as we probably did during the million hour car ride there, we have some fantastic memories together. Nicole fell off a horse. Shelly didn't believe us when a park ranger was coming and she was dancing around naked. I was sent around a blind switchback first in case a bear was around the corner. Mom shoved Nicole up a tree to escape mountain goats. Dad playing the harmonica while we were hiking to keep the bears away. I have some great memories of my childhood because of my siblings.

Evelyn is a year and a half old now. She has a beautiful cheerful spirit and is full of spunk. She'll walk outside with me to let our dog Emmett go potty. When it's time to go in, she'll clap her hands and yell, just like we do to get the dog back inside. She'll even make the "come on" hand gesture. Evelyn and Emmett are truly best friends. They love each other dearly. He's the first one she looks for when she wakes up, and he loves that she drops food on the floor during meals. It's really a match made in heaven.

For as much love as those two have for each other, it's not the same as having a sibling. We're excited to announce that we are officially

Back On Track For Another Baby Stack!

Mid July we renewed our home study through Bethany Christian Services and are officially a "waiting" family. (If you don't remember what that looks like, click here to a previous post.)

We're very excited and can't wait to keep you all updated on everything! We will continue to fundraise by selling crafty stuff such as quilts, blankets, wood burned cutting...Read More

12 Months Later...

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 17:03:35 -0700

We posted this video a year ago.

We have much to be thankful for in this last year.

And so 12 months later, on March 15, we celebrated Evelyn's 1st birthday!

Little girl ate 3 pancakes with whipped cream in a record 2 minutes flat. Nothing was left for the dog!

Thank you for all your love and support and kindness. We're thankful for each and everyone of you.

6 Months Later...

Sun, 15 Sep 2019 12:36:08 -0700

Those are Evelyn's little toes in the picture. Aren't they cute?

Today, Evelyn turns 6 months old! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were waiting, anticipating, and often anxiously hoping that one day we'd be able to expand our family. We've truly been blessed beyond measure and expectation.

Early in August, we shared that we went to Evelyn's adoption finalization. Everything went smoothly and it was a reminder that God's hand has been orchestrating all of our lives from before we were born. It's a little overwhelming how perfectly all the details fell into place.

In the meantime, we're moving along as a family. Evelyn and Emmett are best friends. He has to be where she is, and every chance he gets, he gives her a bunch of kisses.

School has started and we think we've finally found our routine, although I'm sure it will change several times as Evelyn gets more mobile and learns to talk. Currently, she rolls from her back to front, front to back, and can pivot around on her tummy. Often we'll put her down on a blanket to play, just to turn around and see that she's worked her way completely off the blanket!

We are continually overwhelmed with love and joy by the amount of love, support, and encouragement we've been given. We can't wait to show and tell Evelyn of what people did for her before they knew her or about her.

Thank you so much for being a part of our journey. We truly could not have done it without you. This will likely be our last post or update until we get back on track for another baby Stack!

#backontrackforanotherbabystack

Video Update #9

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 18:24:58 -0700

A Thrill of Hope

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 19:48:26 -0800

A year ago, we were working on finishing our home study paperwork. Right now, we're working on renewing our home study. This means that a full year has gone by since we passed and completed our first home study inspection and officially became waiting parents. The state requires that you need to have some of the papers you originally completed done again as things may change within the year. For example, Jackie changed jobs, so we need to disclose our updated financials and have her new school district sign a release of information.

During December, the message series of our church was called "A Thrill of Hope." This is a line from the hymn "O Holy Night."

For the month of December, we talked about hope and what a thrill of hope would be and feel like. Our salvation in Jesus is just a thrill of hope compared to the upmost joy we will have in heaven. Right before Christmas Day, we had a thrill of hope in our adoption process.

We were blessed to receive plane tickets to Florida to spend time with Jackie's family. Our plane tickets had us leaving from Saint Louis (2.5 hours away) on Monday, December 24. On the Thursday before we were to leave, we got a phone call that a cold call family selected to meet us! (If you don't remember what a cold call is, jump to this post for a refresher!)

Throughout this adoption process, we consistently have hope that God will place us with the right people at the right time. But now, we had a thrill of hope. There was an actual chance that our hope would become reality.

We were asked to come up to Saint Louis on Saturday evening to meet the birth parents. We had some idea of what to expect, but we're not sure anyone could be prepared for a meeting like that! It was awkward, and great, and scary, and one of the most interesting meetings we have ever experienced. How can you, in less...Read More