Read as Caleb's mom Whitney introduces us to Mighty Caleb's special story.
Caleb has a slightly different story than most of your Mighty Bee recipients. He was what we call a stork drop adoption. Meaning, he was born and in the hospital for 3 weeks before his biological family chose us to be his parents. I was talking with a friend who lived in Florida about a little boy with medical needs that was in need of a family. My husband and I spoke together as we had been wanting to adopt and we decided to reach out to the agency to let them know we were interested. Two days later we got a call saying that his parents had chosen us. We knew some of his health history as he had been in the NICU since birth. He was born with multiple birth defects and they suspected that there would be an underlying genetic condition but had done some tests which all came back negative. We would be flying down to FL on Friday and we knew he would still be in the NICU for a little while because he was still working on feeding due to a cleft palate as well as recovering from open heart surgery for coarctation of the aorta.
The first time we met Caleb was so surreal. The nurses had been taking care of him for 3 weeks and had fallen in love with him. They were all so protective and attending to his needs. We were so grateful that they were there for him when we did not even know who he was. We stayed in the NICU for 1 week. The beginning was difficult was we were getting to know this new born baby boy as well as learn about his medical needs. The nurses were all wonderful and helped us bond and learn how Caleb liked things to be done. They definitely picked up on his likes and dislikes! During our stay in the NICU the doctors were pretty certain his multiple birth defects stemmed from an underlying genetic condition, but where unsure of what it was. They had done testing that all came back normal. The doctors told us before we left the hospital that he would most likely need PT, OT, and Speech therapy.
Thankfully there were not any scary situations for us in the NICU. We did have a scary situation after returning home where Caleb got sick and developed aspiration pneumonia. He was struggling to breathe and he was admitted to the PICU when he was only 3 months old. They were able to get him stabilized pretty quickly but we saw first hand how quickly am infants health can turn.
We heard about the Bee Mighty grant from our amazing PT at Shining Hope Farms, Kelly Coney-Pacious. Caleb had been seeing her for about a year when we had an insurance change due to a change in jobs. She called us to tell us our new plan no longer covered any therapies. We were all shocked as it was a major carrier. She quickly told us about the Bee Mighty grant and helped us apply. If we got it, it would give us time to try and figure out a way to get the insurance straightened out. Kelly helped us apply and it gave us 6 months to get on a new insurance plan without Caleb having to stop any therapy!
A typical day for Caleb invokes going to Kindergarten at Statesville Road Elementary School. He loves his teachers and fellow classmates. Caleb loves being the center of attention. He is so funny and has quickly turned into the class clown! Caleb’s favorite activity is jumping on his trampoline. He can easily do it for hours! Caleb also loves spending time watching movies with the family. He has 4 older siblings who all love to dote and cuddle with him. Caleb is by far the most popular member of our family!
The first year of Caleb’s life was definitely the most difficult. We were trying to bond with him while also navigating the new world of medical needs. There were many hospital stays and three additional surgeries, one planned and two that surprised us. As Caleb has gotten older, his medical needs are still definitely a part of his life, but for us they have stabilized. He is such a happy kid, something that was hard for us to imagine as an infant. He has taught us all so much about life and we are so grateful he joined our family!
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