Cedric Update - 4 days old

 It has been a whirlwind of a week!

Cedric's birth has brought us a lot of joy, but mingled with grief over the rough start he has had. We look forward to bringing him home soon!!

After spending the first 36 hours in the dark about what was wrong, the doctors were able to thoroughly explain how some of his organs had suffered due to asphyxia during birth and that his skull had received a fracture with some bleeding underneath that spot, but not in the brain. 

They've now confirmed that his heart, lungs and kidneys are all now functioning normally. His neurological exam yesterday was completely normal for a three day old baby (the first one on day 1 was not at all normal). In about a month they will do an MRI to determine whether any parts of his brain were affected by the lack of oxygen.

So, the only thing keeping him in the hospital is his digestive system. They are slowly increasing the amount of formula they are feeding him and determining how well he feeds and processes it. Once they are happy with that they will release him to come home with us!

THANK YOU for praying ... Cedric is now our miracle baby twice over!

We are pretty exhausted, physically and emotionally. But not discouraged.

 

 Sad to say... this is  Cedric's first bed!

 First hug with his mum.

 Hanging out under the lamps with his dad. (Bill has been able to go more frequently to be with Cedric.)

 Whenever we are there he seems happy and content... some of the nurses have other opinions!!

First time eating with Angela.

Cedric Thomas Loudon - Day 1 of life outside the womb

After 11 hours of labor (7 of which were fairly easy) and half an hour of pushing, Cedric Thomas was born at 11:33 pm on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 in Bogota, Colombia.

We chose Cedric primarily because we like the name! But also, as culturally mixed up MKs that we are, we wanted an Anglo-Saxon name that would reflect some of our way back common ethnic/cultural roots. We each have a grandfather called Thomas, and it is also Bill's middle name, so we chose his second name for the family connection and to remind Cedric of his godly heritage.

The actual birth was difficult for baby. He came out facing the "wrong" way which made it hard for him to pass through easily, he stressed out and possibly inhaled/ingested meconium on his way out. The doctor ended up using forceps and he got a small fracture on his skull. As a result he was almost immediately put into an incubator. He has been in NICU under observation. As of today (5/26) we know his heart, lungs and stomach are all ok. He will be fed for the first time this afternoon then monitored for that and the healing of the fracture.  We hope to have him home in a few days or less. 

Update as of 5/26 9PM: Baby did not in fact inhale meconium. Rather his bigger problem was that he lacked oxygen during the birth process and his organs showed signs of oxygen deprivation. Praise God he is healing from that trauma!! We are waiting to know if there is anything of concern due to his head trauma.

 

First picture... after they cleaned out his lungs and stomach and wiped his skin.

 Meeting his dad

 Meeting his mum

 Half a day old, cleaned up more

 21 hours old - best looking baby in the world :)

A little visit to connect

2011's First Semester Classes

Classes have been going well this semester. We are actually half-way through the semester!

Julian teaches Apologetics on Thursday nights and has 20 faithful students in his class. He is challenging them to really think about how to respond to people who attack the veracity of the Christian faith. They find it hard, but rewarding.

On Saturday mornings I co-teach a class for women. Our focus has been our ministry as women in the church, especially directed to wives of elders and leaders. The two women on the far right are Consuelo and Amanda, also co-teachers. The other two teachers are not pictured. We split the semester into 5 modules, each one of us teaching 3 or 4 classes in a row. My  module is over, so now I get to sit and learn along with the 16 students enrolled in the class.

Bill teaches New Testament Survey on Thursday nights to a class of 28 students. They have just finished the book of Romans... hard to teach that in one 2-hour class! As an overview class Bill has to keep things moving and focus on the bigger overall themes of each book. The Institute offers in-depth book studies as well that many of these students will eventually take after they finish their survey courses.

Gilberto teaches Hermeneutics on Saturday mornings with about 20 students in that class. This is notoriously the hardest class we offer and the teacher often has to "un-teach" many of the bad habits students have picked up about how to read and interpret the Bible. For many this class is life-changing!

 On Tuesday nights Bill teaches an Introduction to Biblical Languages class for leaders and Bible teachers. There are 9 students in the class, here they are below taking a quiz. The purpose of the class is to understand better how we got the Bible and an overview of the Greek and Hebrew languages. Eventually, if there is enough need and interest, courses in Greek and Hebrew will be offered.

The other two Institute classes are held at a different location, way in the south of the city... so no pictures of them! There Sergio is teaching Old Testament Survey and Jose Luis is teaching the book of Galatians.

long time, no blog

 This blog is going to be a bit "random"... I haven't been as good lately about taking pictures!!

So, here's a brief view of some of my daily life stuff:

This is the corner where I wait every Saturday morning at 8AM to be picked up by a woman in my Institute class. From here it takes about 15 minutes to get to class, we're usually there well before the 8:30 AM start time. (This is about 2 blocks from our apartment... it used to take me 5 minutes to walk, with 18 extra pounds it's taking closer to 10!)

After my Bible Institute class on Saturday mornings I head out to our prenatal class in the north end of the city. I usually have an extra half hour before Bill arrives to meet me... this has been my weekly tradition! (I sometimes ask for Decaf, but I think what I really get instead is lactose-free milk =D.) Bill shows up at 11AM for our 2 hour class... only one more to go!

I walked home through our "barrio" from a bridal shower at our church last Saturday and found this curious - it isn't the norm, but it isn't surprising! This must be a new hole-in-the-wall restaurant, advertising their food with music. The guy in the street is dancing! They were pretty loud and though didn't have many people here, most people within 4 blocks were paying attention... Saturday afternoon is a busy day in the barrio - with most corner stores hosting groups of 4-10 men sitting outside drinking beer!

This is the fruit and vege store I like to shop at. It is much cheaper than the regular supermarket and is more like a farmers' market, so the quality can actually be a lot better (although it doesn't always look as pretty!)

Sometimes we crave food items that aren't available here... some of them I have figured out how to make, for example - English Muffins:

& Pita bread (not pictured) with hummus: (fyi - Pita bread can be bought here, but I like to make my own, it's pretty easy!)

Church life has been ticking along... I've been working closely with this woman, Maria Teresa. Together we have been discipling a younger woman for the past 6 months. We have one session left next Saturday. My other "girls" have been a little harder to meet with lately - their work and study schedules don't leave them with much free time.

On Sunday mornings I often hang out with the greeting team (not always these girls) - we use nametags to help us remember each other, it is especially helpful when there are new or visiting people, both for them and for us! Currently we have about 230 adults who regularly come, but usually about 150 at a time! One of my roles at church is to maintain a directory and prayer list, so I find that hanging out here and greeting people as they arrive helps me know who is who and who to include.

Life for me these past few months has been all about classes, home keeping, church and BABY stuff. And I think that order of priority is about to be turned upside down! Here we are at 7.5 months, only 6 weeks to go!

I really enjoyed "attending" a baby shower for us in California... via Skype! Some women from our home church met at my mother's house and I joined them online. I know I will enjoy all their generous gifts eventually, but what was mostly special for me was to see them and talk to them... it almost felt like I was there. (My sister has also been hosting a different type of virtual shower... my family has had to be creative with us living all over the place!!)

PS: Our weather this year. More days like this than not! Rainy season seems to be never-ending this year. On days like this one I miss my mountain view!

... how we spent our break from teaching ...

Our Christmas/New Year's break was certainly a different one this year! We enjoyed being in our own home and not having to travel anywhere, although we were lonely for our families. It was a rest from our normal work, but not a rest from physical work. We finally feel like we finished unpacking and getting our apartment organized after a year of living here! Bill spent the better part of three weeks building bookshelves to cover the four walls of his office - he learned a lot in the process, but will not be quick to take on another carpentry job! (My duties included cleaning up at the end of the job!)

Before Picture:

After Picture:

Our baby is growing well and all looks normal. Here's the "best" 5 month picture we could get, he was moving around a lot during the sonogram.

Last week was our last week "off" and we had the pleasure of hosting a couple from our home church in California, Andrew and Rebekah. We had fun showing them some of Bogota's sites, playing games together, talking and traveling to a touristy town 3 hours north. It was a great way to finish off our break from the Bible Institute. Here's a few pictures of our time together:

At Monserrate (10,341 ft), on mountain top that overlooks the city of Bogota (8,612 ft)

Plaza de Bolivar (they were troopers, walking the city streets and braving the crowded, crazy buses!)

Pizza in Villa de Leyva

Hiking to see the Waterfalls near Villa de Leyva

(FYI: click on any picture to see a larger version)

and so 2010 ends...

December has been almost as busy as November was!! The first weekend we had an open house for any of Bill's students who wanted to drop by for dinner and fellowship. It was one of Bogota's many rainy days so only about half of the students made it out... and we enjoyed their visit!! Here's a picture taken of the first bunch that came along.

On the 9th we had the "graduation" ceremony for the Bible Institute. This semester one person graduated from the entire program and about 60 students successfully finished their courses. To make the most of the evening together some of the teachers put on a panel discussion on the exclusivity of the Christian faith compared to the other faiths of the world. Here are a few pictures of the evening. (Panel discussion: Bill, Julian, Sergio; Julian's class; Bill's class.)

 

After months of preparation our dear friends Sandra and Arnold were married last Saturday. We've enjoyed being a part of their lives over the years. When Bill first arrived in Bogota they were 12 years old and he was their Sunday School teacher! Then for the four years we were youth group leaders they were in the group. We spent the past few months in a premarital course with them.

 

With our main commitments for the year over Bill has embarked upon a home improvement project! Thanks to special gifts from two churches in the US we were able to buy a bunch of wood and he has begun building bookshelves. Here is the "before" picture of his study... that has now turned into his workshop!

 

November News

November was jam-packed with special events, here's a brief photo journal of some of the extras we experienced.

13 week sonogram: everything is looking good and Dr. is convinced baby is a boy!

 

Our 20 brethren churches in Bogota sent about 8 people each to a combined workers' weekend retreat in Villa de Leyva. It was a good time of encouragement for all. (Pics are of campgrounds.)

We enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with friends who attend different churches as well as get to know some from our own better!

The week following the retreat we had a brethren missionary conference during the day and combined meetings in the evenings and Sunday with the other churches around the city. (Didn't any get pictures!)

Thanksgiving was a normal work day here, but we took time out before going to class to have a wonderful meal with several missionary families and consider the many things for which we are grateful. (Below: half of us talking over coffee while waiting for pie.)

All the women in our church gathered for a bridal shower (at which Angela was asked to give the devotional), here's a picture of the bride, followed by one of a few of the young ladies I'm involved with.

 

Classes ended the last week of November, followed by grading and an invitation. Two of Bill's students (brother and sister) invited us to dinner at their home. It was a great way to get to know them a little better!