Why We Stand #CaeliStrong

Over the past month, we’ve shuttled back and forth between the NICU and home on a fairly regular basis sprinkled in with appearances at work (me), church, and the doctor’s office for Chastity. While the trips to Dr. Wendell are lessening in frequency, the financial impact is not. No worries; that’s what health insurance is supposed to cover. Anything else, I’ve got to hustle up some funds and try to squeeze blood from a turnip. As the costs mount, I hope there is a way to make payments on vital services Caeli needs so 1) she can remain healthy, and 2) her parents can maintain decent credit for later necessities plus find a way to save for her future.

One thing I have asked myself is “why us?” when it should have been “why not us?” Was it a wavering faith? I don’t think so, although both of us have spent hours in a fog recently. Having a preemie kind of does that to people from what I’ve observed. I have also met some wonderful families across this great state that are walking alongside us in the journey through NICU from all walks of life; people from Grady, Hamburg, Mountain Home, Springdale, Stuttgart, and as near as Bryant, Conway, and within Little Rock are intertwined for the next several weeks, months, and perhaps longer. Democrat, Republican, Green Party, independent – none of that matters here; ditto for Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Islam, Judaism, Mormon or atheist. God looks beyond the labels we manifest upon ourselves and puts us where we need to be for His magnification. Do was always like being redirected from our secular ways to spiritual mannerisms? No. Even Job questioned God after losing everything and being pushed to the brink of cursing Him. If a man as faithful to God can fall into despair, what makes us think we cannot fail?

Meet the C. Armstrongs - Chastity, Caeli, Cedric

We accepted the challenge of being #CaeliStrong months ago – and did not even know it.

Her victories are our wins. For all of the blood gases, desats, etc., she’s been a trooper. As test results come back, we’ve waited with baited breath for what is already declared another win; at the last result, her head scan checked our fine and ditto for the chest cavity. Our baby is kicking butt and taking names!  Also keep in mind Caeli’s gestation age as of yesterday is twenty-nine weeks – she wasn’t due until May 30 according to doctors’ charts and our calendars.  

Babies come when they want to. We'll wait.
— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) February 12, 2015

Another neat tidbit from the above tweet is two of the other ladies in my wife’s scrapbooking class also gave birth February 13 – one of the new mothers is the niece of my brother’s college roommate. It’s a small world after all. The weight gain, the growth spurts, and by golly, that fight! are all considered W’s to me. Even she has down days as all preemies do, every day with my daughter is a victory.

#CaeliStrong is not a hash tag – Caeli Armstrong is a real person, my baby girl.

We stand #CaeliStrong because:

·        She’s our first child and the angel God entrusted us to care for, teach, cherish, and love on

·        Our house has become that much more of a home

·        She has our initials (CA)

·        Her unbelievable strength and resolve encourage her mother and father

·        I am her daddy and Punkin is her mommy

·        All of her family and our friends are praying for her and ready to meet her

·        We’ll wholeheartedly support her endeavors as she grows up and rein her in when she is “doin’ too much”

·        She is truly a fighter

As the twenty-minute commute to UAMS from home continues, keep us in your committed heartfelt prayers and we’ll do the same. In the same vein Job was able to return to prosperity, I feel God has a similar blessing for us. The race is not given to the swift nor the strong, but to those who persevere to the very end without surrender.