Dana and Arkell Graves
A couple who waited 17 years to get pregnant, and whose “bun in the oven” video went viral two weeks ago, is begging for prayer for their little boy Kaleb who remains in critical condition after being delivered 16 weeks premature.
The Daily Mail is reporting on the gripping story of baby Kaleb whose parents, Dana Griffin-Graves and husband Arkell Graves waited almost two decades for a viable pregnancy after suffering four miscarriages and a stillborn child. However, when 41 year-old Dana learned she was already five months along in a pregnancy, it seemed that their happy moment had finally arrived.
To surprise her husband with the news, she placed a pack of buns and an ultra-sound picture of their tiny unborn son in the oven. She then recorded the moment he discovered the buns and realized that they were once again on the brink of becoming parents – a video that has since captured the hearts of millions around the world.
But that dream seemed to turn into a nightmare just a few weeks later when 41 year-old Dana began experiencing dangerously high blood pressure.
“When I arrived in the intensive care unit over a week ago, they told me in order to save my life, I had to terminate his,” Dana wrote on the couple’s Facebook page. “My blood pressure was 223/113 but I couldn’t . . . He was my miracle and I had to give him a fighting chance to make it. Daily I was told how my chances of survival were declining because of my heart functions and chronic blood pressure.”
Arkell was worried sick, but he couldn’t help but be impressed with his wife’s courage.
“The doctors came in every day and explained the risk of continuing to hold him inside,” he told PEOPLE. “She refused to go on with the delivery until it was a time where they could actually take care of him in the neonatal intensive care unit. [Doctors] were telling her: ‘This could affect your liver, this could affect your lungs, this may affect your heart,’ but her determination was to make it to one particular day,” he said.
“I’m going to tell you, just looking at my wife, it was the most selfless thing I have ever seen somebody do.”
On October 20, at 1:08 p.m. little Kaleb Arkell Graves, who was not due until February, was delivered by caesarean section and was rushed immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit.
“With only a 5% chance of survival, Kaleb is here,” Dana wrote in the hours following his birth. “He is tiny in stature but he is a fighter. He is in stable but critical condition.”
She went on to express her gratitude to God, to her husband Arkell and her amazing family for their support.
But it has been rough-going ever since.
“On this past Saturday, we had a very tough day,” Dana writes on Facebook. “I have compared this whole journey to a roller coaster of emotions. We prayed all day and night for God to show us just a small miracle. We serve a prayer answering God. Although Kaleb is still very critical and doctors don’t always give us the best news, Sunday was a much better day for him and for us. God even allowed us to see him open his eyes for the first time. He even grabbed our fingers. It’s those little things that people take for granted that make us so grateful. Please continue to keep Baby Kaleb Arkell Graves and our family in your prayers. Again, thank you for all of your prayers. They are needed and appreciated.”
Dana’s sister, Melanie Griffin-Hamlin, created a GoFundMe page to help the couple offset some of the enormous hospital bills as well as to put together a nursery for Baby Kaleb in the couple’s home. The page raised more than $3,000 in just two days.
Watch this video of Arkell finding the buns in the oven but beware! You’ll need a box of tissues!
