The everlasting God is your place of safety,
And His arms will hold you up forever.
-Deuteronomy 33:27

Right now we are resting on that promise and rejoicing for the miracles that he has already worked in our lives. We are eager to see the miracles that are yet to come, and covet your prayers for the items that I will inform you about below.

I wish we could tell you that it was one of those fairy tale birthing stories, but when the doctors and nurses look at you and say, “Wow! That wasn’t pretty!,” you know that’s pretty bad. Even Esther’s mom, who birthed six children in 8 years, said, “I can’t remember having that kind of difficulty with any of my kids.” I’ll spare you all of the gory details, but please pray for Esther’s recovery both physically and emotionally. (By the way, she’s doing great, but longs to have Reagan with us all the time. I, of course, echo that same longing, but we are also both thankful for the rest we are getting before we get to take care of a needy little life.)

Now, I would like to make a dogmatic statement that many of you will agree with - especially if my wife or I shared the same last name with you at any point during our lives:
REAGAN IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BABY ON THE PLANET!!!
If you don’t agree with me, I will not be offended in any way by the error of your thinking. This is the stance that the author of this page is taking, and if you don’t like it, tough noogies.

Reagan is doing great and has made tremendous progress during her two days of life on the outside. Many of you are probably concerned with the pictures from yesterday and can see all of the tubes Reagan has attached to her. You’ve also heard that she has had to spend all of her time in the NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit). This is obviously a huge concern because it has the words “Intensive Care” in it. It’s not normally a place associated with healthy babies. However, in NICU land, Reagan is a big, pink, porker!! She’s big, active, and full term which puts her far ahead of her roommates in the developmental ladder. And for that, we are grateful!

She had to be put in the NICU for a variety of reasons that have been mostly resolved. The fist item up for bids was Miconium in the amniotic fluid. For those of you who are wondering what that is, it is the baby’s first bowel movement. Normally, this occurs once the baby is outside of the womb, but it is not uncommon before birth if the baby is under unknown stress. (I think she was worrying about the fact that she hasn’t updated her blog in about a week. I know that stresses me out.) One of our nurses had a pin that said “Miconium Happens.” I thought it was pretty stinkin’ funny, and really summed up the whole situation. This bowel movement is considered sterile because all of the origin of the material was from within the womb. However, this can be harmful if it is inhaled into the lungs when she takes her first big breath of air. Fortunately, the lungs were clear, and she didn’t inhale any of that $&%@….er….miconium. DID I SAY THAT!!??

Another reason she is in the NICU is because Esther tested positive for GBS (Group Beta Strep), which is a bacteria found in 1 in 3 women. It is always harmless to the mother, but in rare cases it can be transferred to the baby during the passage through the birth canal. When this happens, it can be very serious. To prevent infection, Esther was put on antibiotics before going into active labor, and Reagan had to be put on antibiotics until blood cultures came back saying that she was negative for the bacteria. Those cultures take 3 days to “cook” before the results are complete. They check the cultures every few hours in that time frame, and notify the patient immediately if there is any positive growth. So, no news is good news. Not to mention, the results of the cultures after 48 hrs. have been negative. The antibiotics are administered through an IV, and they only do baby IV’s in the NICU.

Immediately after Reagan was born, they found a Tension Pneumothorax in her chest. (I think I used those terms properly. Any medical personnel may feel free to correct me on this.) Tension Pneumothorax is where there is an air bubble in the chest cavity, but outside of the lungs. This is very serious because it doesn’t allow the lung to properly inflate, and thus, she can’t get enough oxygen to her organs. Often times, they remedy this by inserting a needle into the chest and sucking the air out. Miraculously, this dissipated on it’s own within a matter of a few hours. Thank you, Lord!! They kept her on oxygen for about 48 hours as a precautionary measure, and kept a close watch on the oxygen levels in her blood. (Pulse-Ox) They slowly weaned her off of the oxygen and she was breathing room air by yesterday afternoon.

Because Esther had a fever during labor, Reagan also was born running a fairly high fever. Fortunately, this also righted itself within a few hours after birth.

It has been difficult working with a corded baby. Reagan’s flailing around makes the wires easy targets for her fingers and toes to get wrapped around and yanked on. It’s also very difficult to move her like that, and all of the feedings have to happen within about 2 feet of the crib. iReagan version 0.0.1, 0.0.2, and 0.0.3 all require a lot of cords for support, but we’re hoping and praying that iReagan version 0.0.4 will be wireless and fully Bluetooth enabled.

The final item that requires a lot of prayer is her left kidney. Many of you will remember a few months ago, we asked for prayer because the ultrasounds were showing her kidney a little bit enlarged. Well, after doing an ultrasound yesterday, they found that there is an extra duct coming off of the kidney. If you know about Esther’s surgery 10 years ago, does this sound familiar?? Esther had an extra ureter growing from her right kidney that was prone to infection. She went through 17 years baffling doctors with the excruciating pain she would deal with periodically. Fortunately, this potential problem has been spotted early for Reagan. They are going to do a “dye” test tomorrow to see where the kidney’s extra duct drains to. We are hoping and praying that when they go to look tomorrow, they will not find the extra duct, and that the biggest problems we will have to deal with in Reagan’s life will be how to keep boys away from her.

With so many miracles already attributed to this little girl’s life, we believe that full and complete recovery is a drop in the bucket for our Almighty God. Again, we appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to lift up our little family though this process.

God Bless You!
Brock and Esther