Dear Friends,
My apologies for not posting for the last couple of days. Amy and I have been catching up on some rest during Reagan's couple of good days that she has had. The internet connection where we were staying also had not been working properly and we were having to update at the hospital where we could get a wireless signal. I have also been quite busy trying to get caught up on some work. Anyway, enough excuses!!! It's time for an update....So here it is:
The last time that we updated (Thursday - shame on us) we told you that Reagan had her Echocardiogram and that it still showed a small PDA (open valve in her heart). The heart doctor was out of town during the week and we were told that he would be back the following week. On Thursday and Friday, the nurses said that they heard a heart murmur which would indicate that the PDA had not totally closed. But, on Saturday, no murmur was heard... and on Sunday, no murmur was heard!! Praise God for that!! This does not mean that the PDA totally closed, but it is a good indicator that it has gotten much smaller if not totally closed. Apparently, PDA's can get smaller and then reopen to a larger size but we are going to pray that God has sealed that thing shut and that there will be no more problems with it. I'm not sure when we will be able to tell you for sure if it is totally closed as the staff will have to do another echocardiogram to tell and they may not do one if they think that it is closed. There are many things that we have had to trust God for throughout this process, many unknowns, and we have learned to just take one day at a time and deal with that day as it comes. We are thankful that we have one "known" every day and that is that God loves us, He loves Reagan, and He knows that which is best for each of us. God has either been faithful to help Reagan's situation, or to help us deal with each situation that has come up...I've heard it said that sometimes "He calms the storm" and sometimes "He calms His child." We have experienced both over the last 4 weeks and are more grateful than we could ever express for His faithfulness toward us. Many of you have heard the song, "The Anchor Holds" by Ray Boltz (I think). If you get a chance, google that song today and read the words or just listen to the song...it is very powerful and will help you to put the storms of life into perspective with God's faithfulness. Our "Anchor" is holding strong in our lives and I know that He will for you as well.
Okay... Back to the Reagan update. Sorry for preaching (not really - I just type what God lays on my heart). Reagan is still having some trouble with her breathing but not as much. Her settings on the ventilator are very low which is a great thing, but her blood/oxygen levels go up and down regularly instead of staying steady. We originally were seeing her oxygen levels decrease at the same time that we would see her heart rate decrease, but during the last two days, her heart rate has stayed strong when her oxygen levels have decreased. This probably means that the PDA is not causing all of the breathing problems but just some of them (we seem to learn something new every day). She has had to be bagged several times over the last couple of days to get her to breathe normally and that has several risks that I won't bore you with. Just pray that when she does have to be bagged, that the Lord will protect her lungs from any harm. According to Amy, and some of the other nurses, it is very common for premature babies to forget to breathe on a regular basis. Reagan seems to forget to breathe while she is getting blood drawn or other things that she doesn't particularly like...she likes to be held, but you don't want to disturb her when she is resting peacefully with a sharp stick to her heel! Sometimes she just forgets for virtually no reason (I guess we will excuse this for now given the fact that she came four months early). Different methods can be used to get her to remember to breathe or to help her breathe. She can be "bagged" or given oxygen forced into her lungs from a bag, or she can sometimes just be touched to stimulate her body to remind her to breathe. Sometimes, her settings just need to be turned up momentarily until she perks back up.
Reagan weighed in at a healthy 1lb 14oz today without showing signs of a lot of fluid retention. She has been doing very well with her feeds and I think that she could easily reach the 2lb milestone this week (what a porker huh!?). She just looks really good right now and we have been greatly encouraged. She is such a beautiful little girl and I love her sooooo much!
Prayer Requests for Reagan:
1. Pray that God has closed her PDA without surgery...I'm going to go ahead and thank Him for closing it without surgery as that is what I asked Him to do and I feel that He may have done it already. If it isn't closed, I'll trust Him to take care of it and will give thanks then for the results. I just want God to know that I am grateful that He is listening to me.
2. Pray that her lungs will continue to strengthen (supernatural strength) and that she will be able to get off of the ventilator very soon.
3. Pray for her brain, ears, and eyes that all will be very healthy. It will be awhile before her ears and eyes will be tested and she has not had extremely extensive brain testing yet, so lets start praying ahead of time that all will be in great condition.
4. Pray for Amy and I for continued strength to get everything that we need to get done accomplished.
I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know that my God holds tomorrow and knows each and every circumstance that we will endure. He proved Himself faithful yesterday, the day before that, and over the last 28 days (can you believe that tonight -Sunday night- marks the 1 month anniversary of Amy being admitted to the hospital) as well as throughout many other times in my life, and I have no doubt that He will be faithful tomorrow. I love Him tonight for keeping His promises to me. The same promises that He kept for me are true for you as well! Claim them in your life! There has honestly not been one day that I haven't had peace in my heart about these circumstances - I find that to be an absolute miracle as well as a tremendous blessing and am thankful for God's provision. Thank you all so much, again, for praying. God loves you and so do we!!!!!
Robert and Amy
Go! Reagan, Go!
Go! God, Go! Show yourself strong in Reagan and in our lives!!! Your creations are priceless!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Premie Daily Affairs (PDA)
Dear Friends and Family,
Well the saga continues. Little Miss Reagan loves to keep us on our toes. Her echo cardiogram results are back and her PDA is small again. This means we continue to wait and see if it will close on its own or if it gets larger again we will have surgery. God is really testing my patience. It would be nice to not have to wait and either go to surgery or not but this is out of our hands. Since the surgeon is on vacation I guess it is an answer to prayer that the PDA has become smaller. All things work together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.-Romans 8:28
I am very thankful that Reagan's only issue seems to be her PDA. She continues to do well with her feeds, she's infection free, and gaining weight. She weighs 1 pound 14 ounces today. She still has a little bit of fluid retention so we are up and down on our weight but overall she looks really good.
Thanks for all the comments, cards, care packages, gifts for Reagan, PTO donations, and prayers. We are so thankful for each of you. I hope some day we can return the blessings to you. God has been so good to us and continues to meet our needs sometimes even befor we ask! I am not going to say this has been smooth sailing and I don't question "Why me/us?" but than I think "Why not me?". I feel that Robert and I are as prepared as anyone can be to take on this new curve of life. I continue to focus on the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. He knows our hearts desires and cares when we hurt and He rejoices when we rejoice. My prayer for you is that you too feel the peace that passes all understanding and the wonderful love of our Saviour. May God bless each of you for your faithfulness!
Love Bunches!!!
Amy and Robert
Well the saga continues. Little Miss Reagan loves to keep us on our toes. Her echo cardiogram results are back and her PDA is small again. This means we continue to wait and see if it will close on its own or if it gets larger again we will have surgery. God is really testing my patience. It would be nice to not have to wait and either go to surgery or not but this is out of our hands. Since the surgeon is on vacation I guess it is an answer to prayer that the PDA has become smaller. All things work together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.-Romans 8:28
I am very thankful that Reagan's only issue seems to be her PDA. She continues to do well with her feeds, she's infection free, and gaining weight. She weighs 1 pound 14 ounces today. She still has a little bit of fluid retention so we are up and down on our weight but overall she looks really good.
Thanks for all the comments, cards, care packages, gifts for Reagan, PTO donations, and prayers. We are so thankful for each of you. I hope some day we can return the blessings to you. God has been so good to us and continues to meet our needs sometimes even befor we ask! I am not going to say this has been smooth sailing and I don't question "Why me/us?" but than I think "Why not me?". I feel that Robert and I are as prepared as anyone can be to take on this new curve of life. I continue to focus on the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. He knows our hearts desires and cares when we hurt and He rejoices when we rejoice. My prayer for you is that you too feel the peace that passes all understanding and the wonderful love of our Saviour. May God bless each of you for your faithfulness!
Love Bunches!!!
Amy and Robert
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Three Weeks Old Today!
Dear Friends,
Today marks Reagan's 3rd week of life and we are sooooo grateful for God's provision thus far for her. I appreciate the extra prayer's as they are working. I trust that she is gaining strength and power day by day and that God is at work in her little heart right now. Reagan had a pretty good day today and did not have as much trouble with her oxygen desaturations. This afternoon, she had an echocardiogram and again, it showed that her PDA (basically, a valve in her heart that usually closes at birth) which had become smaller, was again enlarged and opened. This just reaffirms what the medical staff here suspected. So... as for treatment, they will give her another round of Indocin. The first time they gave her Indocin, it worked for a while and helped her PDA to shrink but it did not close all the way as it needs to. We are praying that God will help her PDA close all the way with the Indocin this time as we really don't want her to have to have surgery. We will know whether the PDA has closed or not on Thursday sometime during the day. If for some reason it is not closed, she will require a procedure to close it. We'll deal with that if she has to have it but right now, we would like for everyone to really lift her up in prayer and ask The Great Physician to close the hole in her heart!!! (It is interesting to me how so many physical things in life relate so significantly to spiritual things). I know that He is more than able to do it! Thank you all so much for continuing to pray. I know that prayer is what is helping her. We are counting on your prayers and are so thankful for them! Please, "Do not grow weary" in praying. Reagan needs your help! It seems that we have a great team of people that pray regularly for Reagan and we can't tell you how much we appreciate it. I believe that these circumstances have been allowed in our life to strengthen our relationships with God and each other. You all mean more to us than we could ever tell you. You have held us up, and continue to hold us up in our time of need. This is going to be a process that will take time, but together, we can all grow stronger in our faith in God. Let's all look Higher for provision for this precious little life! If there is something that we can pray about for you, please let us know as we owe a lot of prayer! May God bless you all and your families and "cause His face to shine on you," He loves you like no other could. We love you too!
Robert and Amy
P.S. her weight today was 1lb 11oz. That is slightly down from her high of 1lb 14oz but we are glad because she seemed to be holding a lot of fluid and looked very bloated.
Today marks Reagan's 3rd week of life and we are sooooo grateful for God's provision thus far for her. I appreciate the extra prayer's as they are working. I trust that she is gaining strength and power day by day and that God is at work in her little heart right now. Reagan had a pretty good day today and did not have as much trouble with her oxygen desaturations. This afternoon, she had an echocardiogram and again, it showed that her PDA (basically, a valve in her heart that usually closes at birth) which had become smaller, was again enlarged and opened. This just reaffirms what the medical staff here suspected. So... as for treatment, they will give her another round of Indocin. The first time they gave her Indocin, it worked for a while and helped her PDA to shrink but it did not close all the way as it needs to. We are praying that God will help her PDA close all the way with the Indocin this time as we really don't want her to have to have surgery. We will know whether the PDA has closed or not on Thursday sometime during the day. If for some reason it is not closed, she will require a procedure to close it. We'll deal with that if she has to have it but right now, we would like for everyone to really lift her up in prayer and ask The Great Physician to close the hole in her heart!!! (It is interesting to me how so many physical things in life relate so significantly to spiritual things). I know that He is more than able to do it! Thank you all so much for continuing to pray. I know that prayer is what is helping her. We are counting on your prayers and are so thankful for them! Please, "Do not grow weary" in praying. Reagan needs your help! It seems that we have a great team of people that pray regularly for Reagan and we can't tell you how much we appreciate it. I believe that these circumstances have been allowed in our life to strengthen our relationships with God and each other. You all mean more to us than we could ever tell you. You have held us up, and continue to hold us up in our time of need. This is going to be a process that will take time, but together, we can all grow stronger in our faith in God. Let's all look Higher for provision for this precious little life! If there is something that we can pray about for you, please let us know as we owe a lot of prayer! May God bless you all and your families and "cause His face to shine on you," He loves you like no other could. We love you too!
Robert and Amy
P.S. her weight today was 1lb 11oz. That is slightly down from her high of 1lb 14oz but we are glad because she seemed to be holding a lot of fluid and looked very bloated.
Prayer Warriors...Reagan Needs You!
Dear Friends,
Our little girl could really use some prayers tonight / today depending on when you get this. She is doing okay, but seems to be having problems with her breathing again. Her oxygen levels have fluctuated throughout the day and she has had to be given breaths several times throughout the day (from the oxygen "bag"). A couple of times, it looked like she was not trying to breath on her own as her chest was not really moving. Thanks to God, the staff was right there to support her and help her to breath until she started breathing more on her own. They did an x ray to make sure that her lungs looked okay, and they do, but her ventilator tube looked like it was down too far, so they pulled it back up a little bit and were saying that that could have been part of the problem. Her heart PDA is not helping either. It is a scary thing to watch your child stop trying to breath on her own. I may sound a little bit dramatic and don't want to make this sound like a dire emergency situation as it is not, but it is a very serious situation that definitely needs prayer. She is so little and her lungs just seem to have a hard time...BUT...Our God is So Big, So Strong and So Mighty, There's Nothing My God Cannot Do.. and I ask that He will reach down from Heaven, or actually just over from the side of her isolet and give her body a special touch. I ask that He will breath the breath of life into her little body and give her super strength that could be given by none other than God Himself! Our child is a Blessed Child of God! I believe Reagan is gaining strength as we speak! I ask that you will pray for two specific things....
1. Pray that her PDA will close without surgery if that is what is best for her.
2. Pray that her lungs and body will gain super strength from God (He Can Do It!!!)
Now lets trust and believe that God hears our prayers and will answer! I believe!!!
Thank you for your prayers. My God is able to do "exceedingly more" than we could ever ask or think and I expect great things from God in this situation with Reagan. We love Him no matter the circumstances that surround us. Thanks for praying...He is able!
Robert and Amy
Our little girl could really use some prayers tonight / today depending on when you get this. She is doing okay, but seems to be having problems with her breathing again. Her oxygen levels have fluctuated throughout the day and she has had to be given breaths several times throughout the day (from the oxygen "bag"). A couple of times, it looked like she was not trying to breath on her own as her chest was not really moving. Thanks to God, the staff was right there to support her and help her to breath until she started breathing more on her own. They did an x ray to make sure that her lungs looked okay, and they do, but her ventilator tube looked like it was down too far, so they pulled it back up a little bit and were saying that that could have been part of the problem. Her heart PDA is not helping either. It is a scary thing to watch your child stop trying to breath on her own. I may sound a little bit dramatic and don't want to make this sound like a dire emergency situation as it is not, but it is a very serious situation that definitely needs prayer. She is so little and her lungs just seem to have a hard time...BUT...Our God is So Big, So Strong and So Mighty, There's Nothing My God Cannot Do.. and I ask that He will reach down from Heaven, or actually just over from the side of her isolet and give her body a special touch. I ask that He will breath the breath of life into her little body and give her super strength that could be given by none other than God Himself! Our child is a Blessed Child of God! I believe Reagan is gaining strength as we speak! I ask that you will pray for two specific things....
1. Pray that her PDA will close without surgery if that is what is best for her.
2. Pray that her lungs and body will gain super strength from God (He Can Do It!!!)
Now lets trust and believe that God hears our prayers and will answer! I believe!!!
Thank you for your prayers. My God is able to do "exceedingly more" than we could ever ask or think and I expect great things from God in this situation with Reagan. We love Him no matter the circumstances that surround us. Thanks for praying...He is able!
Robert and Amy
A Daddy's Prayer
Dear God,
You know that I love you. Thank you for loving me back. I have this little girl named Reagan that you have entrusted me with and am so thankful for the blessing of a child. You made her "fearfully" and "wonderfully" and I love her. I can see the hairs on her head, but can't count them. You know the number by heart! Her life is precious to me and therefore, I know that it is to you as well. Thank you Jesus for giving her... a miraculous birth, a perfect brain, long fingers, big feet, little toes, a round little nose, a stomach that works, the ability to breath, smelly diapers, peeking eyes, a wrinkled forehead, a body that is well, a heart that will love you, a mind that will think about you, two arms to serve, two legs to go where you lead, a voice that will tell of your love, and all the love of her Heavenly Father. I ask that you would hold her in your loving, protecting hands and that you would shield her from anything that could cause harm. I pray that you would place angels at her beside for protection. I pray for supernatural strength in the development of her organs - such as only God can give so that He will receive all the glory. I pray for her heart to function perfectly and for her body to grow steadily and safely. Especially strengthen her lungs and her heart. Please help her PDA (whatever that is) in her heart to close so that her oxygen saturations will become more normal. Bless all of the medical staff that takes care of her on a daily basis, as well as those that have taken care of her in the past, and help them to know that You love them and that you created them just as you did Baby Reagan. Help them to know that they are the "apple of your eye." Please be with each member of the staff as they come to work that you would guide their minds and hands to give the best care possible, and as they leave work, that you would bless their families, protect them, and give them strength. Help their families with any life difficulties and heal their hurts. Bless the other children, and parents that have children, that are going through the same and even harder things than we are. Give them hope and comfort in You and help them to learn to love You more every day. I ask that You would protect my little girl and help her to grow strong. Give her her mommy's tenderness, patience, and love. Give her all the good that you see in me. Help her to grow to know you and to have a love for you that shines through to all. I pray blessings and strength over my little girl right now and ask that you will hear and answer my prayer. Thank you for being My Provider, My Strength, My Shield, Lord God Almighty, The Most High God, and My Source of Peace. I pray that Reagan will not only live, but that she will thrive and prosper!!! Thank you God for using this little life to bless the lives of so many people already. I'm already a proud, yet humbled father of this precious life. Thank you God for bringing us people that were/are willing to pray. Please bless each and every person that has prayed for Baby Reagan and give them strength in the trials that they face each day. Help their marriages to be strong, their children to be healthy, their families to know Jesus, and their lives to be blessed by You. Give them strength to face the challenges of life and let them know that You are only a word away from immediate help in their times of need. Thank you for being a Rock that I can lean on during this time. Give Amy and I patience as we proceed into the unknown. Stand beside my little girl until all is well and give her supernatural strength! Thank you for answering prayer! I Love You my Savior!!!
Your Child,
Robert
You know that I love you. Thank you for loving me back. I have this little girl named Reagan that you have entrusted me with and am so thankful for the blessing of a child. You made her "fearfully" and "wonderfully" and I love her. I can see the hairs on her head, but can't count them. You know the number by heart! Her life is precious to me and therefore, I know that it is to you as well. Thank you Jesus for giving her... a miraculous birth, a perfect brain, long fingers, big feet, little toes, a round little nose, a stomach that works, the ability to breath, smelly diapers, peeking eyes, a wrinkled forehead, a body that is well, a heart that will love you, a mind that will think about you, two arms to serve, two legs to go where you lead, a voice that will tell of your love, and all the love of her Heavenly Father. I ask that you would hold her in your loving, protecting hands and that you would shield her from anything that could cause harm. I pray that you would place angels at her beside for protection. I pray for supernatural strength in the development of her organs - such as only God can give so that He will receive all the glory. I pray for her heart to function perfectly and for her body to grow steadily and safely. Especially strengthen her lungs and her heart. Please help her PDA (whatever that is) in her heart to close so that her oxygen saturations will become more normal. Bless all of the medical staff that takes care of her on a daily basis, as well as those that have taken care of her in the past, and help them to know that You love them and that you created them just as you did Baby Reagan. Help them to know that they are the "apple of your eye." Please be with each member of the staff as they come to work that you would guide their minds and hands to give the best care possible, and as they leave work, that you would bless their families, protect them, and give them strength. Help their families with any life difficulties and heal their hurts. Bless the other children, and parents that have children, that are going through the same and even harder things than we are. Give them hope and comfort in You and help them to learn to love You more every day. I ask that You would protect my little girl and help her to grow strong. Give her her mommy's tenderness, patience, and love. Give her all the good that you see in me. Help her to grow to know you and to have a love for you that shines through to all. I pray blessings and strength over my little girl right now and ask that you will hear and answer my prayer. Thank you for being My Provider, My Strength, My Shield, Lord God Almighty, The Most High God, and My Source of Peace. I pray that Reagan will not only live, but that she will thrive and prosper!!! Thank you God for using this little life to bless the lives of so many people already. I'm already a proud, yet humbled father of this precious life. Thank you God for bringing us people that were/are willing to pray. Please bless each and every person that has prayed for Baby Reagan and give them strength in the trials that they face each day. Help their marriages to be strong, their children to be healthy, their families to know Jesus, and their lives to be blessed by You. Give them strength to face the challenges of life and let them know that You are only a word away from immediate help in their times of need. Thank you for being a Rock that I can lean on during this time. Give Amy and I patience as we proceed into the unknown. Stand beside my little girl until all is well and give her supernatural strength! Thank you for answering prayer! I Love You my Savior!!!
Your Child,
Robert
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Saturday Update!
Dear Friends and Family,
Reagan is continuing to grow! Today she is 1 pound 13 ounces. Some of this weight gain is extra fluid so her hands and feet are a little swollen. We started her on some diuretics to hopefully get rid of this extra fluid. She continues to do well on the vent and has been weaning effectively. Today her settings, for my RT friends, are 22 16/6 with a pressure support of 7. When her rate is at 15 we will discuss trying CPAP again. She is tolerating her feeds very well. We are at 2.5mls per hour. GO REAGAN GO!!!
Today Daddy did something very important. He noticed that a couple of Reagan's toes were blue. This was caused by her UAC ( IV in her belly button) going bad. They took out the line and now her toes are pink again. Way to go Daddy! I told him he would make a great nurse!
Thanks for the continued prayers. Since Robert posted I wasn't sleeping well and people started praying I have not had any more bad dreams. I have been sleeping so well I missed the Doctor rounds a couple times this week and took an afternoon nap. God hears and answers even the little prayers that matter to us!
Thanks again for your support!
Love,
Amy
Reagan is continuing to grow! Today she is 1 pound 13 ounces. Some of this weight gain is extra fluid so her hands and feet are a little swollen. We started her on some diuretics to hopefully get rid of this extra fluid. She continues to do well on the vent and has been weaning effectively. Today her settings, for my RT friends, are 22 16/6 with a pressure support of 7. When her rate is at 15 we will discuss trying CPAP again. She is tolerating her feeds very well. We are at 2.5mls per hour. GO REAGAN GO!!!
Today Daddy did something very important. He noticed that a couple of Reagan's toes were blue. This was caused by her UAC ( IV in her belly button) going bad. They took out the line and now her toes are pink again. Way to go Daddy! I told him he would make a great nurse!
Thanks for the continued prayers. Since Robert posted I wasn't sleeping well and people started praying I have not had any more bad dreams. I have been sleeping so well I missed the Doctor rounds a couple times this week and took an afternoon nap. God hears and answers even the little prayers that matter to us!
Thanks again for your support!
Love,
Amy
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Go Reagan Go!!
Dear Friends and Family,
Thanks for all the prayers! God is answering. Reagan had another Echocardiogram of her heart yesterday. Her PDA is now "trivial" which basically means it is smaller. She is not symptomatic as she was before, thankfully. They decided to start back her feeds and see if her PDA will finish closing on its own. Unless she starts acting bad again we will re-evaluate with another Echo next Wednesday. Please continue to pray that her PDA will close, her lungs will strengthen and we can get her off this vent. Mommy is ready for the next step!!
Reagan weighs 1 pound 10 ounces today. She has been tolerating her feeds well until tonight at 8:00. Her belly still looks good so we are hoping a suppository will do the trick. She continues to look better and bigger every day.
Reagan has become known as the most fashionable baby in the NICU. Thanks to her friends who have made her a new wardrobe (Kristie, Joni, and Mandy). She continues to have a spunky and feisty personality. She loves to have her hands around her face and has had her feeding tube taped at least 5 times today.
Thanks again for all the prayers and the wonderful blog postings. I love to read the comments and get such encouragement from the stories, scriptures, and other comments. Robert and I love having visitors but are trying to cut back on Reagan's visitors due to different bugs going around. Please don't take it personally if we ask you to wait to see her. She is so fragile and as her parents we must do our best to protect her! We love each of you and can't wait for the day we can have a big party and invite everyone to meet the "love of our lives".
God is so good and we know He continues to have Reagan under His wing of protection. He has given Robert and I unbelievable strength and has helped us develop patience. I never wanted to pray for patience because it is not a fun thing to have to learn, but God had a different plan in mind and patience has become a BIG part of it. God knows what trials we can handle and I believe gives them to us to help us mature and become better Christians/people. I have a new understanding for my parents in the NICU. I have become the annoying mother who has lots of questions and wants lots of answers. I believe I will have a new compassion when I return to work for the families I encounter.
Thanks again for your overwhelming support!!!
Love,
Amy and Robert
Our first family photo!
"I Like my space!"
"Sweet Tink"- I love my new bloomers
Reagan gets smooched!
Good Morning! I am most alert during the morning. I must take after mommy!
That's all for now. Thanks for praying for me!
Thanks for all the prayers! God is answering. Reagan had another Echocardiogram of her heart yesterday. Her PDA is now "trivial" which basically means it is smaller. She is not symptomatic as she was before, thankfully. They decided to start back her feeds and see if her PDA will finish closing on its own. Unless she starts acting bad again we will re-evaluate with another Echo next Wednesday. Please continue to pray that her PDA will close, her lungs will strengthen and we can get her off this vent. Mommy is ready for the next step!!
Reagan weighs 1 pound 10 ounces today. She has been tolerating her feeds well until tonight at 8:00. Her belly still looks good so we are hoping a suppository will do the trick. She continues to look better and bigger every day.
Reagan has become known as the most fashionable baby in the NICU. Thanks to her friends who have made her a new wardrobe (Kristie, Joni, and Mandy). She continues to have a spunky and feisty personality. She loves to have her hands around her face and has had her feeding tube taped at least 5 times today.
Thanks again for all the prayers and the wonderful blog postings. I love to read the comments and get such encouragement from the stories, scriptures, and other comments. Robert and I love having visitors but are trying to cut back on Reagan's visitors due to different bugs going around. Please don't take it personally if we ask you to wait to see her. She is so fragile and as her parents we must do our best to protect her! We love each of you and can't wait for the day we can have a big party and invite everyone to meet the "love of our lives".
God is so good and we know He continues to have Reagan under His wing of protection. He has given Robert and I unbelievable strength and has helped us develop patience. I never wanted to pray for patience because it is not a fun thing to have to learn, but God had a different plan in mind and patience has become a BIG part of it. God knows what trials we can handle and I believe gives them to us to help us mature and become better Christians/people. I have a new understanding for my parents in the NICU. I have become the annoying mother who has lots of questions and wants lots of answers. I believe I will have a new compassion when I return to work for the families I encounter.
Thanks again for your overwhelming support!!!
Love,
Amy and Robert
Our first family photo!
"I Like my space!"
"Sweet Tink"- I love my new bloomers
Reagan gets smooched!
Good Morning! I am most alert during the morning. I must take after mommy!
That's all for now. Thanks for praying for me!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
2 Weeks Old Today!!!!!!!!
Dear Friends,
Thank you all so much, once again, for continuing to pray for Reagan, Amy, and myself, as this is a very emotional journey and we are grateful for all the prayers that are being said on our behalf. Starting early this morning, Reagan began having trouble with her Oxygen levels again. I'll keep the medical terminology to a minimum as I don't know it as well as Amy. Basically, God created babies to be able to "breathe" in the mother's womb as you all know. He created a valve in their heart so that while they are growing inside mommy, their blood gets oxygenated through this valve. Normally, this valve closes almost immediately after birth as the baby starts to use it's lungs in a more normal manner. God sure didn't forget any details as to how He wanted to give us each life did He?!. This little problem that Reagan is having further solidifies to me that we were CREATED. Something so intricate could not have just "happened." Reagan's PDA as it is called, has not closed yet (although we have faith that God is helping this problem as we speak) and she is now receiving medicine to help it close. Please be praying that the medicine works immediately. She will be having an echo cardiogram on Wednesday to see if the medicine is working and if the valve is closing. If the medicine does not take effect quickly, then she will have to undergo surgery to close it. Let's all target our faith that God will help to close this valve immediately without surgery! Whatever happens, we will trust Him. As a side note about the heart surgery that she would have to have if the PDA does not close on it's own, the doctor here apparently was the doctor or one of the doctors that pioneered this surgery. I feel that we are in good hands with the Doctors here and even better hands holding us from above.
I do want to be honest and open about this whole process and feel that it will help you to pray if Amy and I open up to you on a personal level to let you know how we are doing. I have started feeling a bit tired and somewhat frazzled (if that is a word) yet I still have peace about the outcome. Amy is doing pretty well but seems to be concerned a lot of the time. Basically, she knows "too much" about what could happen over the next 8+ weeks. Pray that we will be able to remember that God is in control EVERY time a doubt enters one of our minds. We try to refocus together to remember that the same hands that created the world created Reagan and He knows every intricate detail of her being. He knows what will happen with Reagan each day and we are glad that He is in control.
From a faith perspective, my faith has never been tried as it has during this process. I am sure that Amy feels the same way. Thanks to all teachers, pastors, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and especially to our parents for helping to saturate our lives from an early age with Faith in God so that we would be prepared for times like these. God is giving us each enough to get through each day. In general, I am not a very patient person. At times, I have to sit back when I am wondering what God is doing and tell myself that no matter what the circumstances, He is in control. For someone that is used to handling things by myself, it is hard for me to do that, but I am learning. I tell you all that to give you the next couple of things that we could really use help praying about. So, here goes...
1. Pray for Reagan's PDA to close without surgery and for her oxygen levels to stabilize.
2. Pray that no sickness will enter any of our bodies.
3. Pray for continued strength for Amy and I as our lives seem to be in a state of upheaval. God is constant and we hold firmly to that.
4. Pray for Amy, she continues to have bad dreams at night and I know that God can take them away. It is hard to be so emotionally drained at the end of the day and then to wake up the next day after a night of bad dreams. I ask God to take those bad dreams away right now and to give her rest (He promised to "give rest to the weary" and we claim that promise right now!)
5. Pray that souls will be effected for eternity and lives will be changed throughout this process.
We love you all dearly. At some point, I am going to try to set up a web page where people that view this site can type their name in so that Reagan will have a list of all the people that are helping to keep her lifted up!!! (Not to put you on the spot David Winslow). More pics coming soon! She is getting cuter every day!
Thanks to everyone for what you have done for us!
Go Reagan, Go!!!
Love,
Robert and Amy
Thank you all so much, once again, for continuing to pray for Reagan, Amy, and myself, as this is a very emotional journey and we are grateful for all the prayers that are being said on our behalf. Starting early this morning, Reagan began having trouble with her Oxygen levels again. I'll keep the medical terminology to a minimum as I don't know it as well as Amy. Basically, God created babies to be able to "breathe" in the mother's womb as you all know. He created a valve in their heart so that while they are growing inside mommy, their blood gets oxygenated through this valve. Normally, this valve closes almost immediately after birth as the baby starts to use it's lungs in a more normal manner. God sure didn't forget any details as to how He wanted to give us each life did He?!. This little problem that Reagan is having further solidifies to me that we were CREATED. Something so intricate could not have just "happened." Reagan's PDA as it is called, has not closed yet (although we have faith that God is helping this problem as we speak) and she is now receiving medicine to help it close. Please be praying that the medicine works immediately. She will be having an echo cardiogram on Wednesday to see if the medicine is working and if the valve is closing. If the medicine does not take effect quickly, then she will have to undergo surgery to close it. Let's all target our faith that God will help to close this valve immediately without surgery! Whatever happens, we will trust Him. As a side note about the heart surgery that she would have to have if the PDA does not close on it's own, the doctor here apparently was the doctor or one of the doctors that pioneered this surgery. I feel that we are in good hands with the Doctors here and even better hands holding us from above.
I do want to be honest and open about this whole process and feel that it will help you to pray if Amy and I open up to you on a personal level to let you know how we are doing. I have started feeling a bit tired and somewhat frazzled (if that is a word) yet I still have peace about the outcome. Amy is doing pretty well but seems to be concerned a lot of the time. Basically, she knows "too much" about what could happen over the next 8+ weeks. Pray that we will be able to remember that God is in control EVERY time a doubt enters one of our minds. We try to refocus together to remember that the same hands that created the world created Reagan and He knows every intricate detail of her being. He knows what will happen with Reagan each day and we are glad that He is in control.
From a faith perspective, my faith has never been tried as it has during this process. I am sure that Amy feels the same way. Thanks to all teachers, pastors, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and especially to our parents for helping to saturate our lives from an early age with Faith in God so that we would be prepared for times like these. God is giving us each enough to get through each day. In general, I am not a very patient person. At times, I have to sit back when I am wondering what God is doing and tell myself that no matter what the circumstances, He is in control. For someone that is used to handling things by myself, it is hard for me to do that, but I am learning. I tell you all that to give you the next couple of things that we could really use help praying about. So, here goes...
1. Pray for Reagan's PDA to close without surgery and for her oxygen levels to stabilize.
2. Pray that no sickness will enter any of our bodies.
3. Pray for continued strength for Amy and I as our lives seem to be in a state of upheaval. God is constant and we hold firmly to that.
4. Pray for Amy, she continues to have bad dreams at night and I know that God can take them away. It is hard to be so emotionally drained at the end of the day and then to wake up the next day after a night of bad dreams. I ask God to take those bad dreams away right now and to give her rest (He promised to "give rest to the weary" and we claim that promise right now!)
5. Pray that souls will be effected for eternity and lives will be changed throughout this process.
We love you all dearly. At some point, I am going to try to set up a web page where people that view this site can type their name in so that Reagan will have a list of all the people that are helping to keep her lifted up!!! (Not to put you on the spot David Winslow). More pics coming soon! She is getting cuter every day!
Thanks to everyone for what you have done for us!
Go Reagan, Go!!!
Love,
Robert and Amy
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patrick's Day Update
Dear Friends and Family,
Reagan has had a fairly good weekend. After being placed back on the vent. her blood gasses have not been as good as before. The doctors thought she might have early signs of pneumonia so they ordered some blood work yesterday. Everything came back normal; no elevated white blood cell count or CRP. The NNP taking care of her heard a murmur so today they did another ECHO of her heart and she has a moderate PDA. They are treating this with medication so please pray that the medication will work without any side effects and we can avoid surgery. Overall she is doing very well. The doctors are attributing the bad blood gasses to her PDA and have ruled out pneumonia so for this we are very thankful. She was doing very well with her feeds but they are holding them for the next couple days while she is being treated for her PDA. She is still 1 pound and 9 ounces! I was able to hold her again today for 2 hours and she did great!!!!! This has quickly become the highlight of my days! I don't know what feels better than holding your child close to your heart and feel her breathing and wiggling around. Everyday has been such a blessing to share with Reagan. I can't wait for the day we can bring her home and share her with our friends and family.
Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Some say she is doing well by coincidence but I believe she is doing so well because she is in our Heavenly Fathers Hands. There is no one who can take care of her better than God. He is hearing and answering our prayers so please keep praying. We love you and are so thankful for all caring remarks and prayers.
May God Bless!
Love,
Amy and Robert
Reagan has had a fairly good weekend. After being placed back on the vent. her blood gasses have not been as good as before. The doctors thought she might have early signs of pneumonia so they ordered some blood work yesterday. Everything came back normal; no elevated white blood cell count or CRP. The NNP taking care of her heard a murmur so today they did another ECHO of her heart and she has a moderate PDA. They are treating this with medication so please pray that the medication will work without any side effects and we can avoid surgery. Overall she is doing very well. The doctors are attributing the bad blood gasses to her PDA and have ruled out pneumonia so for this we are very thankful. She was doing very well with her feeds but they are holding them for the next couple days while she is being treated for her PDA. She is still 1 pound and 9 ounces! I was able to hold her again today for 2 hours and she did great!!!!! This has quickly become the highlight of my days! I don't know what feels better than holding your child close to your heart and feel her breathing and wiggling around. Everyday has been such a blessing to share with Reagan. I can't wait for the day we can bring her home and share her with our friends and family.
Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Some say she is doing well by coincidence but I believe she is doing so well because she is in our Heavenly Fathers Hands. There is no one who can take care of her better than God. He is hearing and answering our prayers so please keep praying. We love you and are so thankful for all caring remarks and prayers.
May God Bless!
Love,
Amy and Robert
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Mommy Holds Reagan
Getting Ready to Kangaroo with Mom- What a tangled mess.
Here I Come!
"Kangaroo Care" Skin to Skin with Mom
Cuddle Time and I'm Not Letting Go
Three Generations-(Where's Reagan?)
Today's E-vent (title by Nana)
Dear Friends,
I hope that you have all had a good weekend so far. I apologize for not updating the blog more last night. Reagan had good success on her CPAP for 36 hours, pretty much breathing on her own. This morning, around 10:00 AM the Nurse Practitioner checked Reagan's CPAP Mask and found that her nose was "blanched" which means that it did not have sufficient blood flow to her nose. They decided to use a nasal canula instead of the mask so that Reagan would not have to have cosmetic surgery on her nose. The nasal canula would not fit her as well as the mask and could not maintain pressure as well and therefore needed to be put back on the ventilator. We are very grateful for the 36 hours that she was able to be off of the vent, and for the strength that we trust her lungs gained from the experience. She does have strong lungs!!! The main problem is that her body is so little. Many of the attachments do not fit as well and it is harder to maintain pressure for the oxygen to get into her lungs as she breathes. Please continue to pray that her lungs will stay strong and that next time they put her on something other than the vent, that it will fit perfectly and will serve the function intended, even on her little body. Let's even take it a step further and pray that she will be off the vent and CPAP as soon as possible and that she will have no need for either. I know that God can do it! He has proved Himself time and time again already and I have no doubt that He will do it again!!! He made this little girl and can give her the strength that she needs to grow strong and to breathe on her own!
Thank you all for reading and replying to this Blog with your thoughts. We appreciate your prayers throughout this process as that is what is getting us through. God is listening and providing help! Thank you for caring. I can't tell you how grateful we are for your prayers and encouragement. We will be up here at the hospital for at least another 8 weeks and know that it will be a long road...but we have made it almost two weeks already with your prayers and support and know that God will help us make it the rest of the way.
Reagan has gained 3oz since born so she is now 1lb and 9oz...Thank the Lord! She is even starting to look a little bit bigger. We are so thankful for this little life and want blessings and strength to be hers!!! She is adorable and so sweet and I love her dearly. Another request we would like to make is that God will protect Reagan from any infections or sickness that could slow her progress - I know He is able!
Amy got to hold Reagan on Friday for the very first time and was grinning from ear to ear (of course). I haven't yet, but am excited to hold my little girl soon. She did great with Amy and all her vitals stayed very strong. It takes a while to get all her tubes and wires arranged to be able to hold her, but it is definitely worth it. They call it Kangaroo Care as it provides skin to skin contact for the baby and mother. Make sure to look at the pictures that Amy will post shortly of her holding Reagan. They are absolutely precious!!!
Praise God for the progress!!! We are trusting HIM for his power and wisdom and to guide the medical staff and us to produce the greatest outcome for Baby Reagan.
Go Reagan, Go!!!
We love you all!!!
Robert and Amy
I hope that you have all had a good weekend so far. I apologize for not updating the blog more last night. Reagan had good success on her CPAP for 36 hours, pretty much breathing on her own. This morning, around 10:00 AM the Nurse Practitioner checked Reagan's CPAP Mask and found that her nose was "blanched" which means that it did not have sufficient blood flow to her nose. They decided to use a nasal canula instead of the mask so that Reagan would not have to have cosmetic surgery on her nose. The nasal canula would not fit her as well as the mask and could not maintain pressure as well and therefore needed to be put back on the ventilator. We are very grateful for the 36 hours that she was able to be off of the vent, and for the strength that we trust her lungs gained from the experience. She does have strong lungs!!! The main problem is that her body is so little. Many of the attachments do not fit as well and it is harder to maintain pressure for the oxygen to get into her lungs as she breathes. Please continue to pray that her lungs will stay strong and that next time they put her on something other than the vent, that it will fit perfectly and will serve the function intended, even on her little body. Let's even take it a step further and pray that she will be off the vent and CPAP as soon as possible and that she will have no need for either. I know that God can do it! He has proved Himself time and time again already and I have no doubt that He will do it again!!! He made this little girl and can give her the strength that she needs to grow strong and to breathe on her own!
Thank you all for reading and replying to this Blog with your thoughts. We appreciate your prayers throughout this process as that is what is getting us through. God is listening and providing help! Thank you for caring. I can't tell you how grateful we are for your prayers and encouragement. We will be up here at the hospital for at least another 8 weeks and know that it will be a long road...but we have made it almost two weeks already with your prayers and support and know that God will help us make it the rest of the way.
Reagan has gained 3oz since born so she is now 1lb and 9oz...Thank the Lord! She is even starting to look a little bit bigger. We are so thankful for this little life and want blessings and strength to be hers!!! She is adorable and so sweet and I love her dearly. Another request we would like to make is that God will protect Reagan from any infections or sickness that could slow her progress - I know He is able!
Amy got to hold Reagan on Friday for the very first time and was grinning from ear to ear (of course). I haven't yet, but am excited to hold my little girl soon. She did great with Amy and all her vitals stayed very strong. It takes a while to get all her tubes and wires arranged to be able to hold her, but it is definitely worth it. They call it Kangaroo Care as it provides skin to skin contact for the baby and mother. Make sure to look at the pictures that Amy will post shortly of her holding Reagan. They are absolutely precious!!!
Praise God for the progress!!! We are trusting HIM for his power and wisdom and to guide the medical staff and us to produce the greatest outcome for Baby Reagan.
Go Reagan, Go!!!
We love you all!!!
Robert and Amy
Friday, March 14, 2008
Defending Daddy
Now all of you that know me know that I am not stubborn as was previously posted.(wink,wink). Okay, anyway, I was praying last night between the hours of 11 and 1 o'clock as well as working on writing a prayer for Baby Reagan that I will post later today. Little did I know that Reagan had pulled out her oxygen tube and had been put on the machine that makes her do a lot more on her own. I was praying that God would give her lungs special strength and, little did I know, that as I was praying, God was giving her incredible strength with her lungs! God is answering your prayers as well as mine! On a human level, it would have been hard for her to get on the CPAP machine, but nothing is too great for our God!!! I remembered a song from my children's church days as I was thinking about God's strength the other day and it is reverberating in my head today..."My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY there's nothing my God cannot do." I love Him today for hearing a humbled father's plea for supernatural help! A lot of you have been encouraging Amy and I by telling us how wonderful we are handling this situation. I appreciate the kind accolades (and you are welcome to keep sending them), but I really want to let them flow through directly to God as He is the one that is getting us through this. For those of you that know me, I can get worked up pretty quickly (no comments please :) ) but God has given me a "peace that passes understanding." All glory and honor and praise goes directly to Him! God bless you all and have a great Friday!!! I will probably post an update again later this afternoon. Love to all!
Robert and Amy
P.S. Go Reagan, Go!!!
Robert and Amy
P.S. Go Reagan, Go!!!
I'm Just Like My Dad!
Little Miss Reagan is showing her stubbornness today (Just like her dad). She decided to pull out her endotracheal tube last night at 11:00. The doctors put her back on CPAP. She is doing well so far this morning. We have had a few apnic episodes where Reagan dropped her heart rate but nothing compared to last Sunday. God has answered our prayers by giving her new strength. Please continue to pray for her today that she will not tire out and will keep breathing on her own. She is doing far better than any 24 week baby I have taken care of. I know this is God's power working in Reagan. We have a mighty God who can and will do miraculous things in our lives as long as we ask and believe. Reagan is 1 pound 9 ounces today. She had a very large dirty diaper that dad changed last night. This was her first dirty diaper without a suppository. YEA!!! She is on an auto increase for her feeds. Every day she goes up be 0.2mls per hour. She is currently getting 1.4mls per hour. The doctors stopped all of Reagan's antibiotics due to negative cultures showing no infections. She is being a feisty, stubborn little girl! We are so thankful!!!!
Thanks for the continued prayer and overwhelming support!
Love,
Amy and Robert
My New CPAP!
"Snuggle me? I dare you!"
Thanks for the continued prayer and overwhelming support!
Love,
Amy and Robert
My New CPAP!
"Snuggle me? I dare you!"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
4 Good Days in a Row!!!
Dear Friends,
Dad here again...I hope you aren't tired of me yet. Reagan had another great day today and I have no doubt that it was due to the prayers that are being said for her. Reagan got a new line on Wednesday through her arm that provides nourishment to her body and that went well. She needed this as the tube that went in through her belly button needed to come out to reduce the risk of infection. Anyway, that went quite well and her day ended with lots of her favorite visitors stopping by to say hello. Have I told you we are thankful for you all? Well, we are! Every day it seems that I hear from someone new that has heard about baby Reagan and has been praying. One little fellow (Nolan) from church even took a picture of Baby Reagan to hang up in his classroom so that his friends could pray for Baby Reagan. Another little boy prays for baby "Raggin", and yet another child and her mother prayed for Reagan on the way to school. It blesses me to know how much the children care as well as the adults. I have also received emails from people that know me through a friend of a friend of a friend. Those have been encouraging as it shows me that there must be literally tens of thousands of people praying. It is amazing to me how good God is to us. As you are praying for Reagan, I ask that you will specifically pray for supernatural help with the development of her lungs. That seems to be her biggest obstacle at present. "Ask and you shall receive."
One thing that God is doing for Amy and I through this is helping us be more comfortable praying with each other. We had never really prayed together on a regular basis until this happened to us. Now we pray together every day, sometimes several times and we believe that God will answer our prayers. It is something that I plan to implement into our daily lives, even after this ordeal is complete. I'm not sure why we didn't use to pray together, but for whatever reason, it seemed a little uncomfortable. I hope that you can take our experience and pray with your spouse about all the things that are going on in your lives. I think that you will get the same blessing that we have received. It's interesting to me how God is using a child that can't even talk to change, shape, and mold our lives. On a much larger spiritual scale, God used another child (Jesus) to change the world as well as our hearts and that is what gives us hope for the future with Baby Reagan. I am grateful for that hope and pray that it is in your heart as well!
Go Reagan!!!
Love to all,
Robert and Amy
Dad here again...I hope you aren't tired of me yet. Reagan had another great day today and I have no doubt that it was due to the prayers that are being said for her. Reagan got a new line on Wednesday through her arm that provides nourishment to her body and that went well. She needed this as the tube that went in through her belly button needed to come out to reduce the risk of infection. Anyway, that went quite well and her day ended with lots of her favorite visitors stopping by to say hello. Have I told you we are thankful for you all? Well, we are! Every day it seems that I hear from someone new that has heard about baby Reagan and has been praying. One little fellow (Nolan) from church even took a picture of Baby Reagan to hang up in his classroom so that his friends could pray for Baby Reagan. Another little boy prays for baby "Raggin", and yet another child and her mother prayed for Reagan on the way to school. It blesses me to know how much the children care as well as the adults. I have also received emails from people that know me through a friend of a friend of a friend. Those have been encouraging as it shows me that there must be literally tens of thousands of people praying. It is amazing to me how good God is to us. As you are praying for Reagan, I ask that you will specifically pray for supernatural help with the development of her lungs. That seems to be her biggest obstacle at present. "Ask and you shall receive."
One thing that God is doing for Amy and I through this is helping us be more comfortable praying with each other. We had never really prayed together on a regular basis until this happened to us. Now we pray together every day, sometimes several times and we believe that God will answer our prayers. It is something that I plan to implement into our daily lives, even after this ordeal is complete. I'm not sure why we didn't use to pray together, but for whatever reason, it seemed a little uncomfortable. I hope that you can take our experience and pray with your spouse about all the things that are going on in your lives. I think that you will get the same blessing that we have received. It's interesting to me how God is using a child that can't even talk to change, shape, and mold our lives. On a much larger spiritual scale, God used another child (Jesus) to change the world as well as our hearts and that is what gives us hope for the future with Baby Reagan. I am grateful for that hope and pray that it is in your heart as well!
Go Reagan!!!
Love to all,
Robert and Amy
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
1 Week Old!! - Pictures
Cranial Ultrasound Shows Perfect Brain!
"I Can See! And I found my fingers! Yay!
"I'm soooo comfortable"
"Oh say can you see....."
"Uncle Steve has really fat fingers!"
Covered with love and prayers
"Thanks for the bunny! I love it"
Gaining Strength
Well, it's daddy's turn again and I am grateful for the opportunity to give you all another update about sweet little Reagan. First let me tell you that I am so very thankful for each and every one of you that has been praying for us. The encouragement we have received has been overwhelming at times. I could never thank you enough for all your prayers and love that you have sent to Reagan, Amy, and myself. Throughout our time at the hospital, we have met people that don't have family and/or friends that are there for them in their time of need. We are blessed to have you! God is listening and I know that He is answering your/our prayers. I believe that Reagan is being strengthened by the hand of Almighty God. He is also giving Amy and I strength and encouragement for each and every day. Our little girl is blessed! She is gaining strength! She is full of life and health and we are thankful!
Well, Reagan had another great day today. It was nice to have two good days in a row. It is so neat to watch a baby grow. We have had the pleasure of watching Reagan's eyes open as you will see in the new pictures. I fall more in love every day! She is just so precious to us and we thank God for her! Reagan is quite a spunky little girl and we are glad to see her willing to fight. She also has her calm relaxed moments where she is all stretched out in her isolet with both arms outstretched behind her head and both legs propped up on her little blanket. I guess she is already dreaming of what the beach must be like. I wish I could give her a great big hug and can't wait for the day that I am able to!
On another note, as you are praying for Reagan and us (even though she has had 2 good days, she still has a long way to go and we appreciate your prayers) I ask that you would pray for some of the other families that we see here on a daily basis as well as the medical staff that takes care of the babies. We want to make a difference in these people's lives as much as we possibly can. Many of the people that we see on a daily basis are dealing with the same things (some worse) than what we are dealing with and they don't have the support here with them that we have. So lift them up as well! We had one lady at the Ronald McDonald house where we are staying tell us about her little boy's upcoming surgery (tomorrow) so we stopped and prayed for her son. I ask that you will do the same. I would love for more opportunities like that to arise so that we can share God's love. Thanks again for your love and support. We love you all.
Robert and Amy
Well, Reagan had another great day today. It was nice to have two good days in a row. It is so neat to watch a baby grow. We have had the pleasure of watching Reagan's eyes open as you will see in the new pictures. I fall more in love every day! She is just so precious to us and we thank God for her! Reagan is quite a spunky little girl and we are glad to see her willing to fight. She also has her calm relaxed moments where she is all stretched out in her isolet with both arms outstretched behind her head and both legs propped up on her little blanket. I guess she is already dreaming of what the beach must be like. I wish I could give her a great big hug and can't wait for the day that I am able to!
On another note, as you are praying for Reagan and us (even though she has had 2 good days, she still has a long way to go and we appreciate your prayers) I ask that you would pray for some of the other families that we see here on a daily basis as well as the medical staff that takes care of the babies. We want to make a difference in these people's lives as much as we possibly can. Many of the people that we see on a daily basis are dealing with the same things (some worse) than what we are dealing with and they don't have the support here with them that we have. So lift them up as well! We had one lady at the Ronald McDonald house where we are staying tell us about her little boy's upcoming surgery (tomorrow) so we stopped and prayed for her son. I ask that you will do the same. I would love for more opportunities like that to arise so that we can share God's love. Thanks again for your love and support. We love you all.
Robert and Amy
Reagan Turns One Week Old
Reagan made it through week one. She weighed 1 pound 8 ounces today. She continues to do very well on the conventional vent. We increased her feeds to 1 ml/hour today. I might be prejudice but she just gets cuter every day. We are very thankful for our good days this week. We thank God for every moment we get to share with Reagan. She has already blessed our lives! It is amazing the network of friends we have. During times like these you realize how much we take for granted. Thank you so much for all the prayers. May God bless you for your faithfulness.
Love,
Amy and Robert
Love,
Amy and Robert
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Roller Coaster Continues
Dear Friends and Family,
We made it through our first day without shedding any tears! Reagan had another great day. The doctors did a scan of her brain and everything looks perfect. No head bleed which is common for her age. They also did another echo of her heart and everything looks great there too!! She had a very large poopy diaper so they restarted her feeds today. She now can peak at us with both eyes. I believe daddy was the first person she saw. I guess we have another daddy's girl. She is still on the ventilator but they switched her from the jet to conventional for my RT friends. Oxygen is still 25%-35%. The doctors promised me they would not try to take her off again for a week. Everyday something different happens; I know there is a lot more to come but I pray they are more like today.
I wanted to say a special thanks to my church family and Sandra for the beautiful prayer quilt. We have it above Reagan's bed. I know lots of prayers went up for Reagan yesterday and I can't image what our day would have been like without them. Thanks so much for all the encouraging notes. I hope we can bless your lives as much as each of you have blessed ours. When I get my computer working more pictures will be posted!
We love you!
Amy and Robert
We made it through our first day without shedding any tears! Reagan had another great day. The doctors did a scan of her brain and everything looks perfect. No head bleed which is common for her age. They also did another echo of her heart and everything looks great there too!! She had a very large poopy diaper so they restarted her feeds today. She now can peak at us with both eyes. I believe daddy was the first person she saw. I guess we have another daddy's girl. She is still on the ventilator but they switched her from the jet to conventional for my RT friends. Oxygen is still 25%-35%. The doctors promised me they would not try to take her off again for a week. Everyday something different happens; I know there is a lot more to come but I pray they are more like today.
I wanted to say a special thanks to my church family and Sandra for the beautiful prayer quilt. We have it above Reagan's bed. I know lots of prayers went up for Reagan yesterday and I can't image what our day would have been like without them. Thanks so much for all the encouraging notes. I hope we can bless your lives as much as each of you have blessed ours. When I get my computer working more pictures will be posted!
We love you!
Amy and Robert
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Pray for Reagan
Dear Friends,
I am writing today to request prayer again for Little Reagan. She gave us quite a scare a few minutes ago but has been stabilized again. Basically, she had been on a jet ventilator that forces oxygen into her lungs and had been doing great and was breathing without too much aid. Today, they needed to try to let her breath on her own with just a CPAP machine. I don't know all the details, but basically, this machine provides the oxygen, but does not force it into her lungs like the other machine. The doctors are monitoring her oxygen levels very closely as she could have brain damage if they do not get her breathing more on her own (that is why they wanted to change the machine - they needed to see if she could cope). I would have a very hard time making the decisions that the Doctors and Nurses have to make, but am grateful that they are available to help. There are apparently many risks no matter which machine she is on and the doctors have to make decisions based on those risks. She had a fairly hard time with the CPAP from the very beginning and eventually began to have some major problems. Her heart rate dropped to zero on the monitor (I'm not sure that it actually stopped, but it appeared to). The nurses and doctors immediately did chest compressions to get her heart beating again as well as re-intibated her (put her back on the jet ventilator). These details are not fun to write or to read about, but we want you to know what is going on so that you know how to pray. Our God is soooo much bigger than this whole situation and we know that He will carry us through. The unknowns are the hardest part of this experience.
I still have peace in my heart that God is in controlf of this situation. I cried out to him during the scary situation that we endured earlier and asked him to revive her. He did! I don't know why God allows some of the things that He allows but I know that He has a plan. I have probably been a hard read for many of you that have been up here to see me. I have had a hard time understanding my own emotions...even after all that just happened, I still feel the peace of God in my heart. Usually I am the one that can't seem to cope with hard situations as well, but God is helping me. Amy has been a little bit more emotionally shaken, yet very brave. Although we both have great faith in God's power and might, which gives us peace, we are still both struggling with the unknowns. We will keep trusting God so that He receives all glory, honor, and praise. Amy and I are used to being able to take care of the situations that confront us in life, but this one is far above our means. We ask that you would continue to pray for God's touch in Reagan's life as well as ours. We are in need of a touch from HIM! Pray for God's healing power for Reagan. Please also pray for the Doctors, Nurses, and other people that work here. We want them to see Jesus in us. Thank you for your faithfulness to pray. We love you all and are thankful for you!
Robert and Amy
I am writing today to request prayer again for Little Reagan. She gave us quite a scare a few minutes ago but has been stabilized again. Basically, she had been on a jet ventilator that forces oxygen into her lungs and had been doing great and was breathing without too much aid. Today, they needed to try to let her breath on her own with just a CPAP machine. I don't know all the details, but basically, this machine provides the oxygen, but does not force it into her lungs like the other machine. The doctors are monitoring her oxygen levels very closely as she could have brain damage if they do not get her breathing more on her own (that is why they wanted to change the machine - they needed to see if she could cope). I would have a very hard time making the decisions that the Doctors and Nurses have to make, but am grateful that they are available to help. There are apparently many risks no matter which machine she is on and the doctors have to make decisions based on those risks. She had a fairly hard time with the CPAP from the very beginning and eventually began to have some major problems. Her heart rate dropped to zero on the monitor (I'm not sure that it actually stopped, but it appeared to). The nurses and doctors immediately did chest compressions to get her heart beating again as well as re-intibated her (put her back on the jet ventilator). These details are not fun to write or to read about, but we want you to know what is going on so that you know how to pray. Our God is soooo much bigger than this whole situation and we know that He will carry us through. The unknowns are the hardest part of this experience.
I still have peace in my heart that God is in controlf of this situation. I cried out to him during the scary situation that we endured earlier and asked him to revive her. He did! I don't know why God allows some of the things that He allows but I know that He has a plan. I have probably been a hard read for many of you that have been up here to see me. I have had a hard time understanding my own emotions...even after all that just happened, I still feel the peace of God in my heart. Usually I am the one that can't seem to cope with hard situations as well, but God is helping me. Amy has been a little bit more emotionally shaken, yet very brave. Although we both have great faith in God's power and might, which gives us peace, we are still both struggling with the unknowns. We will keep trusting God so that He receives all glory, honor, and praise. Amy and I are used to being able to take care of the situations that confront us in life, but this one is far above our means. We ask that you would continue to pray for God's touch in Reagan's life as well as ours. We are in need of a touch from HIM! Pray for God's healing power for Reagan. Please also pray for the Doctors, Nurses, and other people that work here. We want them to see Jesus in us. Thank you for your faithfulness to pray. We love you all and are thankful for you!
Robert and Amy
Saturday, March 8, 2008
4 Days Old and Doing Great!!!
Dear Friends and Family,
Reagan had another great day today, Saturday March 8th. She accomplished a lot of first today. She opened one of her eyes and is trying very hard with the second. She had her first very tiny dirty diaper! They started her feeds yesterday and doubled them today. She is getting 0.6ml per hour for you nurses. There is 5 mls in a teaspoon if that helps. She is doing well with heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen. The doctors thought about taking her off her ventilator today but I, being a worried mom/nurse, talked them into giving her another day to rest. If she continues to due this well throughout the night they will put her on CPAP tomorrow. Yesterday they stopped her bili light so she no longer has to wear the shades.
God has been so good to us and Reagan. I know He hears all the prayers being said. Thanks so much for continuing to pray for us. We look forward to giving you more positive updates!
Love,
Amy
Reagan had another great day today, Saturday March 8th. She accomplished a lot of first today. She opened one of her eyes and is trying very hard with the second. She had her first very tiny dirty diaper! They started her feeds yesterday and doubled them today. She is getting 0.6ml per hour for you nurses. There is 5 mls in a teaspoon if that helps. She is doing well with heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen. The doctors thought about taking her off her ventilator today but I, being a worried mom/nurse, talked them into giving her another day to rest. If she continues to due this well throughout the night they will put her on CPAP tomorrow. Yesterday they stopped her bili light so she no longer has to wear the shades.
God has been so good to us and Reagan. I know He hears all the prayers being said. Thanks so much for continuing to pray for us. We look forward to giving you more positive updates!
Love,
Amy
Today Was a Great Day!
Dear Friends,
It's Daddy's turn! Wow, I can't get over the response we have received through this blog as well as through emails and phone calls. We are so blessed to have so many people that care about us and about Reagan! Thank you all for the prayers. Amy and I were talking about how hard it would be to get through this without our faith in God and the support of our friends, family, coworkers and etc. Amy and I have experienced about every emotion possible over the last five days. Believe it or not, one of the greatest emotions that I have felt during this time is peace. Last Sunday in Sunday School we were learning about how God allows trials to happen to help us grow in our faith. Little did we know that Sunday afternoon, Amy and I would begin the greatest trial of our lives so far. During the Sunday School lesson, we learned that even though the storms of life are somewhat inevitable, God is still watching over us and protecting us. We are grateful.
Reagan did very well today. I am so thankful for the fact that she had a great day and I have faith that she will continue with more great days ahead. She is such a precious little girl and I am so thankful to be her daddy. Someone actually said that they thought they got a glimpse of me in her today. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not as my wife is much better looking than I am, but I was proud none the less:) The intricacies of her little body are nothing short of amazing. She is covered with the fingerprints of God from her round little head to her perfect little (and I mean really little) toes. She has the cutest little nose and chin that you will ever see as well as the ability to tap her foot to the beat of the ventilator according to Uncle Michael. I wish that you all could see the little life that you are praying for daily. Pictures don't do justice to what God has created in Baby Reagan. She is a blessed child of God and that gives me great hope and comfort knowing that He is watching over her every minute!
Thanks again for writing to us. I check this blog several times a day for new encouragement. If you would prefer to send an email, and receive email updates about Reagan, you may email me at robert@winslows.org. We love you all and are very thankful for your kindness and support. Your prayers and support have brought me to tears several times and there is no way that I could express my heartfelt gratitude to you all. Thank you so very much, and please continue to pray!!!
Love,
Robert and Amy
It's Daddy's turn! Wow, I can't get over the response we have received through this blog as well as through emails and phone calls. We are so blessed to have so many people that care about us and about Reagan! Thank you all for the prayers. Amy and I were talking about how hard it would be to get through this without our faith in God and the support of our friends, family, coworkers and etc. Amy and I have experienced about every emotion possible over the last five days. Believe it or not, one of the greatest emotions that I have felt during this time is peace. Last Sunday in Sunday School we were learning about how God allows trials to happen to help us grow in our faith. Little did we know that Sunday afternoon, Amy and I would begin the greatest trial of our lives so far. During the Sunday School lesson, we learned that even though the storms of life are somewhat inevitable, God is still watching over us and protecting us. We are grateful.
Reagan did very well today. I am so thankful for the fact that she had a great day and I have faith that she will continue with more great days ahead. She is such a precious little girl and I am so thankful to be her daddy. Someone actually said that they thought they got a glimpse of me in her today. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not as my wife is much better looking than I am, but I was proud none the less:) The intricacies of her little body are nothing short of amazing. She is covered with the fingerprints of God from her round little head to her perfect little (and I mean really little) toes. She has the cutest little nose and chin that you will ever see as well as the ability to tap her foot to the beat of the ventilator according to Uncle Michael. I wish that you all could see the little life that you are praying for daily. Pictures don't do justice to what God has created in Baby Reagan. She is a blessed child of God and that gives me great hope and comfort knowing that He is watching over her every minute!
Thanks again for writing to us. I check this blog several times a day for new encouragement. If you would prefer to send an email, and receive email updates about Reagan, you may email me at robert@winslows.org. We love you all and are very thankful for your kindness and support. Your prayers and support have brought me to tears several times and there is no way that I could express my heartfelt gratitude to you all. Thank you so very much, and please continue to pray!!!
Love,
Robert and Amy
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
Thanks so much for all the encouraging notes. Baby Reagan gave us a scare today. She had some fluid around her heart that the Doctors removed early this morning. Due to the severity of this if it should recur the doctors decided it was best to transport Reagan to Baptist Children's Hospital where a heart specialist could watch her. The transport team said Reagan enjoyed her ambulance ride but she is under strict orders to not stress her mom and dad again. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. The doctors all say she is doing great especially for her age and size.
Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Amy
Thanks so much for all the encouraging notes. Baby Reagan gave us a scare today. She had some fluid around her heart that the Doctors removed early this morning. Due to the severity of this if it should recur the doctors decided it was best to transport Reagan to Baptist Children's Hospital where a heart specialist could watch her. The transport team said Reagan enjoyed her ambulance ride but she is under strict orders to not stress her mom and dad again. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. The doctors all say she is doing great especially for her age and size.
Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Amy
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Reagan Olivia Winslow
Dear Friends and Family,
Most of you have heard by now that Robert and I are proud parents of a baby girl, Reagan Olivia Winslow. Unfortunately, she decided to make her appearance early. She was born March 4 at 4:09am weighing 1 lb-5.9 ounces. She is 12" long. We ask that you continue to pray for her and mommy and daddy as we have a long stressful road ahead. She is currently stable and doing what a 24 week infant is expected to do. Please pray that God will guide the doctors, nurses, and staff taking care of her and continue to help her develop and mature. Nothing is too big or small for God to handle!
We will update this website regularly and add some pictures soon. We enjoy reading your emails. Thanks for all your love, prayer, and support.
Sincerely,
Amy and Robert
Most of you have heard by now that Robert and I are proud parents of a baby girl, Reagan Olivia Winslow. Unfortunately, she decided to make her appearance early. She was born March 4 at 4:09am weighing 1 lb-5.9 ounces. She is 12" long. We ask that you continue to pray for her and mommy and daddy as we have a long stressful road ahead. She is currently stable and doing what a 24 week infant is expected to do. Please pray that God will guide the doctors, nurses, and staff taking care of her and continue to help her develop and mature. Nothing is too big or small for God to handle!
We will update this website regularly and add some pictures soon. We enjoy reading your emails. Thanks for all your love, prayer, and support.
Sincerely,
Amy and Robert
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
