Almost 4 Weeks Old and Looking Good

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!