Dear Friends and Family,
It is hard to believe it has been ten weeks already. Reagan is 35 weeks corrected age today. She has come such a long way since March 4Th. God has been good to us and blessed us with a beautiful girl. We are so thankful for Reagan and the protective hand of God. I still don't know why bad things happen in our lives but I know I would not be the same person today without experiencing these difficulties. I have learned many lessons these past weeks about prayer, faith, and character. I hope I continue to live out these lessons I have learned and don't retreat to my old ways once the stress of the NICU is behind us. The most important lesson I have learned is that when you get to the bottom issue of whatever trials you experience you realize that you are not in control but God is. I am thankful for this reminder for when I feel "stressed out" I can sit back and say God this is in your hands. His hands is where it should be to begin with but our human nature makes us think we have to be in control when that is not the case. I am trusting God to protect Reagan and allow us to bring her home soon.
Reagan is continuing to do well, gaining weight and strength each day. She weighs 3 pounds 3 ounces today. She is doing well with her bottle three times a day. Before long she will take off and we can get rid of that irritating feeding tube!!! She is still on the wedge for reflux and taking prevacid; both seem to be helping. Reagan is also still on the nasal cannula but we have weaned her flow from 2 liters down to 600mls. She remains on 21% (room air) which is great. Reagan was moved to an open crib today and continues to maintain her own temperature. We are finally moving in the right direction. The main issue we face right now and ask for your prayers is with Reagan's eyes. Due to her prematurity Reagan runs a risk for blindness due to detached Retina. I won't go into all the details but on her last exam her eyes looked worse and they will recheck them again next Wednesday. If they continue to get worse we will have to transfer to another hospital once again for eye surgery. The surgery has great success but requires Reagan being put on the ventilator. This is just another set back we hope to avoid. Please pray that Reagan's eyes will improve and we can skip this surgery all together. Your prayers mean so much to us and I know God hears them. I don't believe we would be were we are today without prayer! I would also request your prayers. I have been sick since Monday and not able to visit Reagan. Please pray for a healing touch and protection around Reagan so she will not catch another infection. We love you guys and appreciate all your support.
Sincerely,
Amy, Robert and Reagan
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Oh Boy! Picture Time Again!!!!
Can you believe I am 3 pounds 1 ounce today and 15 1/4 inches long!!!!!
Dad compares me to a Mountain Dew
Quit it Dad!!! You are too funny!
Yes, everyone knows I look like my daddy!
Mommy's two favorite people! Can you blame her?
This is my wedge pillow I sleep on to help with my reflux. I am getting a lot better and not having big scary episodes. My prevacid and wedge are helping a lot.
"Aunt" Dana and baby Taylor come for a visit.
Taylor and I are buddies for life. We already act a lot alike. Our mommies don't like it but we keep them on their toes. Please continue to pray for my friend Taylor she has an infection and needs lots of prayer. Her mommy and daddy do too.
That all for now! Bye Bye
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Reagan Update...Happy Mother's Day!!!
Dear Friends,
The last few days for Reagan have been great! She is continuing to grow bigger and stronger with each passing day and we are very grateful for her progress! Thank you all for continuing to pray. We still have around 6 weeks before Reagan will come home and she needs to continue to grow without any major setbacks, so please pray that her feeds will continue to go well and that she will be able to breathe room air only in the very near future. She seems to be progressing to that point quickly, so lets thank God for her progress and continue to ask for His divine hand to be over her to help her with her growth and development. She weighed in at 2 lbs and 15 ozs. today and should hit the 3 lb mark very soon!!! It is hard to believe that she has more than doubled in weight..Thank you Lord for helping her to this point and for giving us the grace, patience and peace to deal with each passing day.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!! Without you, the rest of us wouldn't be here! I have three special moms that I would like to especially thank today...They are in no particular order... My mom (Carolyn)... My wife (Amy)... and My Mother-in-law (Connie).
Mom,
Thank you for having me and for helping me each second of my life to grow into the person that I am today. Thank you, when given choices that would affect my life for many years, for making choices for me that would be the very best, even if I did not like them at the time. Thank you for loving me through all the phases of life as well as for letting me "bend your ear" as the obsessive compulsive child I was! Thanks for always making sure that I made it to church on Sunday, Wednesday, and whenever there was a church function that I could attend. Most of all, thank you for helping me to grow to know and accept Jesus at an early age. He has made all the difference in my life and I credit you for showing me love as a child so that I could understand how much I am loved by God! I'm sure that times were not always easy when I was a child and that you faced many struggles of which, I was never aware. Thank you for giving me a peaceful childhood in which I could grow up without the fears that many children feel today. Thank you for helping me to feel secure each day and for letting me sleep on the floor in your room when I was scared at night! Thank you for raising me in an environment where the expectations were great, but the love and selfless motivation behind the expectations was even greater. Thank you for the discipline that I received as a child (often administered by dad :) ) as I feel that it helped provide a more peaceful existence within our family and set boundaries for what was acceptable and what was not. I plan to do the same with Reagan. Thank you for always providing a stable family environment in which I could grow up to know that my mom and dad were committed to each other, no matter what life threw at them. Thank you for always being fair with David and I. Thank you for supporting our home as Dad worked so that he could provide for us! Thank you for your love! Love is such a powerful expression that I wish more children could feel. I think it is hard for many kids that don't feel a parent's love to understand God's love for them. I think that God is very misunderstood and that if people knew just how much God loves them, they would want to live their lives to serve Him. So, thanks for showing me God's love. Anyway, just know that you are loved and appreciated on this Mother's Day and that I am thankful for all that you have done for me. May you have a wonderful year and again, thanks for everything!
Amy,
I was not expecting to be able to celebrate Mother's Day this year as Reagan was not due to make her appearance until late June...But, God had other plans and I am thankful for the opportunity to wish you a happy Mother's Day. You are a wonderful wife, friend, and now, Mommy!!! I always knew that you would be a fabulous mother and that is one of many reasons that I married you. You have been an inspiration to many by your attitude during the early birth and subsequent days of Reagan's life. Thank you for having a good attitude throughout this process, understanding the risks, yet choosing to rely on God's Sovereignty and help. It has not been an easy journey for you or for me except for the fact that God has been with us, and knowing that has made all the difference. I feel that we both decided to trust God's will early in this situation and to believe Him for something that was unknown to us. Thank you for making that choice with me not to blame God, but to be grateful each day, hour, minute, and second for Reagan's progress and to see the beauty that God had to show us as we chose to trust in Him. I remember you saying that you had wondered at one time why this had happened to us, and then you said your thought changed quickly to "why not us?" Thoughts are human sometimes, but I appreciate you rationally looking at things and agreeing that God would not give us something that He had not prepared us for. I cannot imagine what you dealt with during the early days of Reagan's birth, knowing what you know from your work experiences, but I am grateful for your Godly reaction to the circumstances. You are and will be an excellent mother! I look forward to raising Reagan with you! She will be home before you know it, playing with all her little friends (if we ever let her out of the house :) ) I love you and am proud of you!
Connie (Nana),
Although you are not my biological mother, I wanted to tell you thank you for being such a great mother-in-law. Many people complain about their mothers-in-law but I have no complaints. Thank you for your caring attitude toward your family and for always being willing to help when needed. Thank you for being by Amy's side as much as you were able to during the early days of Reagan's birth. It would have been hard to make it without your help and I am grateful for you and for your willingness to help lighten our burden. You are a blessing to my life as well as Amy's and I appreciate you. Thank you for helping to raise Amy into the person that she is today. You can read many of the things that I said about my mom and I'm sure the same could be said for you. You are loved on this Mother's Day!
To all you other moms out there...just know that you are appreciated. Thank you for the sacrifices that you make each day for your kids. My mom said something to me the other day that made a lot of sense. She was telling me about a compliment someone had paid her about raising me (I think they were probably getting me confused with David :) ). Her reaction to the compliment was very humble and she basically said that she did all that she knew to do and laid the best foundation that she could and then she allowed God to fill in the cracks. I know as a father that I will not be perfect, but I will allow God to mold me into the father that He wants for me to be. I will rely on Him to help my child to grow into the person that He wants her to be and will ask Him to fill in any areas in her life that are deficient. I'm sure glad that I don't have to be a perfect parent, but just teachable and open to hear from God. May God bless you all this Mother's Day!
You all are loved!
Robert
The last few days for Reagan have been great! She is continuing to grow bigger and stronger with each passing day and we are very grateful for her progress! Thank you all for continuing to pray. We still have around 6 weeks before Reagan will come home and she needs to continue to grow without any major setbacks, so please pray that her feeds will continue to go well and that she will be able to breathe room air only in the very near future. She seems to be progressing to that point quickly, so lets thank God for her progress and continue to ask for His divine hand to be over her to help her with her growth and development. She weighed in at 2 lbs and 15 ozs. today and should hit the 3 lb mark very soon!!! It is hard to believe that she has more than doubled in weight..Thank you Lord for helping her to this point and for giving us the grace, patience and peace to deal with each passing day.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!! Without you, the rest of us wouldn't be here! I have three special moms that I would like to especially thank today...They are in no particular order... My mom (Carolyn)... My wife (Amy)... and My Mother-in-law (Connie).
Mom,
Thank you for having me and for helping me each second of my life to grow into the person that I am today. Thank you, when given choices that would affect my life for many years, for making choices for me that would be the very best, even if I did not like them at the time. Thank you for loving me through all the phases of life as well as for letting me "bend your ear" as the obsessive compulsive child I was! Thanks for always making sure that I made it to church on Sunday, Wednesday, and whenever there was a church function that I could attend. Most of all, thank you for helping me to grow to know and accept Jesus at an early age. He has made all the difference in my life and I credit you for showing me love as a child so that I could understand how much I am loved by God! I'm sure that times were not always easy when I was a child and that you faced many struggles of which, I was never aware. Thank you for giving me a peaceful childhood in which I could grow up without the fears that many children feel today. Thank you for helping me to feel secure each day and for letting me sleep on the floor in your room when I was scared at night! Thank you for raising me in an environment where the expectations were great, but the love and selfless motivation behind the expectations was even greater. Thank you for the discipline that I received as a child (often administered by dad :) ) as I feel that it helped provide a more peaceful existence within our family and set boundaries for what was acceptable and what was not. I plan to do the same with Reagan. Thank you for always providing a stable family environment in which I could grow up to know that my mom and dad were committed to each other, no matter what life threw at them. Thank you for always being fair with David and I. Thank you for supporting our home as Dad worked so that he could provide for us! Thank you for your love! Love is such a powerful expression that I wish more children could feel. I think it is hard for many kids that don't feel a parent's love to understand God's love for them. I think that God is very misunderstood and that if people knew just how much God loves them, they would want to live their lives to serve Him. So, thanks for showing me God's love. Anyway, just know that you are loved and appreciated on this Mother's Day and that I am thankful for all that you have done for me. May you have a wonderful year and again, thanks for everything!
Amy,
I was not expecting to be able to celebrate Mother's Day this year as Reagan was not due to make her appearance until late June...But, God had other plans and I am thankful for the opportunity to wish you a happy Mother's Day. You are a wonderful wife, friend, and now, Mommy!!! I always knew that you would be a fabulous mother and that is one of many reasons that I married you. You have been an inspiration to many by your attitude during the early birth and subsequent days of Reagan's life. Thank you for having a good attitude throughout this process, understanding the risks, yet choosing to rely on God's Sovereignty and help. It has not been an easy journey for you or for me except for the fact that God has been with us, and knowing that has made all the difference. I feel that we both decided to trust God's will early in this situation and to believe Him for something that was unknown to us. Thank you for making that choice with me not to blame God, but to be grateful each day, hour, minute, and second for Reagan's progress and to see the beauty that God had to show us as we chose to trust in Him. I remember you saying that you had wondered at one time why this had happened to us, and then you said your thought changed quickly to "why not us?" Thoughts are human sometimes, but I appreciate you rationally looking at things and agreeing that God would not give us something that He had not prepared us for. I cannot imagine what you dealt with during the early days of Reagan's birth, knowing what you know from your work experiences, but I am grateful for your Godly reaction to the circumstances. You are and will be an excellent mother! I look forward to raising Reagan with you! She will be home before you know it, playing with all her little friends (if we ever let her out of the house :) ) I love you and am proud of you!
Connie (Nana),
Although you are not my biological mother, I wanted to tell you thank you for being such a great mother-in-law. Many people complain about their mothers-in-law but I have no complaints. Thank you for your caring attitude toward your family and for always being willing to help when needed. Thank you for being by Amy's side as much as you were able to during the early days of Reagan's birth. It would have been hard to make it without your help and I am grateful for you and for your willingness to help lighten our burden. You are a blessing to my life as well as Amy's and I appreciate you. Thank you for helping to raise Amy into the person that she is today. You can read many of the things that I said about my mom and I'm sure the same could be said for you. You are loved on this Mother's Day!
To all you other moms out there...just know that you are appreciated. Thank you for the sacrifices that you make each day for your kids. My mom said something to me the other day that made a lot of sense. She was telling me about a compliment someone had paid her about raising me (I think they were probably getting me confused with David :) ). Her reaction to the compliment was very humble and she basically said that she did all that she knew to do and laid the best foundation that she could and then she allowed God to fill in the cracks. I know as a father that I will not be perfect, but I will allow God to mold me into the father that He wants for me to be. I will rely on Him to help my child to grow into the person that He wants her to be and will ask Him to fill in any areas in her life that are deficient. I'm sure glad that I don't have to be a perfect parent, but just teachable and open to hear from God. May God bless you all this Mother's Day!
You all are loved!
Robert
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Four Good Weeks and One Rough Day!
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continued prayer support, even while Reagan has been doing well. She has had several wonderful weeks of growth and development and weighed in at 2 lbs and 14 ozs today. We are very grateful for her tremendous growth thus far! Yesterday was a rather rough day for Amy and Nana. I wasn't there when Reagan had her episode, but it apparently was pretty bad. As usual, Reagan was receiving her regularly scheduled feed when she refluxed and decided to stop breathing and to slow her heart rate down to around 40 beats per minute which is extremely low. She apparently turned purple as she just wouldn't breathe. The nurse called respiratory and her nurse practitioner and after what seemed like eternity to Amy they had her breathing again and her heart rate was back to normal. They suctioned a lot of milk from her airway due to the reflux and followed with a chest x-ray to see if Reagan aspirated milk into her lungs but so far everything looks good. She is back to her normal range on her oxygen. Just when we start to get comfortable God sends a reminder that He is the one in control. We ask that you continue to pray for Reagan specifically that she will outgrow her reflux. I wish it was as easy as taking the "Purple Pill" but for preemies that is not the case. We know with God all things are possible so please continue to pray.
Thanks for the prayers for our friends Dana and David. They gave birth to a bright beautiful little girl. She is Reagans neighbor and seems to be doing very well. I know they appreciate all the prayers.
Thanks again for your continual support. We love you.
Robert, Amy and Reagan
Thank you for your continued prayer support, even while Reagan has been doing well. She has had several wonderful weeks of growth and development and weighed in at 2 lbs and 14 ozs today. We are very grateful for her tremendous growth thus far! Yesterday was a rather rough day for Amy and Nana. I wasn't there when Reagan had her episode, but it apparently was pretty bad. As usual, Reagan was receiving her regularly scheduled feed when she refluxed and decided to stop breathing and to slow her heart rate down to around 40 beats per minute which is extremely low. She apparently turned purple as she just wouldn't breathe. The nurse called respiratory and her nurse practitioner and after what seemed like eternity to Amy they had her breathing again and her heart rate was back to normal. They suctioned a lot of milk from her airway due to the reflux and followed with a chest x-ray to see if Reagan aspirated milk into her lungs but so far everything looks good. She is back to her normal range on her oxygen. Just when we start to get comfortable God sends a reminder that He is the one in control. We ask that you continue to pray for Reagan specifically that she will outgrow her reflux. I wish it was as easy as taking the "Purple Pill" but for preemies that is not the case. We know with God all things are possible so please continue to pray.
Thanks for the prayers for our friends Dana and David. They gave birth to a bright beautiful little girl. She is Reagans neighbor and seems to be doing very well. I know they appreciate all the prayers.
Thanks again for your continual support. We love you.
Robert, Amy and Reagan
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Reagan is 9 weeks old
What a sweet face!!!
Reagans first bottle
"This is good stuff mom."
Reagan took 15 of 20ml the first time and 22mls of 22mls the second time she bottle fed. She is a big girl now!
My first tub bath and I didn't even cry.
I am always happy and relaxed after my baths.
Talk to me mom.
Oh boy, another ride I am so excited!!!!
I'm strapped in and ready to go. Bye Brenners thanks for taking care of me!
"Aunt" Debbie (moms cousin) is taking great care of me at Forsyth.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Our Unspoken Request and Reagan Update
Dear Friends,
Please be in prayer for a close friend of ours. Dana was due to have her little girl within a week of Amy's due date. We received a phone call Thursday that she apparently went into pre-term labor. She would be around 32 weeks gestation at this point. The doctors are currently trying to stop the labor (it looks like it has been successful so far) and will hopefully send her home on strict bed rest until the baby comes instead of delivering the baby early. Our understanding is that her water has not broken! Dana and David are dear friends of ours and we ask that you pray specifically for them today as this was a big surprise.
Reagan Update:
Reagan continues to do well after her TV debut. Thursday evening we transported Reagan back to Forsyth Medical Center so she good be close to mommy while at work. This has made my work weekend go by much quicker. I am not allowed to be Reagan's nurse but I remain close by and stop and peak when I get a chance. Robert and I are very thankful for the care she received at Brenner's. Everyone treated Reagan so well and we became quite attached to the staff. Thanks Lisa, Danika, and Angela for taking such wonderful care of our baby girl. We look forward to the day Reagan is big enough to come for a visit.
This morning Reagan lost some weight and is back to 2 pounds 10 ounces. The doctors restarted her diuretics yesterday (medicine to make her pee)so this would be some of the weight loss. She continues to do well with her nasal cannula at 1.5 liters. Everyday her desat episodes improve. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of her! She continues to tolerate her feeds well also. She gets 20 mls every 3 hours. This is a big change from 0.3 mls an hour that we started on. Reagan still will reflux during her feeds. Pray she will outgrow this quickly so we can bottle feed and come home.
I can not believe how fast the weeks have gone by since Reagan entered the world. I feel so blessed with how well she has done. God has given her the strength we all prayed for and she continues to grow. Thanks again for all the wonderful support. We love you all and thank God for giving us a wonderful group of friends. I hope you have a great week and I will update again soon with more pictures!
Love,
Amy, Robert, Reagan
P.S. Reagan's message to her friends.
Jasmine I am so glad we met. Continue to grow and stop worrying your mom. I look forward to our day at the park!
Cassidy, Alexandria, CPAP (your mom and dad need to hurry and pick a name) continue to grow inside mommy. Befor long we will be big and chubby like our cousins. Mommy says I have scared everyone enough as it is so maybe you should give them a break. I can't wait to meet you but lets wait a couple of weeks!
Angela, Danika, and Lisa thanks for spoiling me. I looked forward to the days you took care of me. Mommy always rested better when you were around so a big THANKS. Angela be careful jumping out of the plane but take lots of pictures because Mommy says I am NOT allowed to jump or do anything slightly dangerous ever.
Thanks everyone for your prayers and all the gifts too!!
Love,
Reagan
Please be in prayer for a close friend of ours. Dana was due to have her little girl within a week of Amy's due date. We received a phone call Thursday that she apparently went into pre-term labor. She would be around 32 weeks gestation at this point. The doctors are currently trying to stop the labor (it looks like it has been successful so far) and will hopefully send her home on strict bed rest until the baby comes instead of delivering the baby early. Our understanding is that her water has not broken! Dana and David are dear friends of ours and we ask that you pray specifically for them today as this was a big surprise.
Reagan Update:
Reagan continues to do well after her TV debut. Thursday evening we transported Reagan back to Forsyth Medical Center so she good be close to mommy while at work. This has made my work weekend go by much quicker. I am not allowed to be Reagan's nurse but I remain close by and stop and peak when I get a chance. Robert and I are very thankful for the care she received at Brenner's. Everyone treated Reagan so well and we became quite attached to the staff. Thanks Lisa, Danika, and Angela for taking such wonderful care of our baby girl. We look forward to the day Reagan is big enough to come for a visit.
This morning Reagan lost some weight and is back to 2 pounds 10 ounces. The doctors restarted her diuretics yesterday (medicine to make her pee)so this would be some of the weight loss. She continues to do well with her nasal cannula at 1.5 liters. Everyday her desat episodes improve. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of her! She continues to tolerate her feeds well also. She gets 20 mls every 3 hours. This is a big change from 0.3 mls an hour that we started on. Reagan still will reflux during her feeds. Pray she will outgrow this quickly so we can bottle feed and come home.
I can not believe how fast the weeks have gone by since Reagan entered the world. I feel so blessed with how well she has done. God has given her the strength we all prayed for and she continues to grow. Thanks again for all the wonderful support. We love you all and thank God for giving us a wonderful group of friends. I hope you have a great week and I will update again soon with more pictures!
Love,
Amy, Robert, Reagan
P.S. Reagan's message to her friends.
Jasmine I am so glad we met. Continue to grow and stop worrying your mom. I look forward to our day at the park!
Cassidy, Alexandria, CPAP (your mom and dad need to hurry and pick a name) continue to grow inside mommy. Befor long we will be big and chubby like our cousins. Mommy says I have scared everyone enough as it is so maybe you should give them a break. I can't wait to meet you but lets wait a couple of weeks!
Angela, Danika, and Lisa thanks for spoiling me. I looked forward to the days you took care of me. Mommy always rested better when you were around so a big THANKS. Angela be careful jumping out of the plane but take lots of pictures because Mommy says I am NOT allowed to jump or do anything slightly dangerous ever.
Thanks everyone for your prayers and all the gifts too!!
Love,
Reagan
Thursday, May 1, 2008
A Special Request
Dear Friends,
Please be praying for a special unspoken that does not involve Reagan. God knows the need and we will fill you in soon. Thanks for praying!
Robert and Amy
Please be praying for a special unspoken that does not involve Reagan. God knows the need and we will fill you in soon. Thanks for praying!
Robert and Amy
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