January's Hospital Stay

I wish

I knew why Raegan was sick. Back when I was pregnant with Raegan I had to accept that I may never know why things turned out the way they did, and why things happen. This is one of those times where its hard to accept not knowing. I don't know why Raegan is sick, and neither do the doctors. Usually when there is something wrong with her I know, or have a good guess, but not this time.

On Monday January 10th I took Raegan to her 3 month post-op appointment after she had her last surgery in October to replace her shunt. I thought it would be a quick appointment, boy was I wrong. Raegan had an MRI before her appointment to check on her shunt. When we went to clinic the doctor said Raegans ventricles had doubled in size and he was admitting her to the hospital for surgery the following day.

Tuesday January 11th Raegan under went surgery to check and replace the parts of her shunt that were blocked. She did great after surgery, and went home late Wednesday night. She did great Wednesday and Thursday and by Thursday night she stopped eating, and had thrown up once before she went to bed around 7pm. Friday morning she got up and was sick about every two hours, and hadn't eaten or had much to drink. I finally made the call to take her to the ER down here at OHSU to make sure everything was ok.

Last night we spent the night in the ER, were we both got little sleep. She has been sick about 3 or 4 times since last night, but refuses to eat or drink. The other issue that has now come up is she can't keep her heart rate up. Its hanging out in the 70's and frequently drops into the 60's. The doctor came in a little while ago and has ordered a shunt-o-gram and is going to have a cardiologist come in and see Raegan.

In a nut shell that is whats going on, and if things change I will post and let everyone know. So if everyone will keep Raegan in their prayers, and keep your fingers crossed that this is just a flu bug.

Fight for Preemies

Every year, 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick-half a million of them in the U.S. November 17th is when we fight!

Do you know a baby who was born too soon, too small, unable to breathe or nurse on their own? With 1 in every 8 babies born prematurely, you probably do. While medical advances give some babies a chance of survival, for many babies premature birth is a life-or-death condition. Babies who survive can face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities.

The rate of premature birth has risen more than 30 percent since 1981. In half the cases, we simply don’t understand what went wrong. The March of Dimes is leading the fight for answers. And, ultimately, preventions.

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis. Take 3 steps to help fight premature birth:

1. Visit marchofdimes.com/fight.
2. Put a badge on your blog to help spread the word.
3. On November 17, blog for a baby you love and to help others.

We need to fight ― because babies shouldn’t have to.

This month is very dear to my heart. Raegan, born on July 3rd, 2008 at 29 weeks gestation, weighing only 1 pound and 9 ounces. Her due date was 09/13/08. After being admitted to the hospital at 27 weeks and 18 days of tests, ultrasounds and round the clock monitoring, the high risk doctors decided Raegan would need to come early. I thank God everyday for giving us Raegan and I appreciate all the prayers. She spent four long months in the NICU. She had enlarged ventricles, and spent over 3 months on a ventilator, or CPAP. She is 2 now and has had over 10 surgerys in her shirt life. 5 of which have been on her brain. I love her more then life itself and I am very thankful she is here today! No matter what we endure, I proudly support the March of Dimes.

Raegans birth details:

Name: Raegan Renae
DOB: 07/03/08 @ 06:12p
NICU stay: 06/03/08 to 10/22/08
Weight: 710 grams Length: 13 inches
Overall Satus: Critical and stable
Gest Age: 29 weeks 5 days
Admission to NICU Indications: Respiratory distress, Hydrocephalus and Prematurity.

Binky

Is gone.... I hope. This morning Raegan and I got up and went into my roommates room so say good morning. She handed me her binky and I went over grabbed the scissors and cut the tip off. I gave her the binky and the tip and she tried to put it back together. When she couldn't put it back together she handed it to me to fix it. I told her it was broken and grabbed the trash and let Raegan throw the binky in the trash. She didn't cry!!! Hopefully this is the end of the binky :)

While at the hospital

Check out more pictures of Raegan while she was up at the hospital.
Click here!