Tender Mercies and Small Miracles

On Wednesday, 18 May 2011, Bailey A. Stahr (we're still discussing the spelling of her middle name, which is Ane or Ann or Anne depending on what we end up with...) made her appearance into the world. She was 3 weeks early, and came in a rush (15 minutes from floating to appearing...). Her birth at home was relatively uneventful - just fast.

Shortly after she was born, she developed respiratory issues - read: her face was still blue, and she was grunting for air and not wanting to nurse. After administering oxygen for 4 hours without complete resolution, Andrew gave her a blessing and we decided to transport her to the hospital in Silverton. We left our house sometime around 7:30 PM, and got to Silverton 20 minutes later. Bailey still grunting and not pink in her face. She looked like she had some major bruising. She was admitted immediately.

The nurses and doctor in the ER started an IV with ampicillan and gentomyacin (and I'm sure I didn't spell either of those correctly...) as antibiotics just in case there was an infection that she was fighting, administered oxygen, and took some blood samples to run cultures on. And then they took an x-ray of her lungs. A few minutes later, the doctor came back and told me that she had a partially collapsed left lung (he used the medical term, but I can't remember what it was and had to ask him what he meant anyway - sleep deprivation, no medical training... you understand, I'm sure, so I won't force it on anyone...) and that he had already called Panda and they were on their way from Portland with an ETA of approximately 2 hours to transport Bailey to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital. During this last sentence, I'm thinking: "He called for Chinese food and it's coming from PORTLAND???" And then the Doernbechers came and I realized that my baby was going to one of the best children's hospitals in the northwest to go to the NICU. It wasn't the best of feelings. As you can well imagine.

Panda came and loaded Bailey into the incubator and got her hooked to oxygen up her nose and a tube down her throat to make sure that the air they were forcing into her lungs wasn't going to stay in her stomach. The ambulance driver gave Andrew instructions on how to get to the hospital "just in case we have to hit the lights and siren..." and we were on our way.

When we got into the truck (I couldn't ride in the ambulance with her because she was less than 24-hours old and they're not equipped to care for moms in distress - Andrew could have ridden, and I could have driven the truck, but I have a history with Andrew's truck and it resulted in a hole in the side - I wasn't in any condition to try to drive...) and said a prayer as we followed the ambulance.

As soon as we arrived, Bailey was wheeled to the 12th floor at OHSU and admitted to Doernbechers Neonatal Care Center (also known as the NICU). There, she had another chest x-ray to check her lungs again. This time, the x-rays didn't show any collapse of her lung. Tender Mercies and Small Miracles.

We spent 2.5 nights and 2 days in the NICU while Bailey was weaned off of the forced oxygen and completed her antibiotics round. During this time she had an Echo-Cardiogram to see if the respiratory issues were due to heart issues. They found that she has an enlarged aorta near her heart, so she has a follow-up visit with a cardiologist in November. We're confident that she won't have any lasting effects.

While it was difficult to watch the ambulance with our newborn drive off, I will admit that for the first time that day, I felt peace and knew that all would be well. Again, a Tender Mercy from the Lord.

Perhaps the highlight of my stay in the NICU was having all the children come on Friday to meet Bailey and to have their picture taken with her. Caroline was first to see her, then Savannah and Margaret together, and finally LeGrand. He promptly informed me that she was "funny..." and then admitted that she was "priddy tute." He's such a proud big brother!!! After meeting Bailey, Andrew and I took the rest of the children on OHSU's Air Tram down the hill and across the freeway. I think THAT was the highlight for them!

I am grateful for the blessings of the Lord. For a healthy baby girl who is doing well and i am grateful for tender mercies and seemingly small miracles.

pictures of the rest of the children to follow.........