MAGnificient Maggie's Birth Story- Part II

This is a continuation from a previous post. I do apologize as a mom of a baby in the NICU for a week and now at home with a 2 week old and a 21 month old, spare time to type is not something I have much of. So here I am working on Part II and who knows how long I have to type so let's jump in and see how far I get.

After the triage nurse and doctor confirmed I was only a "dimple" of a 1, the nurse suggested to me and to AJ and my sister that maybe if I got up and walked it might help things progress. So after puking a few more times, I climbed out of bed, sat in the chair and tried to get motivated to go for a walk. One would think walking when you are barely in labor or progressing wouldn't be that hard, but for whatever reason it was hard!

AJ and Christy convinced me to get moving and off we headed out the door of the triage room down the hall, right in front of the admitting desk. I felt lightheaded and horrible to say the least but my labor team was determined to get me to progress so they tried to convince me to keep going. I was hanging on to the railing in the hallway for dear life. I tried to convince them I was dizzy and going to pass out, but they were determined I was fine and keep pushing me a little further. Finally, I tried to kneel down on the floor because I was so lightheaded and they figured I meant business so they let me turn around and head back to the room. I think we had gone all of 20 feet! On the way back, I felt like I was going to puke again and really didn't want to in the middle of the hall, so I was holding it back with everything I had but gagging with each step. I would heave forward and hold it in all the while AJ would flinch back and gag slightly since he pukes when others are puking. My sister was quickly walking in front of us to get to the room and grab a barf bag. It was one of the more comedic moments in my head from that night.

I made it back to the room and onto the bed before puking which was a good thing, but that was the last time they convinced me to go walking. Later my sister told me she forgot how easily lightheaded I get and apologized for not believing me. Sometimes, I am a wimp and need some persuasion, but this was not one of those times!

So back in to bed I crawled and they decided to hook up a IV line and get some fluids in my body since I was puking so much and give me some anti nausea medicine that would also make me drowsy and help with the pain a little. So after three tries and a ER nurse, I was hooked up and getting fluids and some meds. I was feeling drowsy and would fall asleep after each contraction but would wake up with each one as they were painful. At this point I was starting to have back labor and that to me is the absolute worst. And all the while I just keep thinking, I am barely a 1, how am I ever going to make it to a 10??

Another side note, I have lost all track of times and so I really don't know times well. So who knows how long or short things and events were? All I do know is that I went to the hospital around 3am on Sunday morning and had Maggie at 11:10pm that night. I did labor at home from 8pm-3am with very consistent contractions so we will call Maggie's labor about 27 hours. Porter was a 36 hour labor so anything less was a win-win in my book. Um, looking back I am not sure I would agree with that now.

Well, Maggie is awake and ready to be fed and then off to bed. At this rate, this may be a 12 part series!! I will keep posting parts as I have time. My sister wrote most of the major details in her post a little while back, but I still want to get my memories and point of view down for all to read.

Thanks for keeping up with us and for all your thoughts, encouragement and prayers! We are so blessed by all who have prayed for us and supported us through this and continue too. Thank you!

This is for you!

I wanted to take the time to call some people out for the amazing roll they played in Maggie's success. This is going to be an ongoing post, so please don't be offended if we haven't featured you in this section. We will hopefully get to you soon and if we never do please know that we are so unbelievably grateful for everything that people have done to help. We truly have an amazing community around us. 


The very first person I want to thank is Katie Meerdink. You may be wondering why I am thanking Katie first over countless numbers of deserving family, medical professionals, and friends. I mean Katie wasn't even our delivery nurse. Let me tell you why.

I have a few key images in my mind from the delivery. The first and probably most disturbing image is that of my newborn baby completely blue/black/brown and totally unresponsive. In my mind I believed her to be dead. I won't ever forget that image. 

After a whirlwind of doctors and nurses I came across a new image. This was the image of Katie pumping air into the lungs of my little girl. Katie was literally breathing life into Maggie. Katie continued to pump that air into little Magnolia Raine for what felt like a lifetime. My best guess is that it was a 1/2 hour to an hour, but it could have been much shorter then that or much longer. All I know is when Maggie left the delivery room Katie was breathing for her and when I went into the Nursery she was still breathing for her. Things were happening all around Maggie. There were four, five, or even six people at a time moving frantically around Katie, but she stayed strong. 1, 2, 3 pumping the air. 

Katie, I am not sure how often you get to do something like that, but let me tell you that this time what you did for Maggie, Myself, Maryanne, Porter and countless others who love and care for Maggie will never be forgotten. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for you being there that night. 

Thank You,

AJ 

So True

HOME!

Ms. Maggie went home today! Praise the Lord!! The doctors and the NP all were surprised how well she was doing, and wouldn't have guessed she would be ready to go home. But she did. Today, Maggie had another EEG, or brainwave test, that was looking if there was any indicators for seizure activity. Overall, the test was reassuring. It still was not completely normal, but basically the results show that Maggie has a potential for seizures, but is not having any seizures. The NP told Maryanne this, "Put this result on the back burner, be aware of it, but don't be scared of it. Treat Maggie like a normal newborn baby." Such good news. We continue to trust and rest in Jesus for His comfort as Maryanne, AJ, and Porter now have Maggie at home.

Nursing like a Champ

Just a quick update. Maryanne told me that Maggie is nursing like a champ, just like her brother Porter did! So exciting! We praise the Lord for bringing us to this place, where Maggie seems to be doing so well. But it has reminded me to continue to pray for our little ones, to ask for God's direction each day, and not to take things for granted. This morning in church we sang the song, "In Christ Alone." Definitely one of my favorite worship songs. The line that I don't think I'll ever sing the same way is,

"From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny."

God didn't grant Maggie a first cry right away when she was born. But He did grant this a few short days later. Everything is,

"In Christ Alone."

A Video to Tide You Over

So I have been informed that it is still going to be a few days before Maggie gets out. Maryanne said that they still need to do some tests and have some specialists look at her. So until she gets out and everyone has a chance to meet her I will provide you with a video of the first time we got to hold her.You can view it in high def if you click through to YouTube. Again thanks to Valerie for putting this together and posting up for us. You are the best.

Update From the Field

It appears that Maggie and Maryanne are showing everyone how it is done. Maggie is eating like a champ and Maryanne is there for her whenever she is in need. Maryanne is being told that the central line is coming out at 3pm. That means they are confident that Maryanne and Maggie can sustain all the nutrition Maggie needs. The central line is the last intervention that she is receiving right now. All the other wires are simply for monitoring her. With all that said I would guess Maggie will be out in this amazing weather in a day or two. I am so proud of both Maryanne and Maggie for their fighting spirit and strength. I have a feeling that Maggie is going to be Maryanne's "Mini-Me". We will keep you posted on future progress.

Christy's Thoughts

I love being an aunt, and I love being with children. So when my sister said that she would love to have me in the delivery room for their daughter Maggie, I was thrilled and felt very privileged. Miss Maggie's due date was January 12th, and the day came and went, and sure enough this too would be a baby that would come on their own timing. 3 days later, on Saturday morning, I got a text from my sister, "Contractions are starting, nothing regular, but definitely a contraction." So off I headed to Salem, with my night bag packed, just in case this was the real deal! And sure enough, Maryanne's contractions became regular and long enough to head to the hospital at 3:30am on Sunday. We got to the hospital, and Maryanne's contractions seemed to be getting worse. But unfortunately, when the nurse checked her she was barely a "dimple" which basically means you aren't technically in labor and should just go home. I equated this to someone running a marathon, thinking they were on mile 20, and being told they had only gone 1 mile. DEVASTATING NEWS! This was when I started praying, hard for Maryanne's delivery. My sister's body react to pain by vomiting, so she was given a very strong medication for nausea, and despite this, she would doze off due to the sedating effects of the medication, the contraction would wake her up, and then she would dry heave/vomit. This cycle would repeat itself. Again, I gave this labor over to the Lord, as it was hard to see my sister in such pain. The doctors wanted to send Maryanne home, and AJ and I didn't think we had much choice. But Maryanne continued to vomit, and I basically talked with the next nurse on shift, and thankfully they let Maryanne stay so she could at least be hydrated. This was the start of a very long labor process. With each turn through the labor, Maryanne continued to progress, and was a trooper through it all. In fact, I kept calling her a rock star. So was AJ, such a supportive and loving husband. So fast forward (though the hours didn't seem to fast forward) to about 10:40pm. Maryanne was fully dilated, and the baby was in the proper placement to be pushed out. We all knew the baby needed to come out, though we didn't think there was anything wrong with the baby. It was just that Maryanne had had a fever for a couple hours, and we didn't want any more stress to be put on Maggie. Maryanne pushed, hard, as hard as I've seen a women in labor push...and Maryanne couldn't even feel much due an extra small dose of the epidural given just a couple hours earlier. She PUSHED, Maggie crowned in about 5 contractions, then on the next contraction, Maryanne pushed and out came Maggie, everything, shoulders, body, and all. It was then, that my world and Mommy and Daddy's world suddenly felt like it was crashing down. It's hard for me to even re-live the moment. I have seen several deliveries, but Maggie was much worse than I had seen before. She was blue, limp, and there was meconium (icky baby poop) everywhere. It was hard to hold it together, to try and not scare mommy...who by the way just gone through 20 hours of labor. At first, I knew Mom and Dad didn't know anything was wrong, because they hadn't seen a vaginal delivery before (their first was through cesarean). But they quickly realized. I instantly started praying, and just kept rubbing Maryanne's leg (which later, I realize she couldn't even feel). And just kept saying, "They are just waiting for Maggie to cry." Well, little Miss Magnolia Raine didn't cry, but thankfully God was continually watching out for her, and got the proper medical care right to her and fast. She was intubated in a very short time, and oxygen levels started rising. The one thing that never failed, and I know this was due to God's touch was her little heart kept beating fast and strong.

When Maryanne saw her little baby being wheeled off, limp on the table, intubate, she lost it, just like any mother would. Maryanne's nurse prayed over us and Maryanne and I sobbed together as AJ went to be with Maggie. In every step of this horrific experience, I now look back, seeing that God had His hand comforting us though it all. Maryanne's mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and very close friend (who is now our new sister) were right outside the door and we prayed and wept together. Which reminds me of John 11:35 when Jesus Wept - only a two word verse, but I bet Jesus wept for quite some time.

I stayed at the hospital for a bit, trying to contact family, and alert people to start getting on their knees and interceding for Maggie. Maryanne and AJ were well taken care of with family and friends, so I decided at 2am to go home and try to rest before work the next day. Well, you can only imagine, I was a basket case. I tried to sleep but every time I would lay my head on the pillow, I would hear my own pulse and think it was the fetal heart monitor and the whole situation would flash before my eyes. I pretty much just pray, sobbed, pleaded, and sang worship songs all night long. I tried going to work, but was promptly sent home-who was I kidding? If I saw any patients that day, I would break down, likely make poor decisions, and the patients (if I were them) would ask for their money back. Thankfully, my job was flexible, and Tobin also had Monday and Tuesday off, so we set off for Portland to be with Maryanne and AJ and continue supporting them and Maggie.

When we arrived in Portland at OHSU, there was a nurse practitioner in the room, updating Maryanne and AJ on how Maggie was doing. And it was not good news. Initially, they had stabilized Maggie, put her on a Hypothermia Protocol to prevent further brain swelling and damage. But now Maggie was more unstable, her entire left lung was filled with meconium and collapsed, and the right lung had a pneumothorax, causing pulmonary hypertension that was 200 times greater than normal! Again we got on our knees and asked God for his mercy to heal Maggie. When Tobin and I left on Monday night, I was fearing for Maggie's life. They were basically talking about end life measures, and I've experienced adult patients that we have to use those same medications, and typically the outcome is not good. I literally got on my hands and knees beside my bed that night, and specifically asked God to keep Maggie's blood pressure stable and to get her through the night. How amazing is our God, he did just that, and the report in the morning came and basically Maggie's lungs had cleared and the pulmonary hypertension was nearly gone. Later that afternoon, AJ and I got to be with Maggie just after she was extubated! Another praise!

The Lord encouraged me with this scripture:

LORD my God, I called to you for help,

and you healed me.

You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.

To you, LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

What is gained if I am silenced,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me;

LORD, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

-from Psalms 30

I was crying to the Lord for his Mercy for Maggie. And I was trusting Him that she was going to turn my wailing into dancing. To remove my mourning clothes and be clothes with Joy. I knew God was good, good all the time, despite this devastating and hard situation.

Maggie continued to do well through Wednesday. Then Thursday morning, as Tobin and I were heading to the airport to fly out and see some of our closest friends, we were able to stop by and see Maggie at OHSU as they started rewarming her. Another victory, and praise be to God for His direction. We had to leave Maggie and get on the plane. In the air, God blessed me with a beautiful sunrise that was painting the sky behind Mt. Hood. It was amazing. At that same time, I was listening to the song called, "Indescribable." And these words brought me to tears:

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea

Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Here I was flying several thousand feet above ground, looking out at God's amazing Creation. Which God made, and God still remembered and knew little baby Maggie, who would just be a small speck as you looked down from Heaven. God knows all the stars by name, and He knows how many hairs are on Maggie's head. Wow! Who was I to ask God, in the grand scale of His entire Creation for His lovingkindness and mercy for Maggie's life. But through God's Son Jesus Christ, we can come to this Holy, Glorious God, and ask very specific prayers, still knowing to trust in God's Plan. It kind of is like being the janitor of the White House going to the President of the United States and asking him for something specific. Obviously, the President has to think of the big picture, which may not include what that janitor needs at the time. Maybe a weak analogy, but it just puts it into perspective. I don't understand the grand plan of God, but I know His ways are good, He is Holy, and He loves me. I am always feel I understand just a glimpse of God's perspective when I fly and look out at how small building look, and then how small massive mountains look, but he still loves me personally and know me by name. He knows and hears my prayers. Wow...YOU ARE AMAZING GOD!

Tonight, I sit amazed at God's love, His goodness, and His Mercy. Tobin and I left a very difficult situation, but a healing Maggie and came to a house full of a bouncy, joyful toddler and beautiful healthy newborn baby. How this has warmed my soul. Laughter and joy has helped restore my wounded soul.

God has also reminded me of this:

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

-Matthew 19:14-15

I know God laid His hands on Maggie. Last night, Maggie at 3 days old, was finally able to be held in her Mom and Dad's arms. YOU ARE AMAZING GOD!

The journey is not over. And as my sister said, "Some of the most scary and amazing moments in my life have happened in the last 4 days. But you know what I am realizing? God had been preparing AJ and I our WHOLE lifetime journeys for these days and more to come!"

God is preparing, molding, and shaping us. And boy, quite a bit of molding went on this week, and will continue to happen. A verse that spoke to Maryanne, and surprising enough has been one of my life verses is:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16-17

YOU ARE AMAZING GOD

The DeBackers with Porter feeding Maggie

We are so Blessed

Our Friends are absolutely amazing. I am blown away at the generosity that has been offered to us in the past few days. I want to call attention to one person in particular who went out of her way to help document this event for us. Valerie Hibler is a friend of ours who works as a professional portrait photographer. She has photographed our family for a while now and offered to come up and document the first time we got to hold Maggie. Last night she came up and waited patiently for a number of hours and when the big moment arrived she managed to capture the moment perfectly. Below are a few pictures, but if you would like to see more you can fallow the link. Thank you so very much Valerie. You are amazing!

Timeline

There have been a few people who have asked about the timeline for Maggie's care. As of right now the plan is that Maggie will have an evaluation on Monday to lay out the next steps. If everything continues to progress like it is up until Monday, we will most likely go home that day. That is in a perfect world. The problem is, with these little ones, if she decides to stop nursing or if she doesn't eat enough or... well the list could go on forever, then we would be staying longer. Once we are released the fun does not end. The nature of brain damage dictates that future tests are immanent. For instance brain damage won't show up on an MRI until about 30 days after the damage is done. There is also a possibility that she will appear perfectly fine and then down the road have issues. If she had damage done to the part of the brain that controls language then obviously that couldn't be assessed until she is a couple years old. This is going to be a process and a great lesson in patience, trust and faith.

Some Videos

I think these made it up on Facebook, but they didn't ever get posted on the blog. I will try and get some more recent video's up later tonight. 

Still warming up, but Maggie took to sucking right away. She is feeding well already and everyone is very impressed at how well she is doing.

Maryanne and Maggie bonding. Maryanne is much happier now that she is allowed to be hands on as a mother. The hard part is that Maggie still has a number of tubes and wires hooked up, so she can't be moved further then about 3 feet from her station. That makes it kind of hard for M.A. seeing as she just gave birth a few days ago and sitting in one spot for hours on end hurts. 

Some Pictures

Here are some pictures from Facebook that our good friend Christi took last night. Thanks Christi we appreciate it immensely. 

 Mom and Dad loving on little Maggie Raine

 Dad and Maggie bonding

 Maggie is already bored with the whole thing.

 So happy with Mom

Getting ready for a snack

More good news.

We came in this morning and the Docs/NPs are very happy with Maggies progress. Her reactions are better, she opens her eyes and responds well to stimulis. Maryanne is getting ready to nurse again, so hopefuly the trend will continue.

Some more pictures

Yesterday was an amazing day and by 11:45pm, I didn't want to put Maggie down and back in her bed by herself, but knew we needed to get some sleep. Here are some pictures of her sweetness from what she was like on the cooling therapy to being fully content on Mommy to back in her bed and tucked in for the night. She was just starting to try and open one of her eyes as we were getting ready to head out. Her eyes were still a bit swollen from the fluids but she was making a mighty attempt to get them open.

Enjoy...

Thanks Jen

Jen wrote a wonderful blog post related to this whole experience. Here is the link.

http://allthingshenderson.blogspot.com/2011/01/dear-kind-father-it-is-so-easy-to-call.html

Maggie's Visitors

Ms. Magnolia Raine has definitely been Miss Popular. I unfortunately don't have pictures of all the visitors. But here is just a small sampling.

Uncle Dr. Tobin, working his magic.

Nurse Aunt Christy

Grammie DeBacker

There are many many more: Grandma and Grandpa Miller, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Andy, Uncle JJ and Aunt Jana, Auntie Jen, and I know I've missed some. We can't wait for her to have more and more visitors! Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray as we continue this journey.

As Maggie was getting warmer

In Mothers Arms

At 7:30pm 11/20/10, nearly 96hrs after birth, finally in Mommy's arms.

Getting close

Maggie is at 36.3C. We should be able to hold her soon. She is getting more active. I am on my phone, so no pics. I will put some up later.

The Heat

Ms. Maggie is warming up. We left for lunch about a half hour ago and she was at about 35C. That puts us at about the halfway mark. The cool part is that we can now get a blanket over  her and help her feel a bit more comfy.

Day 3 of Life

I did not see Maggie today, but here is what I know. Today's goal was, "Stay the course." And that is absolutely what Maggie did. She is still off the ventilator and doing very well. Another praise update is on Tuesday night, the Dr's were concerned Maggie might be having seizures due some leg movements she was having while being sedated. They went ahead and gave her anti-seizure medication as it is better to medicate, and find out later if it was really a seizure. The test to see if Maggie had a seizure, showed no seizure activity! And she even did the happy leg dance movement while they were testing her. This is good news as seizures are an indication of brain damage.

Biggest news today, that I know of, is they took the urinary catheter out because Maggie's urine output was so good, they didn't need to monitor it so closely. And Mommy got to change a very wet diaper!! They also took an IV out of her hand, so she is looking less like a ball of spaghetti from all the tubes, and more of a healthy newborn baby.

Please continue to pray. God is answering our prayers and saying, "Yes." I know my prayer life has changed a lot since Maggie was born, and I love knowing that my Savior is so close, and I can intercede for Maggie at any time. We Praise our Great God who is Bigger than the Air we breathe...He created the air we breathe!

-Christy

A few more hours

At 5am tomorrow they will begin bringing Maggie back from her controlled hypothermia. They have had her core temperature down around 32C for what will be 72 hours. They do this to protect her brain from swelling. Once they warm her back up we will get to hold her for the first time. Maryanne and I are very excited for this moment. It takes 6-12 hours to heat her up, so by this time tomorrow we should be holding her. With that said we will also begin to see how much damage was done at birth. The cooling can mask a lot. She has basically been asleep this whole time. Once she wakes up we amay begin to see seizure or abnormal behavior. Hopefully though all will be well. We will keep you posted.

The Donate Button

You may have noticed that there is a donate button on the blog. Please understand that we are not asking for donations. We have had a number of people ask how they could help, so we wanted to provide a convienient way for that to happen. We are greatful for every prayer, meal, dollar, and hour that people have given to us. We are truly blessed.

MAGnificient Maggie's Birth Story-Part I

Hi, this is Maryanne. I am the momma of our sweet, sweet daughter, Magnolia Raine. On Saturday morning at about 3am, I was woken up to what I thought might be a contraction. It was so minor but I was 3 days overdue so anything felt like something at this point. I was able to fall back asleep and thought nothing of it till the next one at 3:30am. Well, this was something. I was pretty excited but didn't want to get my hopes up too high as with my first baby I never went in to labor, 11 days past my due date. So back to sleep I went and AJ let me sleep in till about 8:30 when I woke up. He had been playing with Porter downstairs and I was able to get a little sleep.

Off started that Saturday as any other with some minor contractions happening ever so often. Nothing regular but at contractions none the less. We had breakfast, went to the pet store, put Porter down for a nap and my sister came over to help straighten up our house in case Maggie was coming since I had about 6 loads of folded laundry on the loveseat in our living room for the last two weeks! We picked up and I rested and AJ packed our bags.

Fast forward to about 4pm and I was having more contractions but the pain was tolerable and I was trying to keep moving so that my labor would keep going. So off to church we went. By the time we got home my contractions seemed to be a bit more regular. We just keep tracking and moving right along. By 11pm that night contractions seemed to be pretty regular and progression was happening, we thought. My sister had decided to stay the night with us so if we headed to the hospital she could come with us and Jana would on call to come over and stay at our house and wake up in the morning with Porter. Around 2:30am my contractions were fairly intense about 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. This is what we thought was progression. We packed the car and climbed in for the ride out to Silverton after calling our midwife and letting her know we were headed in. She said she would let the hospital know we were on our way. Off we whisked in to the cold night headed to the hospital to have a baby just like we imagined.

Once we arrived, I was placed in a triage room and began the process of assessing my labor and determining if I was to be admitted or not. I was convinced by every means in my body I needed to be admitted as I hurt. I was not having back labor pains, but I was getting close to having more pain than I felt was tolerable. The nurse did a cervical check at that point and I was a wonderful "dimple" of a ONE! Now, not everyone understands this but basically you need to be 10cm to birth a baby and I was barely a 1. What? No way. She measured wrong. With as much pain as I was in and as much as I had already labored there was no way all that was for barely a 1. The doctor came in and confirmed this and basically said I wasn't ready to be admitted as I was not really in active labor. True, but I was in pain. How was I to go home to my house in this much pain with a 21 month old running around wanting me to play blocks with him? This is when the fun begins...

I can't blog all the birth story in one post as it would be an eternal post since my labor ends up being about 36 hours, so I am going to break it in to different sections. This is just the beginning.

Also, as a slight disclaimer. Since I was in so much pain and so much was happening in different facets of this, I might not know the whole truth or what was happening. I know lots of people are reading this and I really don't want to offend anyone who was involved in this whole process in any way. The labor and delivery team at Silverton was AMAZING! The PANDA team who transported our daughter to OHSU was AMAZING and the nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors at Dornbecker's have all been AMAZING as well. This is my view on the the birth of Maggie through my tired mind and eyes after having given birth three days ago and my world being turned upside down. :)

My Glorious

God has encouraged Maryanne with this song. All she kept singing is, "God is bigger than the air I (Maggie) breathe." Right now air is what Maggie needs. Be blessed, just like Maryanne has. We thank you Jesus for your Holy Spirit, Comforter, who has comforted Mommy with this song.

Chris Tomlin - My Glorious

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Another Contributor

Hi, this is Jana (AJ's sister). I will occasionally be contributing to this blog as well. I'm going to enter this blogging arena with a letter to Maggie:

Dear Maggie,

Wow, we've been waiting for you for a long time, little girl. Your mom hates being pregnant. Neither you or your brother were very easy on her for those 10 months you were growing. But even with throwing up, heartburn, back aches and all the other fun gifts you gave her, your mama has been anticipating your arrival for so long.

The night we found out you were a girl was so fun. Deep down, your mom and dad were really hoping for pink, but when it came time to actually find out, they acted like they really didn't care. I knew it wasn't true though because as soon as your mom heard that you were a girl, she burst into tears. You were loved from the beginning, but it was something special to know that a little girl was on the way.

The last couple days have been hard, sweet pea. Your mama was such a champ when she labored. Your heart was beating kind of fast and your mom had been working really hard all day. The doctor came in said, "We need to get this baby out now," and I think you were born about twelve minutes later. Out came your head and then, boom, there you were.

Something was going on that scared you, Miss Maggie, because you swallowed a bunch of yucky stuff that babies aren't supposed to swallow and it caused you not to breath. You sure got a lot of attention. People were all around you making sure that everything was okay, and unfortunately, it wasn't. Having that stuff in your lungs caused a whole bunch of problems and is causing these first few days of your life to be really stressful and hard on you and all of us.

Right now, you're pretty unhappy, pretty girl. You're cold and probably feel pretty alone, but you aren't. You've had so many visitors. Everyone loves you already. If you were only a little more aware, you'd notice the parade of people that have been by your bedside, praying and crying over you. And guess what? In less than two days, your mama is going to put you on her chest, warm you up and love on you forever.

So breathe easy tonight, my sweet niece. Know that hundreds of people are praying for you and sending you their love. Hold tight, stay calm and know that once we get to pick you up, it's likely going to be months before anyone will set you down.

We love you Magnolia Raine Miller DeBacker. We'll be kissing on you soon!

Aunt Jana

Off the Ventilator!

The breathing tube for Maggie was just taken out at 2:30pm today. She is doing well, breathing with only a nasal oxygen tube. She does have some inflammation in her airway due to the tube. She is being given medication to decrease the swelling and decrease the effort she is making to take each breath. Pray that these medications work and the inflammation continues to decrease. If this does not, she will have to have the tube placed back into her throat, to allow more time for the inflammation to decrease with the medications they are giving her.

Magnolia Raine

Beautiful Baby Magnolia

Born: January 16, 2011 at 11:10pm

Weight: 7lb 4oz
Height: 20.5 inches

Here are Mom and Baby on January 17th

When Magnolia was born her lungs were not working well. She had breathed in meconium (baby poop) before the delivery. She was intubated and stabilized to the point she could be transferred from Silverton Hospital to OHSU (Portland). There had been no signs during the delivery that Maggie wasn't doing well. Mom (Maryanne) had developed a fever before delivery, but baby seemed to be stable. Maggie is now 40hr old, and has been quite the "Pistol," as her NICU Dr's are describing her. She is fighting for her life, but continuing to show small improvements, with a couple speed bumps along the road. Due to low oxygen levels, Maggie's brain likely was injured from low oxygen levels in the brain tissue-to what extent we will not know for a while. To treat this, they are cooling Maggie's body temperature down, so there will not be further neurological damage. She is also on a ventilator (breathing machine for her lungs). She had been doing better at about 12hrs old, and then her oxygen levels and blood pressure started declining. They found out that Maggie's left lung was basically collapsed due to meconium plugging the airway, and her right lung an air space (pneumothorax) trapped. This created a very high pressure in the blood vessel that goes from the heart to the lungs (pulmonary hypertension). Last night, they were giving Maggie medication to treat this condition. And Praise the Lord, this morning we found out the Left side of her lungs is nearly clear, and the pneumothorax was completely gone. Exactly, what I (Christy) had asked the Lord for before going to sleep last night. This means the pressure in the pulmonary artery has gone down, putting less stress on Maggie's heart. Maggie's heart has remained amazingly strong through this entire process. She will remain on the cooling blanket, to prevent further brain damage, until at least Thursday morning. We continue to pray that Maggie doesn't have any seizures, her liver and kidneys continue to remain strong and heal from slight damage caused from blood chemistry changes at her birth. We pray for God's Mercy, strength, and comfort for everyone.

Yes, and Maryanne did just also deliver a baby vaginally 40 hours ago. Physically speaking, she is doing well, healing, and recovering. Emotionally, she is doing as well as expected, and better. God is comforting her, and giving her strength to continue. AJ has been the amazing Dad that is right on top of the details of what is going on with Maggie. He tells me God has given him a peace and clarity of mind.

So what can you do? Pray, pray, pray. Maryanne is being discharged from OHSU hospital today, and AJ and Maryanne will be staying in a friends place very close to OHSU. They are open to having visitors, but hard to say where they are or what's going on-don't hesitate to call Maryanne or AJ. We will keep updating this blog as time permits, and as we get updates on how Maggie is doing.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16-17

Thank you for all your prayers, support, tears, and encouragement,
Christy (Maggie's Aunt, Maryanne's sister)