Clara is our little miracle baby! She arrived on December 17th, 2009 via planned c-section. She was taken early because my health was deteriorating -- I had preeclampsia and they felt it was risky to wait. Clara had a bit of a rough start -- when she was born she was having difficulty breathing and she was turning gray, so the doctors whisked her away to the nursery for evaluation. Over the next few hours the news got worse and worse -- first they thought she just had fluid in her lungs, and then they discovered that her lungs weren't working properly and were underdeveloped. Her body had failed to make a chemical called Surfactin... it allows the air sacs to inflate properly and deliver oxygen to the blood.
By evening the head nurse of the NICU came to our room to tell us that Clara had been sedated and intubated... she had a tube down her throat delivering synthetic Surfactin to her lungs. We were told that she was very sick and her condition was quite serious; they were hoping the treatment would work, but they weren't sure how it would go. We began calling our pastor, friends, and family to ask for prayer for our baby girl. It was quite a rough night.
God heard our prayers, though, for the next morning we received news that Clara had turned a corner in the night and was doing better. Though not completely out of the woods yet, she had responded extremely well to the Surfactin and was able to have the breathing tube removed. She was still hooked up to IVs, and she had tubes and wires running everywhere, but she was no longer sedated and she looked quite a bit better than the night before.
Over the next week Clara continued to improve tremendously. The doctors had originally predicted that she would need to be sedated for an extended period of time and that she would need several treatments of Surfactin, but she improved faster than anyone had expected. In fact, when it was time to come get her and bring her home, the doctors said that they couldn't believe how fast her recovery had been. We are so thankful to God for answering our prayers and healing our baby girl!
Clara was able to come home the day before Christmas Eve, so we had her home with us for Christmas. She was the best Christmas present ever!
Since then, she has been growing and thriving here at home. She is healthy and bringing lots of joy to our family! Clara's still teeny-tiny... she still fits in preemie clothes and the smallest diapers... but we're sure that one day she'll be big enough to wrestle with her big brother! Clara is our little miracle baby, and we are so grateful!
By evening the head nurse of the NICU came to our room to tell us that Clara had been sedated and intubated... she had a tube down her throat delivering synthetic Surfactin to her lungs. We were told that she was very sick and her condition was quite serious; they were hoping the treatment would work, but they weren't sure how it would go. We began calling our pastor, friends, and family to ask for prayer for our baby girl. It was quite a rough night.
God heard our prayers, though, for the next morning we received news that Clara had turned a corner in the night and was doing better. Though not completely out of the woods yet, she had responded extremely well to the Surfactin and was able to have the breathing tube removed. She was still hooked up to IVs, and she had tubes and wires running everywhere, but she was no longer sedated and she looked quite a bit better than the night before.
Over the next week Clara continued to improve tremendously. The doctors had originally predicted that she would need to be sedated for an extended period of time and that she would need several treatments of Surfactin, but she improved faster than anyone had expected. In fact, when it was time to come get her and bring her home, the doctors said that they couldn't believe how fast her recovery had been. We are so thankful to God for answering our prayers and healing our baby girl!
Clara was able to come home the day before Christmas Eve, so we had her home with us for Christmas. She was the best Christmas present ever!
Since then, she has been growing and thriving here at home. She is healthy and bringing lots of joy to our family! Clara's still teeny-tiny... she still fits in preemie clothes and the smallest diapers... but we're sure that one day she'll be big enough to wrestle with her big brother! Clara is our little miracle baby, and we are so grateful!