Reagan Michelle

I'm not sure how many people will still be checking this, but I plan on using it to keep others updated on my life and prayers, and such.

It's been a great couple weeks being at home. I've been to lots of baseball, the beach, Heidi's wedding, celebrated my 21st, experienced a sprinkler going off in a hotel room, and had lots of quality down time at home with my family. As you know, my cousin and his wife welcomed Miss Reagan Michelle on June 28. Since then, she's spent about 5 hours total at home, and quickly returned back to the hospital where she has spent the past 3 weeks. God willing, she will be able to go home next week, but she will have a feeding tube for the food she's not able to take through the bottle still. There have been really good times, and also a few really scary times. It's been really awesome to see my family's constant dependence upon the Lord throughout this very trying time in their lives. My cousin and his wife have been staying at the hospital and are in charge of the normal caretaking as if they were at home, but she's still connected to many tubes and such. So they sleep there, and take care of her while older brother, Blake stays with Grandma and Grandpa most of the time. He's been handling it all very well and loves his baby sister very much. She's going to have a procedure for the stomach tube on Friday, and if that procedure goes well, then hopefully she will be able to go home next week. Please pray that it would go well and that they would all be able to return home.

She went through a bout of fluid in her lungs, but has seemed to have gotten over that; although it was quite the scare at first. She's back up to her birth weight, but still has a rough time with eating.

Here is a picture of Tammy holding Reagan and Blake looking on. He really loves little Reagan, and cannot wait for her to come home again!



She's so precious, and I can only have faith that God will send her home soon. Please join with the family and me to help her be healed!

Last Full Day in Kenya!

I definitely can't believe it, but I'm also definitely ready to come home. I got to talk to my mom last night, and it was great to say that I would see you in 2 days! We've had some crazy adventures this week, and it's been a great way to close out our time here. Last night (Friday) we had the opportunity to go to Nick's Aunt's (kinda) house to enjoy a home-cooked Kenyan meal. Her name is Aunt Jedi, not pronounced JEDI like in star wars, but we had a fun time saying it like that. She's possibly the craziest person I have EVER met. She has lived so many different places in the world, so she has a very unique accent. It's Irish, Kenyan, Southern (like american Southern) and English. But the Irish was the most dominant because she's married to an Irish man.

That was definitely the most exciting thing that happened. Tonight, we are having a farewell party with the students, so it will pretty much be our last time to hang out with the majority of them! I'm excited for it! It should be a fun time. It's just so exciting that I'm going to be home!

Some other news that I wanted to share with everyone is some stuff that's going on at home with my family. Last Sunday, June 28, my cousin Phil and his wife Tammy had a beautiful baby girl..Reagan Michelle Janeski. She was born about 3 weeks early, but seemed to be health weighing in at 6 lbs 1 oz, and only 18.5 inches long. She was doing well and was able to go home on Sunday. But that night, she wasn't feeding well and began screaming inconsolably. When she finally stopped, she was wimpering, so they were very concerned. They called their on call nurse, and they told them to take her to the children's hospital in Charlotte. She seemed to be very cold, so they had the heat on the entire way to the hospital. When they got there, her temperature was only 93. The doctors told them that they would do what they could, but it really didn't seem promising. They discovered that she has a heart issue called Coarctation of the Aorta. Basically, her aorta is narrowed, and wasn't able to pump enough blood to her extremities. They had to stabilize her before anything could be done, and they thought they would be doing a surgery on Friday to repair it. She stabilized earlier, and actually had the surgery on Wednesday. They said that the surgery went well but there's still a long road ahead of her. She's no longer on a ventilator, but is still requiring a small amount of oxygen.

My mom told me that if they had not gotten her to the hospital when they did, she probably would have died. It's scary how much she's gone through when she's only 6 days old. They're doing more tests to see if there are any other issues that she was born with. Those tests will take about a week to come back. She's been more alert, occasionally opening her eyes and moving a small amount. She is their second baby, and is absolutely precious. I'm hopeful that she will be ok, but right now the family needs your prayers. I know they will appreciate it all, and I will do my best to keep you in the loop, even when I get home!

She's so precious, and looks just like her older brother, Blake! Please pray for the family, I know they appreciate it! Love you all! Be home in 2 daysss!!!!