Greetings

Hello again
Just wanted to wish a belated Blessed Easter to all of you. Sharon's picture with the Easter bunny isn't her best photo since it was taken while she was doped up from medication for getting her MRI. But it was a nice touch from the NICU to send the Bunny around for all the babies.
Nothing new on our end. We went to the pediatrician for the first time today and found that Sharon gained half a pound since we left the hospital! yay! (we also found out that she DOES NOT like anyone messing with her...she must have had enough of that in the hospital!). The pediatrician examined Sharon thoroughly and said "if i hadn't read her reports and talked with her other doctors, i wouldn't even guess that she has any problems." That was a nice confirmation for RJ and I who can't help but think that she acts just like any newborn. We take the encouragement when we can, becuase we know that as time goes by and more of her brain is put to use, any injuries will be more apparent. We continue to hope and pray for miraculous healing but also don't want to live in denial.
Day to day, Sharon is an angel. She sleeps well, eats well, and is cute as can be. The weather has been gorgeous so she's enjoyed being outside with her daddy. She finally got to meet her Messick cousins (who were never allowed in the NICU so had to be very patient to even see her). I am thoroughly enjoying having RJ home with us and wish he never had to go back to work, but we will attempt to return to a semblance of normalcy next week. I've been doing work in the mornings and it's actually been really nice to have something else to think about.
I feel like a broken record, but we can't thank you enough for your support and prayers. We are just amazed at the outpouring we have received...God Bless all of you and we can't wait until each of you gets to meet our angel!
Jaye (and RJ and Sharon)

Sharon and the Easter Bunny 

from us again

Hello again to all of you
We know that all of you are awaiting news and just wanted to let you know that we are now at the point where waiting is about all we can do too. We will take Sharon to see a nuerologist at Brenner's Children's Hospital next Friday (seems like ages away, but we were actually very fortunate to even get her in that quickly, thanks to our persistent neurologist and a friend of RJ's who has "connections"). This new doctor (Dr. Roach) will look at the same information that our neurologst has looked at. We don't know what more he will do beyond that. We have been told and understand that there is really nothing to do at this point but wait for Sharon to grow and show us for ourselves what she is capable of.
We did take her to an ENT yesterday becuase she is still struggling with breathing. The doctor examined her and basically said that Sharon has weak vocal chords, which is why she rasps at times. She said that this will take care of itself in time and as long as Sharon can continue to breathe through the raspiness, we just need to give it time (possibly as long as a year for them to fully develop). She does have an adorable high-pitched cry becuase of this, which makes her even more endearing!
She is adjusting to our home just fine. The cats have all tried to sit on her but have settled for just purring next to her. Our husky has "adopted" her and gets upset whenever she cries. Sharon is a sweet and calm baby. We are all resting much better now that she is home (everyone says that having a baby will make you get no sleep, but we are getting so much more sleep now than when she was in the hospital!)
You know, i realized that i never made a point of telling folks about Sharon's name becuase of all the "excitement". Many of you know that she was named after her grandmother, but Isabella is a family name as well. It is the middle name of Grandma Connor. We didn't know this until Thanksgiving when i asked what Grandma's middle name was. We both instantly loved it and the name was set.
Well, that is all for now. I just wanted to let you know what has been happening, even though it isn't much at this point. We LOVE your posts on this page and check frequently to see who else has written. It is especially encouraging when we have down moments to see how many of you are lifting up our daughter.
Thank you, God Bless, and love
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon I.

from Jaye and RJ

well, things have changed pretty drastically in 24 hours. Yesterday as we were literally packing up to leave the hospital, the neurologist came into the room and said that he wanted to order and MRI for Sharon. She had a repeat CT scan the day before to make sure that the bleeds were resolving (which they were! Yay!), but when he looked at the scan he noticed some things that made him concerned. So off our girl went in an ambulance to another hospital for her MRI. And there we sat waiting for the results.
They came later in the afternoon and were very hard to take. Apparently there is significant injury to all but one quadrant of her brain. The neurologist met with us late yesterday and explained that it is most likely due to strokes. He feels that there was more than one and that they were at different times (possibly before, during, and even after she was born). Both frontal lobes are damaged and her left rear area (can't spell the techincal name) is as well. He was very honest with us and told us that with injuries like this, the prognosis is not good for her development. She is also very much at risk for having a seizure disorder, which at this point is being treated with medication.
Needless to say, we are in shock and heartbroken. We are in the process of scheduling appointments at Brenner's Children Hospital to have her completely checked out by their neurology team. Our neurologist said that we should have another MRI in about a month to see if the brain has started to atrophy or, by some miracle, hasn't gotten any worse at that point. So of course, we are shooting for that miracle. Please continue with your prayers that somehow the damage will be minimized. It's so hard to beleive that there is anything wrong becuase she is getting stronger and more alert every day and appears to be a healthy baby....it makes it very hard to accept!
We are home with her now and love having her to ourselves. We're trying to accept this new news and go forward with whatever needs to be done.
Thank you for your continued prayers for a miracle for Sharon!!
Love and bless
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon

 

Sharon and her wonderful nurse Sherrie 

GREAT NEWS!

Jaye gave me an update earlier today to post but since that time there is even better news - it looks like Sharon will go home tomorrow!!!!! Here is Jaye's update from earlier:


I am not sure if there has already been an update, but just in case there hasn't been...
Things are really looking up! Praise God! Sharon is eating all of her own food (no more tube!) and is quite a piggy. She has gained an ounce so far and i'm sure she'll continue to go up. THey took the IV tube out of her umbilical cord so she is just about "line free"!!! It's so much easier to pick her up and i'm even allowed to put clothes on her now...
Also, i just got news that she will "graduate" out of the Level III room into what we've called the "feed and grow" room. RJ and I are ready at this point to just hide her in the diaper bag and make a run for it.
She still has some breathing difficulties due to her swollen trachea, but she seems able to manage it and we're more than ready to get out of here. We've had to struggle with different opinions from different doctors and nurses (night shift says one thing, day shift does another, etc) so our tolerance level is not what it was. RJ will return to work tomorrow (today?) until she is discharged. I plan to meet with the doctor as soon as possible this morning to get a very specific plan from him about her discharge.
I am with Sharon tonight so that i can feed her (still from a bottle but not for long). She is actually able to cry a little now and it's the best sound in the world! She's got a great smile and i swear she cracks up at RJ. I don't know how she knows already that he's so funny, but she just gets such a kick out of him.
I hope i am able to actually post this...THank you again for your continued prayers and support. This past week has been the hardest in our lives but we are definitely stronger for it and SO grateful for how blessed we are.
lots of love
Jaye

Miss "Bright Eyes" looks at her Pop Pop 

Sharon chats with her Auntie 

The Pierce Grandparents 

Sharon holds Sharon 

GREAT NEWS!

Just a quick update - the neurologist came in last night and told Jaye and RJ (and the rest of us who were there :) that Sharon's EEG looks good and he sees no evidence of seizures - Praise GOD!

Jaye

Hello again! I haven't had time to check out this page in a few days, but hopefully today i will catch up with all the wonderful comments i'm hearing about...Again, we cannot thank you enough for your concern, support, and prayers.I know that all of you want information and answers...believe me, so do we! Most of what we are doing is waiting for just that. She's had a lot of tests, some of which have been read, some which haven't. Let's see what i can think of to tell you....I think you know she had a CT scan which showed a bleed. After the neurologist looked at the scan he thinks there is actually more than one and that they are due to the difficult labor. There isn't anything to be done about them except to wait and pray that they clot and reabsorb. As a follow up to that, she had a cranial ultrasound which showed that the bleeds are still there (not surprising, it's usually a five day process, give or take). The neurologist wasn't satisfied with the EEG that was done on her first day so another was done yesterday and he will read it (hopefully) today and then make some decisions about follow up CT, possible MRI, etc. The neurologist is actually less concerned about seizure activity than about damage to her brain and development. He is "cautiously optimistic" that the seizures were just her way of reacting to a traumatic first day of life.
I think you also know that she had a spinal tap (i can't even remember when...it's all a blur). The initial results are good, and the cultures are so far clear.Her lung x-rays still show infection but the doctors are confident that they will continue to clear up with anitbiotics and she is continuing to breathe well on her own. THe only breathing difficulty she is having at this point is from her little trachea being inflamed from being intubated. But she's a fighter and has learned how to breathe through any "spells" that she has.
Okay, i think that's all my brain can regurgitate for now! I hope that helps to answer some questions for you!As for the most important stuff :) I am able to hold her now while she "eats" (through a tube in her nose....but it's breastmilk so i'm thrilled that we're going in the right direction). RJ gets his turns to hold her too (usually in the middle of the night in between reading her stories like "the slaying of Grendel"....a book of myths and legends is the only one we brought with us!) while i try to sleep. She has shown that she can digest the milk so i am getting ancy for them to start letting her learn how to really eat. Some of her sedation has been lowered so she is starting to open her eyes here and there and even make tiny little mewing sounds (her throat is a little hoarse and we are anxiously awaiting the time when she cries! Who would have thought that??)I haven't seen the pictures that are posted (the computer here at the NICU is so ancient that just getting here to do this post took way too long and too many restarts of the system!), but i'm sure you can see how far she has come in these first days. She is adorable and sweet, already LOVES her daddy and has him totally wrapped around her finger. We're very proud of her and wait for continued good news....Thank you thank you thank you for your support! We appreciate it more than you can know.God BlessJaye

March 17

Today was a busy day for Sharon - she will have another EEG and brain ultrasound today - please pray for positive results!
She is breathing very well and does not need oxygen anymore - that is great news for Mom and Dad b/c they got to hold her today!
She also has a feeding tube in so she can finally have some food!
She is quite a trooper!

happy girls 

cute head 

happy family 

happy family 

singing John Denver to Sharon :) 

happy Mommy! 

cute face ! 

Daddy holds Sharon 

Sharon with no "helmet" 

March 16

Today was a bit better than yesterday for Sharon. She is becoming a better "breather" and is still under the "oxygen dome". She will have a spinal tap to rule out meningitis (poor baby - she will be quite brave I am sure). She is getting cuter by the minute! Please continue to pray that her seizures are gone as well as the brain bleed.
Jaye is officially "discharged" today so she and RJ are moving to a hotel right next to the hospital - which leads me to my next point: many people have asked where to send flowers etc...I would like to suggest that in lieu of flowers people would make a contribution to the "hotel fund" - if you would like to do this feel free to send contributions to their residence:
Baer
702 Stacey Lane
Colfax, NC 27235
thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Jaye and Sharon 

Mom and Baby 

Sharon is off of the ventilator and in the "angel food cake dish" :) She is getting oxygen for a little longer 

Mom's words

Hello to all of you. I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for your prayers and concern. RJ and I are very comforted knowing that so many of you are praying for our precious girl. She is gorgeous (not that we are biased in any way) but has a stubborn streak that keeps us and the doctors hopping. Today she succesfully came off the ventilator, but not without a few false starts and scares. Her breathing isn't stable yet so we are relieved and worried at the same time. We are still praying for an answer to the seizure occurences and hoping for a miracle (that they are going to resolve on their own and not be an issue). We also have to just wait and hope that the bleed in her brain will resolve itself.
Of course, with all the medical information being handed to us, the biggest question for us is "When can we hold her??" We are being patient and praying for her stability, but that is very difficult when we've waited so long to have her with us.
I do have to say that there is a definite bond out there between our Sharon and her great uncle Fred. It is almost eerie how much of their lives are linked...how much comfort i am able to take knowing what uncle Fred was able to overcome and learning all that i did about intensive care at that time. His suffering was what pulled me through 25 hours of labor, and little did i know how much his spirit would continue to help uplift us...God Bless Great Uncle Fred!Thank you again for your prayers and for understanding our need for "alone time" right now. With my parents and siblings taking care of the day to day needs and RJ's parents in town for support, all we really need from the rst of you is a lot of prayer! It takes all of our energy just to get through the days and nights and we appreciate that we are able to do that with no distractions...Thank you for these messages. I've read them to Sharon so she knows she is loved by many!!God Bless you all and be wellJaye, RJ and Sharon Isabella

March 14

Sharon has had a BIG day! She is quite a trooper! The black spot on her lung was gone this morning - Thank you God! She had a CT scan this afternoon and there seems to be some bleeding so please pray for that to clear up. We are waiting to hear back from a neurologist regarding her seizures so please pray for good news there as well! She is making progress and even had a sponge bath today - she is a special little lady ! Thank you for you prayers and concern!
Jaye is doing as well as can be expected - she is quite the trooper as well! RJ is being a strong Dad and husband.

The menfolk with Sharon 

Grandpa Baer meeting Sharon 

Grandma Baer meets Sharon 

All cleaned up after a sponge bath - so pretty! 

Holding his precious little girl 

Daddy holding Sharon for the first time while they change the bedding 

Jim D.'s Prayer for Sharon

Dear Lord,
Today, you blessed the world with Sharon Isabella.
Please be with her in her time of need.
As the wind blows off the ocean, fill her with your breath of life.
As the waves break on the shore, give strength to her as well as her parents, Jaye & RJ.
In the sea oats and the dunes, we can see Your beauty And see as well the fragility of life.
They can seem so weak in the face of the powerful ocean.
Yet You know every grain of sand on the vast beach.
Be with Sharon Isabelle in her struggle, Lord.
Continue to share Your care with her and her parents.
Make Your presence known through the ministry of Aunt Jacqueline, and Grandma Sharon, and the rest of their family & friends.
Lord, guide the hands, hearts and minds of the doctors and nurses who are diagnosing and taking care of Sharon Isabella.
Help them to understand her needs, and bring her healing.
We praise you, Lord, for your goodness.
Send Your Spirit to be with Sharon Isabella.
Watch over her Lord, and bless her.
Hold her always in the palm of Your Hand.
Amen.

RJ and Sharon Isabella 

RJ and Sharon Isabella 

Sharon Isabella 

Sharon Isabella 

RJ and Sharon Isabella 

Sharon Isabella

Sharon was born at 6:12 on March 13th. She was 6lbs and 11 oz big - 19 in. long. Sharon had trouble at birth with the cord around her neck and other breathing trouble. They rushed her to the NICU and they are watching her closely. She has had seizures today and is ona respirator. Please pray for sweet Sharon!