Alida Fe

After a sleepless night in labor, our beautiful daughter, Alida Fe, was born into a bit of a crisis at 7:42AM on Sunday, May 25. Many people have asked exactly what happened, so I will do my best to explain it briefly here. As it turns out, she aspirated (inhaled) meconium (an infant's first stool) while still in the womb. Although this normally is not much of a concern, the amount that she inhaled threw her into a bit of a downward spiral. She was born full term at 7lbs 14oz, but was not breathing, and even after intensive suctioning by the NICU unit and 100% O2 application, she continued to have very low levels of O2 in her bloodstream.

She was taken immediately to the High-risk wing of the NICU where she would spend the next 5 days in critical condition. Her aspiration led to a variety of interventions: morphine to keep her sedated and able to heal, surfactant to help her lungs break up the caustic waste, deep suctioning to remove the tarry meconium, Nitric Oxide and Oxygen via ventilator to open up her lung's blood vessels and oxygenate better thus relieving her pulmonary hypertension, nutrients and antibiotics through one of her three IV lines to keep her alive and prevent a lung infection, and a couple of cardiac drugs to stabilize the stress the situation put on her heart. At one point on the first day, she was nearly placed on ECMO, an infant heart/lung bypass machine since her situation had continued to deteriorate.

Through the incredible efforts of the staff at Miami Valley's NICU unit and the prayers of literally thousands of people, we saw unbelievable strides as Alida recovered more rapidly than anyone imagined. Through the power of grace and the beauty of medical science, God worked a miracle in our infant's body. After her first very rough two days, she blew past everyone's goals and on Friday her ventilator was removed, and we were able to carefully hold her for the first time. Finally extubated, she squeaked out her first hoarse cries.

As she continued to improve, we moved downstairs to the Low-risk wing of the NICU for our last three days in the hospital and began to adjust to normal life with an infant. As she gained strength, her squeaks quickly evolved into powerful cries that constantly remind us of her recovery. Eight days after we arrived, we carried her out with a very special nurse and new friend, Marcia, to take Alida home.

Many parents cry upon the arrival of their newborn, or when they touch or hold them for the first time, but Stacey and I finally felt the relief of family as we drove down Brown St. and thanked God for giving  us a chance to go home. We know that for so many families this story ends differently and our heart breaks for them. We are reminded of Carlos in Caliche; his story took a different turn.

We don't deserve our beautiful little girl. We don't deserve another day ourselves, but God has blessed us with love and life. Alida means "Noble or Winged-One" and Fe (pronounced Faye) is Spanish for "faith." Through this experience, our fe has been tested, and I must say that mine faltered as I spent our first day giving back to God my expectations for our daughter. It was an excellent reminder that she is not ours, never has been and never will be. We are simply adoptive parents, guardians of God's child. Our job now is to raise her to know love, to become a catalyst for hope in the name of Christ.

First day home.

We are all home now and have been for a couple of weeks. Alida is nursing well and packing on the pounds. Overall she has been a wonderful baby, and our physicians have told us not to anticipate any chronic issues. She smiles, cries, poops, eats, and occasionally sleeps like any normal baby. When we look back at our time in the hospital, we recognize that we were covered in prayer, and we felt incredible peace through that situation. We can never sufficiently thank God, those that prayed, and those that worked their medical profession so diligently. They saved our daughter's life. Thank you.

Damos Gracias a Dios por: la vida de nuestra niña preciosa y los doctores y enferemeras de Miami Valley Hospital, especialmente Marcia y Jessie.

We give thanks to God for: the life of our precious girl and the doctors and nurses of Miami Valley Hospital, especially Marcia y Jessie.