Our newest member of the family decided to enter with a BANG!!!

Autumn Rae came into this world on Friday September 20th at 3:59am, weighting 6 lbs 1.4 oz and was 18 ½ inches long. After many hours of trying to induce labor the doctors decided on an emergency C-section was needed. Either during labor or delivery Autumn experienced a lack of oxygen to her brain for a short period of time, she came out breathing on her own but was working very hard to do so. The pediatric team made the decision to send her up to the NICU to run some tests and make sure she was okay. These tests showed higher than normal levels of acidity in her blood which is related to the lack of oxygen she experienced and was diagnosed with HIE.

The team at Progress acted quickly and Autumn was transported to Children’s Hospital to begin a cooling therapy that has been found to be very successful in supporting babies with this diagnosis. Autumn was placed on a bed that cooled her body to around 92 degrees for three days in order to slow or prevent any further possible damage to her brain. After the 3 days cooling period she was slowly re-warmed over a period of 12 hours. Then came a series of tests and scans to assess any possible brain damage or neurological issues. Her MRI came back showing some blood on the outside of her brain, but the doctors said that this would eventually go away on its own. There were no other signs of any damage to her brain. This was the best news we had received since her birth!

However, doctors did find signs of white blood cells in her spinal fluid which suggests that her body was fighting some type of bacteria or virus. Due to this, Autumn was put on a 14 day antibiotic treatment for bacterial meningitis. While this news was very scary, the doctors were optimistic that this treatment would kill off anything that may be lingering.

Although this was one of the toughest weeks Brooke and Jeff have had to endure - they were blessed with an incredibly amazing, strong, and beautiful baby girl!

We kindly ask for any support you can provide ❤️. The medical bills, along with the costs of travel and meals for their unexpected stay downtown with their little angel, are quickly adding up. Your generosity would mean the world to them during this challenging time.

Thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support! Please continue to send them and surround our baby girl with all the positive energies she can get!