Abigail Jane Warren!!!

Friends and Family of AJ,

In case you have not heard, or checked our the blog, we have a beautiful baby girl! We would like to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. You all rule. We have had a tense few weeks sitting around waiting for a diagnosis from the doctors. Abigail has been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the first few weeks of her already blessed life. The doctors told us that she had some abnormalities when she was born and that further testing would be required to determine her status. After extensive tests and some retesting the doctors have diagnosed her with Zellwegers Syndrome. We are attaching a website that will help explain in better detail what that is.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/zellweger/zellweger.htm

The low-down is that AJ's brain did not develop properly from the beginning. She also has a small hole in her heart, some kidney problems, cataracts, low muscle tone, and some hearing loss. To be discharged from the NICU she will have to show the abilities to maintain her own body temperature, regulate her respiratory rate, and to feed. She still has not shown the natural instinct to feed herself and will most likely require a direct feeding tube into her stomach before she comes home. AJ has also had some trouble breathing recently. She has been on a ventilator for the past few days and will likely have trouble breathing for the rest of her life. As you all will probably soon read the prognosis for Zellwegers is poor. We want each of you to know how excited we are to be parents. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to be able to hold our baby and to tell her we love her. Many parents never make it this far and never get to experience the awesome feelings that we now cherish.

Our future appears to hold many tough moments and some pretty daunting challenges, but we are excited to get out there and live life to the very fullest with our beautiful baby girl. One of our great teachers told us that, "Everyone comes into our lives for a reason. They teach us something about life and ourselves." Abigail is teaching us to cherish every moment we have with those we love and care about. We thank all you again for your concerns and support. We look forward to a long, happy life with the most beautiful girl either one of us has ever met.

Very sincerely,
Jay, Lauren Lea, Abigail, and Killer

p.s. This Saturday (June 28, 2008) we are throwing a one month birthday party for Abigail on the 5th floor of Wilford Hall Medical Center (Lackland AFB, San Antonio) and you all are invited. No need to bring a gift, she has more clothes than any one person could ever need. Party hats will be worn...

HOLY SHIT!

Holy shit we have a kid! And she beat her dad home...she's good. And Jay is the coolest!

After a very short labor at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Abigail made it known that she needed to come out via emergency c-section. The labor didn't provide any time for phone calls or updates, barely enough time for Debbie to get the labor bag from the car. Abigail Jane quietly arrived at 10:40 p.m. (2240 for you military types) Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Finally after the longest few minutes of our lives, she made a peep and was rushed to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for high fives and hot chocolate. That is what we like to tell ourselves.

Once I arrived from recovery, we were finally able to contact Red Cross to spread the word to Jay. Thankfully his unit was able to put him on a plane back home the next morning. Daddy was finally on his way home! And Jay is the coolest. Just after receiving that awesome phone call 9:30 a.m., I was able to meet the most beautiful bundle of joy in the world. She was amazing. It had been really tough sitting through recovery after the c-section thinking somethings missing here, where's our baby?

Jay's plane arrived late Friday evening. Let's just say it got a little emotional in the labor & delivery hallway that night. I couldn't believe he was walking towards me...it was like a dream come true. I took him over to the NICU right away to meet Abigail. Once they locked eyes, I knew he was going to refuse to share the baby with anyone. Including the mother. We are definitely smittin'. And Jay is the coolest.

Abigail is doing really well in the NICU. She is totally chillaxin' like a pro. She is obviously the most loved child in the World right now. The doctors are telling us that she will probably be there through the end of the month. She has some exercising to do before she can leave, so Jay is running the PT sessions every day. And Jay is the coolest.