Sierra Rose was born on September 19, 2007.  When she was born, she was not breathing.  Due to the lack of oxygen, she suffered brain damage.  She was in NICU for 7 weeks and 2 days.  The first few weeks of her life, we almost lost our precious baby several times.  But God was gracious and let us keep her. 

The doctors have said that Sierra will never be able to walk, talk, or see.  We have seen God’s miraculous hand at work in her life and she has already surpassed the doctors’ expectations in other areas, so we are not going to give up praying for more miracles. 

We have been doing much research and have learned that some people who have had optic nerve damage have been helped by stem cell treatments.  These are people who have been told by specialists that there is no hope.  God has led us to pursue stem cell treatments for our daughter.  Our main hope is that the stem cell treatments will help repair her optic nerves and give her some sight.  (Stem cell treatments have also proven helpful to brain injured people in other ways.)

The treatments will be done through www.stemcellschina.com and www.beikebiotech.com.

My whole pregnancy with Sierra was a breeze aside from being a bit anemic. I had no morning sickness whatsoever. I knew that labor is never fun, but never would have guessed how things were going to turn out. Sierra was due on September 8, 2007 but the midwife had been telling us all along that first babies are usually about 2 weeks late. So when Sept. 8 came and went it wasn't really a surprise. By the time I was a week overdue, my midwife told me that if I had not had Sierra by the 21 we would try some things to induce because legally the 22nd was the last day she could deliver. She started me on a high carb diet to prepare for labor.

On September 17th I began having labor pains around 6 am. The contractions were pretty painful. I had pain both in the front and back. The contractions were between 5-10 minutes apart. The midwife said not to come in yet that it was just pre labor. She said that would know when real labor began. I continued to have the contractions. Because they were so strong, I couldn't get any sleep.

Late afternoon of Sept. 18, real labor began. Although it was much more intense than the pre labor it was nowhere near as painful. The contractions were just back pain. The front pain had stopped. By around 9:00 pm or so, we decided it was time to go to the birthing center.

I was planning on having a water birth, but the midwife didn't want me getting in the water right away because she didn't want the water to slow the labor down. I spent the next two hours or so mainly standing or walking. Around 11 p.m. she finally said that I could get in the tub. The water was relaxing. The midwife continued to check the baby's
heart rate every 15 minutes (or however often it is...I can't remember). Everything was going fine.

Then during one of the times that the assistant checked the heart rate, she looked concerned. She said, "You need to get out of the tub right now." The baby's heart rate had dropped to around 76. I got out of the tub and got dried off. They took me over to the bed. I laid down and they checked the heart rate again. The baby's heart rate was
beginning to go back up.

(During the whole time, my husband, father, mother, brother and sister were praying.)

Whenever I would switch positions, her heart rate would drop. The only position that it would stay good was when I was flat on my back. She had two more heart rate drops.

Around 4:45am on Sept. 19, Sierra was born. She was blue and was not breathing. They called 911 again. While they were waiting, they began bagging her and she got some color but still did not start breathing. My sister began calling lots of people and a multitude of people began crying out to God for our baby.

The ambulance arrived and I told Jason (my husband) and my mom to go with the baby. After they left, I still had to deliver the placenta. The whole time, I was laying there wondering if my baby was dead or alive. About 15 minutes after they left, the midwife said that I had a tear and asked if I wanted her to stitch me up. At that point, I just wanted to go with my baby. I said no and signed a release form.

We received word that Sierra was alive. They had taken her to one hospital and were planning on transferring her to one with a NICU. My father and sister took me to the hospital that they were going to transfer her to. It took much longer for them to transfer her than we expected.  It was several hours before Sierra arrived and several hours after that before I got to see her.

When I did get to see her, she had all sorts of wires and tubes attached. I was glad to see her moving, until I was told that she was having seizures. She had been placed in a corner room of NICU and had a nurse with her 24/7. The doctors were all very grim. She spent the next 7 weeks and 2 days in NICU. During that time, we almost lost her several times.

While she was in the hospital, they told us that parts of her brain had been damaged due to lack of oxygen. They said that the three areas of her brain that were damaged dealt with vision, sleep, and the ability to make executive decisions. We knew that she would have challenges in those areas, but we thought she would be just fine otherwise. Besides, only one side of the brain was damaged in the areas that dealt with vision and executive decisions.

We took her home on Nov. 9, with a G-tube for feeding. Her sucking was weak but her swallowing was good. We found out about a special bottle called the Haberman. We were able to use that to feed her by mouth. In January, they removed her G-tube because she was taking all of her feedings by mouth.

We took her to an ophthalmologist appointment and he told us that her optical nerves were damaged and that she would probably never see.

Then, in January, we took her to a neurologist appointment. We assumed that was just going to be for the purpose of discussing her seizure medicine, Keppra, and the dose she was receiving. Nothing could have prepared us for the news we received that day.

The neurologist bluntly told us that Sierra's brain was not growing like it should be. She said that Sierra would never be able to walk or talk, and that mentally she would probably stay where she was at that time (about 3 months).

The news was devastating to us, and the neurologist's bluntness and lack of emotion didn't help either. We came home and spent the day grieving with family and our pastor.

After that, we began doing all sorts of research.  We were desperate to find things that might help her.  The first treatments that we began taking her to were hyperbaric oxygen therapy, HBO.  These helped with her muscle tone so much!  Her occupational therapist was greatly impressed with the improvements she saw in Sierra after the HBO treatments.

Upon further research, we learned that some people who have had optic nerve damage have been helped by stem cell treatments.  These are people who have been told by specialists that there is no hope. 

So that is where we are now.  God has led us to pursue stem cell treatments for our daughter.  Our main hope is that the stem cell treatments will help repair her optic nerves and give her some sight.  (Stem cell treatments have also proven helpful to brain injured people in other ways.)

The treatments will be done through www.stemcellschina.com and www.beikebiotech.com.

How to Help

The best way that you can help is to PRAY!  We have seen God work mightily through prayers.  We covet your prayers for our daughter and us.

Another way that you can help is to consider holding on a fundraiser for Sierra, or volunteering to help at a fundraiser.