Pray for Rain: Whooping Cough

It's 2:30am and I can't sleep. Sunday was Sunshine's debut at church. They threw her a beautiful shower. Our youngest guest was a three week old baby girl named Rain. She is a tiny little thing with an full head of hair.

She's the reason I can sleep.

Tuesday morning we got word Rain was in the hospital. Here's the prayer request from Tuesday, 3:47am:

"She is in PICU in a SA Children's hosp.  She is okay, but got a little dehydrated and is respirating quite highly and coughing with her whole body at times.  Everything else is stable."

By 5:56pm the news on Rain suddenly became more serious:

"She suddenly had difficulty a little while ago, and was intubated and on a respirator, her blood pressure is low and white blood count is high. Thankfully she was still in PICU. They may suspect pertussis."

I am no medical professional, but I know enough to know that is serious for a baby so young. My heart ached for that family. I can't imagine going through that. 

Well, now for the reason I can't sleep. Wednesday, 2:12am we get this update: 

"Rain is now being connected to the ECMO machine to take over.  She has pulmonary hypertension and her right side of her heart is in failure. They don't give hope without it, and a 70 % chance if she does have it."

I didn't know what that machine was, so I looked it up. Apparently the blood circulates outside of the body and the machine oxygenates it. The goal is to allow time for her heart to recover on its own. 

I can't imagine the pain of this family right....the uncertainty. They are a young couple and this is their first child. Please join me in praying for Rain and her family.