Early Monday morning about 3:30am, Lori woke me up telling me that she thought that she might be in labor (which I thought was funny). We rushed around and got to the hospital and our little baby girl, Grace, was born pretty quickly at around 7:30am.
After she was born, they took her away for the initial routine tests that they do, and started to look concerned. They told us that she wasn’t breathing very well and even with oxygen right in her nose, they were having trouble getting her O2 rate where it needed to be, and wanted to take her directly to the NICU.
Them helping her with oxygen right after birth
Lori’s few seconds before she went off to the NICU.
They did allow Lori to hold her for maybe a minute before they took her away, but they seemed to be in a rush to get her to the NICU to try and stabilize her.
Once there, they were able to get her stabilized and began running tests for their suspicion of a Group B Strep infection.
At this point they were telling us that they were probably keep her there in the NICU for a few hours until they could determine what it was.
This soon turned into a day, then 3, then 7, and now they are talking up to 14 days that they want to keep her in the NICU.
On Day 2 they confirmed that she indeed had the infection (which they were already pretty sure about), and thankfully had already started the antibiotic treatment.
They placed her in an incubator with a space-helmet looking thing on her, a feeding tube, an IV, and all sorts of other wires hooked up to her as they tried to get her O2 saturation up. It wasn’t exactly what we had pictured it being like.
Her space helmet for oxygen
Finally, this morning, Day 3, they told us that she was able to breathe on her own and that we could hold her and that Lori could feed her. It felt good to finally be able to have her in our arms.
Right now, she is still hanging on, and we are just waiting around to see how the infection spreads.
There seem to be 3 routes it can take from here:
- Staying under control with the current antibiotics
-
Spreading to her blood and causing sepsis
-
It could then begin to spread around to other organs and most importantly to her brain, causing Meningitis, or her lungs and cause Pneumonia.
We should know more in the morning, when we get blood tests back in the morning to show if the infection has spread to her blood, and if so, how strong it is.
“Grace” seems to be an appropriate name for a time like this. We are thankful that He has given us a daughter and are trusting Him for what He has in store.
We are learning a few things about Trust through this:
We trust Him, not trust that He will do what we desire Him to do.
He is the One that with infinite wisdom is in complete control. So, while we are asking Him to heal Grace, our faith is in Him because more than a divine genie, He is our loving Father that leads us through times of trial and gives grace in great abundance, conforming us to His image.
And that is the real gift.
If you want to keep up with how things progress, we are sharing the details on Facebook, and ask that you would pray with us for our little daughter, Grace.
Another complication is the medical expenses that come with days spent in the NICU. It is looking like it will be at least $7500 out of pocket at this point that we are asking the Lord to provide, and we would greatly appreciate your prayers about this. If you would like to help, you can at the bottom of this page or give through Vision Baptist Missions.
I want to thank all of you that have already contacted us to let us know that you are praying. It has been a huge encouragement, and we are very grateful.
Getting to hold her for the first time.
Her servants 24/7
Finally got to hold her this morning.
Amen. Thanks for taking the time to write this Phil! We’re praying for her continually every day. Love what you said about your conclusions on trust.
Thank you very much for praying. We appreciate it.
Praying for you guys and love you very much. We will send an offering as well
Thank you. We love you too. Look forward to seeing you again soon.
Praying Brother.
Thank you my friend, very much.
We love you guys and are praying for you!!
Thank you guys.
Praying for you guys.
Thank you for praying. We really appreciate it
Praying for you two and your precious baby x
Thank you for praying and letting us know!
Praying For God’s Most Abundant Love And Comfort At This Very Trying TIme. Praying That God Will Give You All The Strength To Cope As You Go Through This.
Thank you. He is faithful, and we are witnessing Him be faithful once again.
PRAYING IN ENGLAND
Thank you! It has been really neat to see and hear from people praying from all around the world!
We are circling the two of you and your baby with our prayers from the Island of Jamaica. Missionaries to Jamaica, Mack & Marilyn Locklear
Thank you! We have heard from people all over the world praying, and we really appreciate it!
Praying for all of you, praising God for the witness of you and Lori. God is always good, in all He does.
Yes He is. We are thankful that we have such a good God that we can trust at all times – good and bad.
Both of you and Grace are in my heart and prayers. Marcella Pace – Petaluma, California
We can’t thank you enough for praying.
Praying for you guys.
“We trust Him. Not what we want Him to do.” Hold to that–May God give amazing grace.
Thank you my friend. He has been better to us than we deserve and we are grateful.
dear Phillip and Lori Bassham,
our family will be holding you up in prayer as you pass through this trial. our oldest son Nicholas was born prematurely while we were living in Athens, Greece. I and my husband know what some of the things you are going through and will be praying accordingly. thank you for your strong words of trust in our loving Heavenly Father.
with love from Mark and Teana Loncar (your sister and brother from Bethel Baptist Church Hampton, VA)
Thank you for letting us know. We realize that we are not the first to face something scary like this, and that it is not the worst trial people have had to go through, but it still is a scary time. We are thankful that we have promises to hold to and that we are not over here alone. Glad to hear from you!
We’re praying for you guys! What a testimony of God’s ‘grace’ in your lives: “We trust Him, not trust that He will do what we desire Him to do.” Thank you for being such an encouragement in spite of the trial you both are going through. We love you and will continue lifting up baby Grace to the One who holds her securely in His hands.
Thank you Mrs. Maria. We appreciate you guys, and thank you for praying for us! Tell the family hi for us and thank you too!
Praying for you in Greenville, SC! There is no time, nor distance in prayer. Thank you, Lord, that you hear our prayers and respond. He is our faithful, holy, sovereign Lord of Lords.
His faithfulness reaches to the skies….Psalm 36:5b
Phillip and Lori, we will be praying for you and baby Grace.
Continuing to life Grace up in prayer…