Subject: Announcing....
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 11:51:27 -0400
From: Kraig Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>
Dear Friends and Family,
Please forgive us for keeping you waiting so long--we
know some of you have heard our news, but a lot of you have had to wait. Sorry! As you can imagine, it's been a crazy few days.
We are proud and happy to announce the birth of our
daughter, Keren Elyse. She pushed
her way into the world at 2:46 pm, Friday, September 27. She weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz. (2100 grams)
and at birth was 18 1/2 inches (47 cm).
She also sported a lovely thatch of dark brown hair!!!
The whole labor and delivery went very smoothy--Loren
only had to push for half an hour and is recovering quite well. Keren's heartbeat stayed consistantly
strong throughout the whole process.
She is everything we dreamed of and more, and she is a
very precious baby. As you know we
have been concerned for her, that there might be other things besides her size
that could be a problem. This is
definitely the case, though we don't know all the answers or the extent
yet. In terms of the physical
things that could be spotted right away, she has a club foot and hand (its bent
over like her foot), neither serious.
The doctors also detected a heart murmur which is most likely caused by
the fact that one of her valves which should have three flaps only has
two. This problem may or may not
be serious. Our most immediate
concern for her is a tendency for apnea (stopping breathing). This has happened
a few times, not so much yesterday as her first day. The nurses immediately
catch it and get her going again, but they are currently looking into causes.
We are awaiting the results of numerous blood tests which
will let us know if Keren has a chromosomal disorder. These could range from minor issues toward much more
serious, life-threatening disorders.
Though we had some early indications during the pregnancy that there
were possibilities of chromosomal disorders, it's still hard to face the
reality that we might not have Keren for long.... We still know that God is good and that his plans are
best--we will never turn from that--but we are definitely praying for long life
for Keren. We have been so amazed
by her and have been reminded of Psalm 139:13&14, "For you created my
inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full
well." She is so beautiful,
and every part of her is incredible, from her bright little eyes that look
around toward our voices, and her hands that play with our fingers.
We have chosen her name, Keren Elyse, very
deliberately. If you recall the
story of Job in the Bible, the man who went through all sorts of trials, you
may know that when the testing was over, God blessed him. Part of that blessing
was seven sons and three daughters.
The sons aren't named, but the daughters are, and one of them is
"Keren-happuch."
"Keren" actually means "power", which she is going
to definitely need. As Job's Keren
was a blessing from God indicating God's faithfulness and goodness, so we look
at our Keren. "Elyse"
has two meanings: "a gift
from God" and "consecrated to God" and that is kind of our
response to God's faithfulness to us.
For now she is in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)
and will be there indefinitely.
We'll be going in a lot for a while, as you can well imagine. She has a wonderful set of nurses and
doctors who are doing everything to help her stay strong, but we also know our
presence and love will help her the most.
We will keep you posted. Thank you for your continued prayer and showerings of
love. You are all a great comfort
to us! We hope to send out some
pictures soon--Loren's dad has been busy with the digital camera and we'll get
the files ASAP.
With love,
Kraig, Loren and Keren