Rayne Anne Ellington

On a beautiful January 9th, 2015 our world was blessed with Rayne.  This Rayne didn’t come in drops to be whisked away by windshield wipers or puddled on uneven sidewalks or streets.  This Rayne came as a gift of love, that love, puddling into our hearts.  

Matt and Melissa (Newman) Ellington, along with Zane, her two year old brother, were anxiously awaiting this/re new edition to their little family.  Melissa was due on January 17th, but wasn't overly surprised when she went into labor that Friday morning.  Rayne came quickly, and it was a blessing in disguise.

 

Rayne Anne Ellington was born around 11:43 am, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. These are pretty healthy stats for a newborn, but Rayne was already fighting for her life.  She was born with bacteroids (an infection in the placenta) and Meconium during birth (she inhaled feces).  She had weak lungs due to borderline diabetes during pregnancy and her kidneys are weak because of lack of oxygen at birth.  She also has a hole in her heart.  

Shortly after birth, the doctors decided to lifeflight her from Timpanogos  Hospital in Orem, Utah to Primary Children’s hospital in Salt Lake City.  The doctors felt it would be the best place for her in case she took a turn for the worse.  Because Melissa couldn't take the trip with her little girl, Matt was able to take the journey with her.  Neither parent was able to hold her in their arms.

That first night was rough.  Rayne struggled for every breath.  There have been several times in her little life that the oxygen they were giving her had to be at 100% and that first night was no exception.  The doctors wanted to get her levels to about 70% before they could give her a treatment.  This treatment would help her, but it would worsen her condition before it got better.  They wanted the levels at 70% so they had some room to go.  Through blessings and prayers she was able to receive the treatment.  But like the doctors said, she did get worse.  

She was back and forth for several days on her oxygen.  Every time they would re-position her, she would require more oxygen for a bit.  Melissa was able to re-position her a few times, which she was grateful for.  She still hadn't been able to hold her baby girl.  

After what seemed like slow but forward progression Rayne experienced a major setback.  On Thursday, January 15th, she was back at where she started, fighting for every breath.  Doctors decided to put her on an ecmo machine, a machine that pulls out the carbon dioxide in her blood and adds in oxygen.  They then told Matt and Melissa that if this doesn't work, they needed to plan for the worst.  Devastating!

Once she was on the ecmo, she began to improve again, but they told Matt and Melissa it would be a minimum of 5 days before they could take her off the machine.  They still hadn't been able to hold her.

One week later, they were able to remove her from the ecmo machine.  She has continued to make steady progress.

Finally, on Monday, January 26th, after two and a half weeks, Melissa was able to hold sweet Rayne in her arms.  She has also been able to feed her.  

A week after she was removed from the ecmo, they were able to remove the breathing tube.  Now she just has a nose piece for oxygen delivery and now Melissa is able to hold her whenever she wants.  

She still has a ways to go.  Her care at Primary Children’s Hospital is expensive and their insurance will fall short in covering the costs.  Please help us help Melissa and Matt for a “Chance 4 Rayne”.

 http://www.gofundme.com/legebc