Welcome
Zion was born on August 14, 2010, and at just nine days old, doctors found that she had a narrow aorta and needed heart surgery. Her surgery was scheduled for August 25, 2010 at 7am. It is expected that Zion will need to stay in the hospital at least 3 weeks the doctors have predicted. Please continue to pray for Zion, her Mommy, Rachel, and the rest of the family.
You can see pictures of Baby Zion at 4 days old if you click this link:
We need your help! We are asking for $5 donations to help the family of baby Zion. You can click on the "Donate" tab to make your donation. Please spread the word, this family has a need and I believe we can meet it.
Recent News
8/24
I went to see Zion today at the hospital. She is sedated and at rest while she waits for her heart surgery tomorrow morning. She still looks like an angel! My friend Rachel (Zion's Mommy) tells me she is at peace, which is so wonderful to hear. She is confident Zion's surgery will go well tomorrow and that Zion will soon be on the road to recovery come tomorrow afternoon. She is so appreciative for the support from everyone: family, friends, and even complete strangers. The doctors have estimated that Zion will be in the hospital for 3 weeks. Rachel's in-laws arrived today from New York and her Mom will be arriving this evening from North Carolina. They are surrounded by family and friends and lots of prayer. Thank you all for your support! ~Courtney
8/25
Zion just went in for surgery at 7:45am. Please continue to pray for peace for the family and a successful surgery and recovery. We should hear back by 9:45am how the surgery went.
10:30am - Zion is out of surgery with no complications, she is headed back to her room to start the recovery process. We are at $770 in donations, in less than 48 hours!! Praise God!! Now let's keep praying for a smooth recovery! Rachel wants to take her baby home.
10:48am - We are at $810. I never could have imagined this would have grown to be such a huge blessing for this family.
Erica has been at the hospital with Rachel and the family today while Zion went through surgery. She will be updating this afternoon as soon as she gets back home. Please continue to pray and if you feel moved to make a donation, you can do so on this website. Thank you for all your support.
12:24pm - We are at $845!!
5:09pm - Just got back home! I was at the hospital all morning with Zion and her family. I'm glad I was able to be there and cheer Zion on! The surgery went well and she is on the road to recovery! We got to see her 2 at a time and I must say she still looked beautiful despite all of the obstacles she's had to overcome in the past few days. Zion's family is so VERY grateful for all of your help. It takes a huge burden off of their shoulders! We are up to 890 dollars!! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!
8/26
I went to the hospital this morning to see Zion and she was looking beautiful as ever! She is having some difficulties with her blood pressure stabilizing, but is otherwise doing well. The doctors stopped giving her morphine in hopes she would start the process of breathing on her own. Since the morphine relaxes her, she tends to let the breathing machine do the work for her, instead of taking her own breaths. So without the morphine, she is now feeling the breathing tube and is getting agitated it seems, which effects her blood pressure. So someone is always standing at her bedside sweetly whispering to her, "It's ok Zion, you are doing great." Just hearing someone talking softly really helps her calm down and helps her blood pressure go back to normal, it's amazing! She loves to listen to her pink giraffe that plays lullaby music for her. It has to be wound every few minutes, and as soon as it stops, she starts to fidget, again effecting her blood pressure. So the family is close by trying to keep up with winding her lullaby giraffe. She is still on the ventilator at a low setting which is helping her breathe. They are taking it one day at a time, and trying to wean her off the breathing tube. At just 1 day after surgery, she is doing very well. Family and friends are surrounding her and her Mom, which is easing the stress. Thank you all again for your prayers and donations....we are at $1065 in 3 short days! God is good.
~Courtney
8/27
Just got word that the catheter has been removed and the ventilator is off. WOOHOO! Zion is on the straight road to recovery! I am ecstatic! Glory be to God!
8/27
4:00pm - Rachel got to hold Zion today for the first time in nearly a week! She is so grateful!! Zion is doing well off the ventilator and catheter. As of right now you all have donated $1,115 through this website!! There have also been many gifts given directly to the family as well. Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support!!
4:30pm - Just got off the phone with Rachel. Zion is better than I was initially told!! She has a list of tubes and wires that have been removed today: catheter, ventilator (breathing tube), feeding tube, left hand iv, artery line, and her rectal thermometer. They have found that she has some nerve damage to her left arm from the surgery. The physical therapist has already come to see Zion and with her first session has already shown signs of improvement!! So right now Zion is taking just tylenol for the pain management and doing well. She is only on 2 medications at the moment and 2 drips. She has 2 IV's, 1 in her leg and 1 in her neck. She has 1 chest tube in her left side that is helping to drain excess fluid from the surgery site, where they can keep an eye on the fluid to check to be sure there is no blood. So far so good! I am believing every day will bring more tubes and wires being removed and Zion getting that much more comfortable. Rachel says right now Zion is much more comfortable then when I saw her yesterday. I am so relieved. Please continue to pray and believe that Zion will soon be free of all wires and tubes and headed home! :o)
~Courtney
8/27
9:07am - $1,145 has been donated!! I just spoke to Rachel, she will be getting updated by doctors shortly, so I will have a new update to follow soon. I will be going to visit Zi this evening, I can't wait to see her looking so much better :o)
~Courtney
8/27
7:00pm - I went to see Zion tonight at the hospital and she looked a million times better! She was even smiling, her grandma caught it on tape! I believe Courtney says she is going to visit tonight. I'm sure she will have more good news!!!
ps We just broke the 1200 dollar mark! - Erica
A friend of Devins mother by the name of James was kind enough to make a video for Zion -
it can be seen here on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjGBFj4So14
8/30
I went and saw Zion this morning, she is looking better than ever!! They are hoping to remove her IV in her neck tomorrow morning, and Rachel has been given permission to breastfeed this evening! This is all wonderful news, and even better, they are talking about releasing her to go home by Friday!!! WOOHOO!! She is doing great!! Please pray for confidence and peace for Rachel as she is a little nervous about bringing Zion home and being her sole care giver. I know she will do great, but let's pray she feels that way too!! We are at $1210 in donations!
~Courtney
8/31
ZION IS GOING HOME TOMORROW!!! OFF ALL IV'S AND IS NURSING LIKE A CHAMP!!!
PRAISE GOD!!!!!!
~Courtney