Happy Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus! The whole month of January is dedicated to His Name, and it’s a great day to ask you to pray for several Sancta Nomina babies.

I posted a consultation and birth announcement for the sixth daughter of a friend of mine last year, and the year before that I posted about a fundraiser for their fifth daughter, who was diagnosed with hydrocephalus in utero and who — now at five years old — is an amazing little darling girl whose every day is a miracle. Her name is Meagan, and she’s currently in the hospital having a tough time. Her mom, Molly, posted this and said it was okay to share:

“It has been quite a week. Last Tuesday, while opening birthday gifts with Brian, Meagan collapsed on the floor. Her head became full with pressure and she was immediately lethargic. We rushed her to CHOA where she was barely breathing upon arrival but still forcibly vomiting from her head pressure. She had a carbon dioxide level of 95 and was immediately intubated. She then began to seize but luckily since we were already here it was stopped quickly with heavy medications. Despite being sedated and on a breathing tube she continued to pressure vomit so she was taken to the OR and her shunt was externalized to relieve the pressure. Somewhere in this process, Meagan aspirated. Thursday, Meagan spiked a 105 fever and the whole situation changed. We found out not only were we dealing with finding a new shunt solution for her, but she had aspiration from the vomiting and breathing tube combination which had settled in her lungs as aspiration pneumonia. The situation became very serious. Over the last 7 days, we have dealt with her struggling for oxygen, highest of high heart rates, lowest of low heart rates, an illeus (total gut shutdown), and now we found out today she has RSV on top of it all. Truly, it’s a perfect storm that she fell in to and was unavoidable. She has a long complicated fight ahead, not to mention a brain surgery that will have to follow – but she’s a fighter. Despite the hard pill to swallow of how sick she is, we have also witnessed amazing things this last week. Meagan has been doing what she has always done best – even while incredibly ill. We have seen people and communities from all aspects of our life come together in ways we couldn’t make happen. We have seen love, humor, charity and compassion – and it’s all because of her.

Meagan has been a miracle since the day she was born, and we continue to pray that she fights all of these odds against her to once again show us how miraculous she is. This has been difficult. I miss my girl’s smile, her laugh, her constant chatty looping conversations and her quirky questions.

We thank everyone for the many prayers, the amazing meal chain, braving the cold and rain to stand and pray for her tonight, helping wth the kids, and for our very close inner circle of support for being there for us and Megs at the hospital.

I will post an update when we know more or when we have any changes to report. Thanks and God Bless.”

Secondly, I posted a name reveal for blogger Sylvia (Tales from the Mommy Trenches)’s fifth baby girl back in October, when she shared that her baby had been diagnosed in utero with a congenital heart defect and Down Syndrome. Her baby has arrived! I was planning to ask her if I could do a birth announcement once things settled down, but I’m sure she’d appreciate the prayers right now — it looks like her little girl will be in the hospital for a while, and she’s got a lot of issues to deal with, which her mama’s documenting beautifully on Instagram. They also decided to change her name from the planned Matilde Regina to Therese Regina “due to some hefty intercession of St. Thérèse,” but as with all their girls she’s going by her middle name, and Sylvia’s #reggiegram hashtag kills me, so sweet!

Finally, Lindsay’s little Belén is sick, and I know they’d appreciate prayers for her. Lindsay wrote on Instagram:

“Could I ask a prayer to be said for Belén? She is really struggling with RSV and we’re trying hard to keep her out of the hospital. She coughs so hard that she keeps vomiting her feedings. Thank you so much in advance. I know so many who need prayers right now so please know we are praying and offering for all of your little ones too!! We could use some fire power🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻“

It’s such a privilege to pray for your babies! And I’m so grateful that you’re all always so willing to jump right on the prayer train. ❤ ❤ ❤