Rebecca's Birth Story

I found out I was pregnant with Rebecca the week after I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Family and ConsumerSciences at Utah State University. I had a wonderful pregnancy and enjoyedpractically every minute of it. While pregnant, I unknowingly contractedCytomegalovirus (CMV) which is a virus that can cause brain damage resultingin various disabilities. If you are pregnant, plan on having kids, or havekids in day care, please follow the links about CMV and educate yourself.We wouldn't have Becca any other way, but if we can prevent other childrenbeing born and going through what we have gone through, we will.

Rebecca Diana Sagers arrived on Thursday,January 13, 2000, weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and being 19 inches long.Plans were made to take her home on the following Saturday.  Saturdaymorning came and they still hadn't brought her to me. They discovered thatmorning that for some reason, she was in need of extra oxygen. They senther to Primary Children's Medical Center about 2 hours away for a weekwhere they discovered that she had contracted Cytomegalovirus, or CMV.The virus started in her brain and traveled throughout her body damagingtissue and organs. She had an enlarged spleen and liver and a small head.She also had calcifications in her brain around the damaged areas. Sheis also missing her corpus collosum, the bridge between the two sides ofthe brain. Of the symptoms that can come with CMV, Becca has been leftwith hearing loss, vision impairment, cerebral palsy and developmentaldelays in her motor skills and cognitive skills. She has always had highsocial skills, though! :)

Right after she was born, however, none ofher symptoms were readily apparent. They found the actual brain damageon a CAT scan and in the ultrasounds, but we couldn't see anything fromthe outside. She was then, and still is, a beautiful, beautiful girl whocan't express herself because her brain doesn't work the way it should.She truly is an angel in a tabernacle of clay. When we first brought herhome, we were more concerned with the average new baby jitters than whatwas going to happen to her later in life. We still had to get up in themiddle of the night to feed her, it's just that sometimes we had to adjusther oxygen levels, too. She was only on oxygen for about 2 months. I canstill remember when they came to pick up the oxygen pumping machine andthe extra canisters. I was more than happy to sign the paper and hand themover! :)

When Becca was about a year old, she startedto have Infantile Spasms. A precursor to seizures, these spasms can causeeven more brain damage each time they occur. We consulted with our wonderfulneurologist from the Children's Hospital and he ordered an EEG to see howher brain was actually suffering with these spasms. After the EEG, we starteda treatment with medicine called Acthar gel or ACTH. It had to be administeredby giving her a shot in her thigh while monitoring her blood pressure.After being supervised a couple of times, we gave her the shots ourselves.It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but as it turnsout, it was all worth it! She has been seizure free since September 8,2001!! Since then, we have not had to deal with any other major treatmentsor therapies. (Knock on wood! :)

Becca was enrolled in the Early Interventionprogram when she was 3 months old and continues to be involved in it. Theprograms for children with disabilities up to the age of 3 go by many differentnames nationally as well as in our state, but they are wonderful! I don'tknow where we would be without them. The therapists and care givers thatcome into our home to help Becca do all that she can with this body ofhers are amazing! We have come a long, long way and they have been withus every step.

Becca is now in her third year at a specialneeds preschool. We fought to get her an Intervener who helps her copewith Deafblindness and will hopefully help us find a way for Becca to communicate.She has a great Zippie wheelchair and still wears a hearing aid in herleft ear. She went through Botox treatment in her legs April 2004 whichwent well and we will probably be repeating the process.

Please follow all the links on her pagesand enjoy her accomplishments with us!