Dear friends,
Amy and I are very happy to announce the birth of our son Liam Stephen Holbert Long on February 12, 2018. He was born in a flash, and roared into the world like a lion early last Monday morning at home on our farm. It was a quiet, beautiful and peaceful setting for this baby boy to start his new life. We are of course completely smitten with the little guy and so proud to share this special moment with all of our good friends and loved ones.
Amy and I also wanted to write today to update you on some more somber news since Liam was born.
Liam appeared normal, happy and healthy until the morning of the 14th when he began to have trouble breathing. We rushed him to the local hospital and, after some scary hours in the ER, he was airlifted to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. It was there we learned that the breathing problem had been caused by an extremely rare, but significant congenital heart defect.
We have been with him ever since here at Children’s, where is receiving exceptional care from multiple teams of world-class doctors and nurses in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.
We don’t yet the full scope of his internal injuries suffered in that Wednesday’s trauma or the prognosis for a complete solution to his heart issues. On Monday, Feb 19th he began the first in a series of surgeries to piece his broken little heart back together.
We are so appreciative of your love and support during this difficult time and we know that it is likely that we will need your help in the coming days, weeks or months. As to exactly what we might need we simply don’t yet know the answer. We also do not know how long we’ll be continuing to live close to the hospital here in Washington and away from the farm. We will do our best to reach out as we learn more.
For now, we are both incredibly grateful for the two magical days we had at home with Liam. We never expected that one little fellow could bring so much joy to our family in just that short time. We are also grateful for you, our community, and ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers for healing our little Liam in the days and weeks ahead.
Our good friend Christine Kettmer has set up this Caring Bridge (
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/liamlong) site where we will do our best to post regular updates on Liam.
Much love,
Darren and Amy
