About Us
What Happened
Emma was born under a strange circumstance. My wife and Emma had a condition called Vesa Previa and it went undetected. This means the umbilical cord did not form and that all the blood vessels that connect were hanging loose. The placenta sac that would encase the child was instead blocking the cervex, preventing normal childbirth. Children have a 95 percent chance of death and the mother has a 70 percent chance when this occurs. (1 in 30,000 women) When detected early a C-section is scheduled early to give both mother and child a fighting chance.
Emma was born via C-section on 12-21-06 as an emergency since it went undetected and she lost 51% of her blood, had to be revived and received 4 blood transfusions at the time of birth. It shut down her kidneys, caused a seizure, and lack of oxygen which led to her Cerebral Palsy. We were told that she would not live 3 days if she didn't start making urine soon.
On Christmas Day of 2006 she passed urine and opened her eyes for the first time, 4 days after she was born. And since that day she has refused to accept the word "No" when a doctor tells her. With help she walks and talks, but still has difficulty with both, as well as eating. It is her story and the journey we have taken with her that led to us making this site for everyone. You are not alone.
The Shock
The most shocking thing that happened while she was in the NICU (And she was there for over 3 months), was when a social worker came to talk to us. We thought she was crazy as the first question she asked us was whether we wanted to keep her or not. We were told that she would be a lot of work and that it would change our lives forever. She was right, and the decision to keep her, raise her, and help her grow was the right one for us.
More shocking was the news that doctors gave us saying she would never walk, talk or lead a normal life. Well as stated above, Emma doesn't like to be told no by doctors so she talks with some verbal words, and sign language for others. She walks with a gate trainer and in many parts of our home that are padded since she tends to fall when tired.
True the journey can be tough at times, but it is well worth seeing the smile and joy that she shows and shares with others.