Some new pics

Thought I would post a few new pics! Emry is still doing well today! Thank you for your prayers and comments! Please keep the prayers up! And you are more than welcome to share Emry with your friends,blogs,etc! I just recieved a picture text of Holly holding Emry-kangaroo care style! So sweet!

Enjoy!

More good news!

Brain ultrasound looked great!! Thank you for the prayers!! And thank you GOD for answering those prayers!
~Jamie

New Update!

Talked to my sister this morning. Emry's x-ray came back good this morning! PRAISE GOD! She still has some air in there but it is better. The nurse told them if she did have NEC that x-rays would have been a lot worse. So that is GREAT news!!

She is still having bradycardia episodes BUT she is coming out of them on her own quicker than she has been! Great news too!

They just performed a routine ultrasound on her brain (to check for bleeding) Please pray that we get a good report there too!

And THANK YOU ALL so much for the prayers and comments! It's overwhelming! Holly said she tries to get on her blog, facebook, and email but she can not read them very long because it makes her cry too much! She wanted me to let you know how much she appreciates all of the comments, prayers, calls, texts, emails and donations that are being given to Emry's benefit. She is overwhelmed and so very grateful to all of you. She asked me to print everything off for her so she could read and make a book for Emry. You guys are great! Keep praying! I came across this verse on facebook this morning and it was so fitting for us right now: Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.. John 16:24...LOVE it!
~Jamie

Urgent Prayer Request

Just got off the phone with Holly..Sweet baby Emry has had a semi-bad day...


First of all she is still having bradycardia episodes. They are pretty frequent. Thankfully, she usually comes out of them on her own but a few here and there requires stimulation to get her heart rate back up. Several of you have asked what bradycardia was..I am providing a link here: Bradycardia. The doctors aren't super worried about this, as it is fairly common in preemies (they even said ALL of us have these bradycardia/apnea episodes). They have talked to Holly and Jeff that they may have to intubate her to help her body not work as hard. If this happens Holly said she would have to be sedated during intubation. The doctor also said he was very surprised that she hadn't required this yet as small as she is.

Second prayer request: They had to suction some mucous last night and today and after doing it this morning, they noticed that her belly was a little blue. So, they sent her for x-rays and discontinued her feedings. X-rays show that she has some air in her stomach which is defintely not a good thing. Could be serious. They said it could be from the suctioning they had done but that it could be something called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). I wasn't sure what that was so I looked it up and you can read about it here. They are going to do another x-ray in the morning and see if the air has went down..It is a VERY scary situation but we are just going to keep trusting and believing that it is NOT this condition.

Thirdly, please pray for my sister and Jeff. I know this is rough. Pray for peace, guidance and comfort for these highs and lows that comes with having a preemie.

Like, my Mom said, we can NOT give up praying for her. God is still working in her and for her. Our job is to pray and pray and pray! Everything happens for a reason and God will work this together for the good. He promises us. Please agree with us in prayer!

If any of you have experience with NEC and want to encourage us...PLEASE DO! I have been reading every comment and email and text to Holly. They help so much and I know she appreciates it but she just isn't able to respond right now.

Standing on this promise:
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20

Thank you all SO much!
Jamie

New Prayer Request

PLEASE pray with us this morning for Emry...she's having more bradycardia episodes. The drs came in last night-I think they are getting more concerned about the frequency of episodes. They put her back on oxygen and have raised it a little to try to help with this. Just PRAY that they'll stop and that she will outgrow them TODAY! Pray for Jeff and Holly too..I know they are worried..

Thank you all! ~ Jamie

A few new pics

Family of Four!

under the bilirubin lights

precious girl!

Daddy's hand

Emry with Mommy and Daddy

Just chillin under the lights (check out her leg pose! ha)

Big Sister meets Lil Sister!

Mommy holding Emry for the first time

Kisses for Sissy

What a miracle!

tummy time!

Sweet little feet!

Uncle D and Emry

Aunt Jamie meets Emry!

Such a big paci for a little girl!

NO new is Good news :)

Baby Emry is doing pretty much the same! Doing great but still having bradycardia episodes. She had quite a few during the night so we need to continue to pray for those to go away! Bilirubin lights came off (again) this morning! Her digestive system is still working great too! Not much to report!! Which is a great thing!

Happy One Week Baby Girl!

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Benefit for The Walkers

Holly's SWEET friends are throwing a drop-in benefit for Jeff, Holly, Alli and Baby Emry on Saturday, April 2 from 9:30am to 12:00pm at Trinity Fellowship Church (Bldg B), 1100 East Rolling Hills Drive Fayetteville, AR 72703. The nurse told our Dad the typical "rule" is that preemies will stay in the NICU until they have reached their due date. All of this depends on how well they are/aren't doing so Jeff and Holly could be in Little Rock quite some time (Emry's due date was June 6th). With a prolonged stay away from home, costs will add up quickly (for hotel rooms, food, Jeff being away from work at times, hospital bills, etc.) If you would like to donate baked goodies, prizes or monetarily, please contact Stacey Moore at 479-841-3405 or email me thesteinfive@gmail.com (I'll put you in touch with the girls)..You can find the event here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162748470447176 Hope to see you there! ~Jamie

Great day!

Holly got to hold her sweet girl today! Keep up the prayers! They are working! ~ Jamie

Tiny baby girl!

Just to give you an idea of how small Emry is...On the left is Big Sister Alli's diaper (I believe it is a size 3) and in the middle is Emry's diaper (which is a little big on her!) and on the right is a HOTEL KEY!! She is TINY!


Please continue to pray! Prayers are definitley being felt and are working! Her potassium was a little low today so they were going to have to give her an i.v for potassium BUT when they tested it again it had started going on so they held off! Praise God! Also, she had jaundice a little but this afternoon/evening they told us her bilirubin numbers were lower and where they needed to be! Praise God! ~Jamie

She's here!

CORRECTION: There was a little misunderstanding about the oxygen. Emry IS on oxygen. But only a small bit. And only for precautionary reasons. What the nurses were talking about was Emry not being on a ventilator! They said that a baby her size never stays off of a vent. like she has! None of them have ever seen that! Which is still AWESOME! Praise God!! Also, Holly was originally told she would be able to hold Emry soon. The nurses they talked to today said that they do not recommend them holding the baby until she is 31 weeks. She is 29 now. She has a little jaundice (which they said was normal for her) so she is under the lights. Please pray that this gets better quickly!

Sweet Emry Taylor Walker was born March 21, 2011! She weighs 1 lb 3 ozs and is 11 and 3/4 inches small!! She is a true miracle and is doing great! They didn't expect her to come out breathing and she came out breathing on her own and has still not received any oxygen (nurses have said this NEVER happens with premies!)Doctor said she was amazing! As a matter of fact-they have said that doctors and nurses keep coming to see her for themselves! I just got off the phone with my Mom and they told them that in most premature babies they will hear a heart murmer because they aren't fully developed. Well on little Miss Emry they don't hear a murmer at all! How awesome is that? I'm just amazed by her! She is still critical and the next few days they tell us that things could change at any time so PLEASE continue to pray for her and all of the nurses and doctors caring for her!


Holly is doing pretty good too. She is very sore from the c-section (which they were able to do horizontally-YAY!) but trying to manage the pain. She may get to hold Emry, skin to skin, this evening! I know she is very excited about that!


Things to pray for:
*Emry will continue to grow and thrive! That she won't have any set-backs at all!
*That Emry will be an example of God's goodness and that He will use the story of her life in an amazing way!
*For Holly and Jeff-that God will strengthen them. Jeff is having to split time between Holly and Emry so I'm sure that is tough. He's having to juggle a lot
*For Holly to heal quickly and that she will continue to be able to pump breastmilk for Emry.
*For Alli to continue to do well to all of the adjusments!
*For my parents! I'm sure they are gave out-driving back and forth and taking care of a toddler!


Thank you all so much and I will update again later!
~Jamie

Sweet Emry Taylor

Where to begin? Holly asked me write this blog post for her today. It has been an emotional couple of days for all of us but especially for Holly and Jeff. If you have been reading her blog at all, you know that there have been some problems with my sweet niece. I'll give you the short version and then you can read further down in the blog to get the whole story from Holly.

At their 20 week appointment, Emry was measuring a little small. Her OB was not concerned at all. Especially since Alli is so small and the baby looks perfectly fine. They went ahead and scheduled a Level 2 ultrasound with UAMS in Little Rock where they were told baby was small, amniotic fluid was low, and there were some placental issues that were causing Emry not to get all of the nutrition she needed. BUT they said she was healthy and they were going to monitor her every couple of weeks to check for signs of distress and would take her out at first signs of problems. On her next Level 2 ultrasound it was pretty much the same thing. Baby was small, but healthy. At this appointment, Dr H said that they would more than likely take her at 34 weeks if she doesn't stop growing altogether. If she were to stop growing, they would take her then.

On Thursday, everything changed. Holly felt a decrease in fetal movement so she called her OB who was off that day so she had to see another OB in that clinic. They wanted her to come in that morning. Once she got there, they hooked her up to monitors and eventually sent her down to the E.R. for further monitoring and another ultrasound (checking on cord flow, baby, and looking for any signs of distress). After doing the ultrasound the OB on call told them that the cord was back flowing and that he thought baby had one of three things. A chromosomal defect, metabolic issues, or some type of infection. His exact words were "Prepare for the worst"....Heart wrenching....

Holly is 28 weeks but growth-wise the baby is only 23 weeks. A healthy baby has about a 50-50 chance of survival at 23 weeks. He told us if it was one of the three things mentioned above there was little to no hope of survival and the baby would have very low quality of life it she did survive outside the womb. They gave her a round of steroids and told us she would probably deliver in 48 hours or at some point this week. All of that being said, they have no proof that it is any of those things. They are going by prior "cases" and statistics. Emry still looks wonderful. She is just not growing. They released her Thursday night with orders to be at UAMS in Little Rock to see Dr W (specialist that she has been having teleconference meetings/ultrasounds with) at 7:15 the next morning. So they headed home to pack and met back at Mom and Dad's and they all went down together to stay in a hotel.

After little sleep, they arrived at UAMS. Dr W. pretty much said the same thing that Dr B had said in Fayetteville the night before but since he was going off of the ultrasound from Fayetteville, he wanted to do have an ultrasound done at UAMS to see what else he could see. Apparently equipment at our women's hospital is 10 YEARS behind equipment at UAMS...Crazy huh?? After he reviewed the ultrasound, he came back and said the ultrasound looked better than he expected. Her fluid and placenta look great, no back flow in the cord, but the baby is still very small. She only weighs 1 lb 2 ozs. Because she shows no signs of distress and looks healthy he decided that delivering the baby would be risky. For Emry and because Holly is so early she would have to be cut vertically and it would greatly risk future pregnancies (because of the risk of rupturing her placenta).

Statistically, he thinks it is a chromosome issues. Which is not good at all. He also said, that it could have been a placenta issue and its better or she could have an infection. They had said they were going to run some tests so they would know if it was infection but I don't believe they have done those tests on the baby yet. They did take a TON of blood from Holly last night! She enjoyed watching...I was about to pass out!! HA! Dr W. also said, he is not ready to give up on the baby yet. So pretty much it is a waiting game. A very long and HARD waiting game. They would like for her to stay in the Little Rock area for now to be monitored every 2 or 3 days and then she would have an ultrasound once a week too. They are still weighing their options and deciding what is best for everyone. As long as Emry continues to grow (even at the small rate that she is) and her organs continue to work properly, they will keep her in there as long as possible.

No one knows what is going on with sweet baby Emry BUT God does. God knows. Maybe there were placental issues and He is healing them. Maybe Emry will start to grow now. We just have to wait and see. We can't give up hope. Even if it is a chromosome issue...God knows and is already there. Before Emry was even thought of by any of us, God knew her. He knows the number of her days. He knows what she looks like, who she is and who she will be. He knows her future. We just have to put our faith in God even when things look bad.

We know God is in control. We are asking all of you to PLEASE pray! We need a miracle in her sweet body. Here are some things to pray for:

*Emry needs to GROW and stay in utero as long as possible.
*Jeff and Holly need wisdom to make decisions that they may be faced with. Pray for peace.
*Pray for comfort for all of us. It's heartbreaking. At times unbearable.
*Pray for Alli. She didn't like the hotel too much (ask Nana) and doesn't seem to want to be at the hospital. She is probably stressed too in her own little way. She's with Holly every single day so all of this will be trying on her little mind too as Mom and Dad or Brandon and I are going to have to take care of her quite a bit..
*Pray for the doctors. That God would lead there every step. That they will remain positive and encouraging to Holly and Jeff.

This morning, they are still at UAMS, waiting on doctors and to discuss options and treatment. As more information becomes available I will keep updating. Please pass this to your family, your friends, churches. She needs prayers! I have been overwhelmed at the response from close friends and family worrying and praying and crying with us. We have such wonderful people in our lives. Thank you from all of us: Jeff, Holly, Alli, Mom, Dad, Dustin, Brandon, Laney, Sadie, Cade and myself. We appreciate and are so thankful for your prayers and love.

Love,
Jamie

*For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know that full well... Psalm 139:13-14.*

28 weeks

YAY FOR THE THIRD TRIMESTER!!

Pregnancy Highlights this week: Lots and lots of movement!

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Size of baby: Sweet Baby is just over 2 pounds (according to babycenter. Probably around a pound and half according to ultrasound - about the size of a Chinese cabbage... Not really sure how big that is???

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained about 16 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity jeans, sweats, & track pants mostly. I can still wear maybe 2 pair of my regular jeans but not comfortably at all... I have never really cared for maternity tops because I think they make you look bigger than you really are (most of the time) so I'm still wearing regular tops....

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!! (name still up in the air!)

Movement: She is VERY active - middle of the night is party time in this belly. She wakes me up sometimes with all her wiggling around.

Sleep: I sleep so, so... I wake up a lot to turn to one side or the other.

What I miss: Sleeping on my belly mostly...

Cravings: Not really any... Just trying to eat anything I can get my hands on.... Dr's orders!

Symptoms: She is very low so I feel a lot of weight in my lower belly...I'm still getting a lot of nose bleeds.... Ugh.... I'm also starting to get "first trimester" nausea again...

Best Moment this week: Hearing that everything sounded good at my appointment today.

Today I had my 28 week appointment with the good ol' doctor. He measured my belly with a "tape" measure and said I was still measuring small but that was expected and listened to her heartbeat which sounded good. It was a pretty uneventful appointment but I'm glad I had one so he could check how she was doing and so on.... He discussed with me that more than likely they would have to take her around 34 weeks if not sooner :(. Still just playing it by ear on her growth and so on. He did want to see me again the day we have our 2nd Level 2 ultrasound (about 2 weeks from now) and do a NST (non-stress test) and check her heartbeat and my growth. I'm so blessed to have such a great dr. He really is great! I did have to have a RhoGam shot today which ugh... those are no fun! My rump is still sore!! Get this though, I left the appointment and was driving down to my mom and dads and realized THEY FORGOT TO DO THE SHOT! Yeah, so I called the nurse and she asked if there was any way for me to turn around and come back.... DRATS! Thought I had dodged a bullet there! So I dropped Alli with my sister and drove back up there just to get stuck in the bum and then have blood drawn from my arm.

I'm getting pretty anxious to have our next ultrasound to see how things are looking, so please continue to keep our sweet little baby girl in your prayers!

Thanks so much!!

Level 2 Ultrasound

We had our Level 2 Ultrasound yesterday which to my surprise went very smoothly from the get go. It's always so nice when you walk in, they take your paper work, then less than 30 seconds later they take you back to see the dr. I've never been one to like sitting very long in a waiting room....
Here is a quick run down for all you newbies.....
At 21 weeks we had an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby and for the dr. to measure everything and make sure all looked good. Well our sweet little girl was measuring about 2-3 weeks small so he ordered another US for 24 weeks. At the US she was still 2-3 weeks small but at least her growth was consistent. Praise the Lord! But, because she was small he ordered a Level 2 US with UAMS via satellite so that they could check the blood flow to the heart, kidney function, placenta function, etc.
Now that you are up to speed....
The ultrasound lasted about 45 mins which is a pretty long US. The tech measured everything imaginable! It truly is amazing that they can see inside of me and the baby to make sure all is working properly. She measured fluid, placenta function, cord function, ALL the babies organs, brain, cleft palate, checked all her fingers and sweet little toes, etc. IT IS IN DEPTH I TELL YA!
Then we conferenced in with a mic and camera to a nurse & genetic specialist from the children's hospital. THANKFULLY the baby looked great! They saw nothing concerning other than the fact she was again 3 weeks small.... They then get the dr to take a look and see what he thinks... He wants to look at my placenta and chord once again. Apparently the placenta is supposed to look uniform all the way around and mine did not... :( What does this mean? Well, they are thinking that my placenta is not getting the baby the nutrients she needs to grow like she should which would explain her being so small. Ugh.... The dr and counselor talked with us for a long time about what all this meant. He said that there is a very good chance that she will be less than 5lbs at birth (if we make it to term) but he is not optimistic we will. Basically, they are saying it is a waiting game on when the placenta quits completely and at that point they will have to take the baby. At some point I will have to be given steroids once we have a better idea of when the baby needs to come. The dr ordered me to lay on my left side for a couple hours in the morning and in the evenings to get the baby as much nutrients and the best blood flow I can. How do you do that with an almost 2 year old? We shall see... He also said eat as much as possible and drink as much as possible. His words exactly "you can always get rid of a fat butt later!" Yeah, I've been trying for 25 years! ha!
My regular prenatal dr wants to see me again in 2 weeks to check the babies heart and my growth and then we go back again on the 31st for another ultrasound with UAMS so they can check everything out as well.
I hope I have not overwhelmed you all with my long post but I just want to have it all written down so I can look back one day and remember. :)

Thanks so much for all your prayers!