HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY ALLI!

We are so proud of you and the sweet little girl you have become!

Love you sweet Alli-gator!

Love

Daddy, Mommy & Emry

(her sweet little stats to come)

X-Ray

X-Ray's were normal! Praise God!! They are doing another follow-up x-ray in the morning to check once more so keep praying but all looks GREAT for now!

Speaking of GREAT.............................take a look at this....................

If you can't read that it says TWO POUNDS!!! Good job Emry!!!

Another scare...

Emry had an x-ray this morning because her belly was a little bloated. On the x-ray they saw a little air so they just did another x-ray this afternoon to compare. We had this same "NEC" scare a few weeks back and it's scary! Please pray that there is nothing there and that this goes away!! Thank you!

Today....

and only ONE brady! Thank you Jesus!

He is Risen!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I have come that they may have life,

and have it to the full...John 10:10

Satan may have tried to steal, kill and destroy this little girl but God has bigger plans! Thank you Jesus for coming and dying on the cross for our sins so that we may have LIFE. Not only life here on Earth but Eternal Life with You in Heaven, someday!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...   
1 Peter 1:3

Happy Easter!
Love,
The Walker, Gibson and Stein Families

Emry's Prayer and Benefit Page

Happy Easter Eve Everyone! :) I've added a "widget" to the left of the blog that you can click on to access Emry's facebook page. A few friends are going to have an online auction within the next couple of weeks and I will be posting urgent prayer requests and updates there as well. Sometimes it's easier for me to write a quick status update there rather than logging on here on the blog. I think more people will see it quicker on facebook as well! Please let the girls know if you are interested in donating items for the online benefit. You can email them at emrybenefit@gmail.com.

Please continue praying for the brady and apnea episodes to go away. Holly said she had a few today where they had to stimulate Emry. These episodes are mostly "normal" for preemies but still scary for all of us that have to watch!

Also, please pray for our area (Northwest Arkansas)...it's been raining like CRAZY and storming HORRIBLY! We are having flash floods, lots of lightning, tornadoes, etc..Very scary! Please pray for everyone to stay safe! Especially with all of the families heading to church tomorrow and to spend time with their families.

Thank you for all of the prayers, kind words, sweet stories and comments! Your love and support for Holly and Jeff mean more than you will ever know! We enjoy reading everything you send us, even if we don't get a chance to write back.

Have a blessed Easter!
~Jamie

Prayer Requests and Updates

Holly asked me to put a prayer request out for Miss Emry. She's been having an average of 0-5 bradys over a 24 hour period in the past week but she's had several "desats" (click on the link for more info) last night and a few today so Holly said to PRAY PRAY PRAY! Just got a new text that said she has had 2 bradys today and 3 desats with 2 stimulation's... Kind of discouraging when she has been doing so good but God is in control! We just have to believe!

More Emry updates and info:

*She weighs 800 grams or 1 pound 12 ounces. Woo!
*She gets a multi vitamin through her feeding tube
*She is FREE from everything but her feeding tube- no i.v., picc line, oxygen! Just monitors and the feeding tube! That is awesome!
*Dr's are still amazed by her!
*She's starting to look a lot like big sister, Alli!
*She has to be 4 pounds to come home and 3 pounds to wear "real" clothes!
*Her feedings are at full feeds for her weight which is 14 milliliters every 3 hours (over a 30 minute span)



Speaking of feedings!!! One day last week they started letting Emry "nurse" while feeding her through her feeding tube. It is called Non-nutritive breastfeeding. This helps her to associate nursing with eating. To every one's surprise, Emry actually nursed for quite a while! Holly said she learned quicker than Alli had! HA So they are starting to let Holly breastfeed a few times a day. They usually do not introduce breastfeeding until 34-36 weeks gestation and Emry is only 33 so they said not to get frustrated if she doesn't do it all the time because what she is doing is really good!

March of Dimes also came this week to take 1 month pictures of Emry. The photographer was so impressed with her that she stayed forever taking pictures! The nurse said she was the most photogenic baby she had ever seen because Emry was turning and watching the camera like she was just waiting for the next picture to be taken :) They even put clothes on her and got some great shots of her like that! Doctors and nurses on the floor all came to watch too :) Sweet Emmy girl! We are so proud of you!

I'll try to get on here later or in the morning and post some new pictures!

PLEASE continue to pray for Emry! We want these brady episodes and desats to go away for good!!

Happy Easter! ~Jamie

Happy One Month, Emry!

Bye-Bye Brady's...perhaps, maybe, hopefully?!?!

Emry has been doing really well the past two days! Praise the Lord!! Over the course of 3 days, Emry has only had about 10 bradys!! So HOPEFULLY she is outgrowing them! Way to go Emmy!! Keep up the prayers!!

Other Emry updates and stats:

*PICC LINE was removed (WOO!)

*Her feedings have been spaced over an hour (compared to the 30 second feedings she was getting). This will help with any reflux and might possible be helping with the bradys as well.

*She is still on NO oxygen

*She is under the hood for humidity (to help with her nose drying out)

* She is getting 11.5 mls of breastmilk

*She weighs 1 lb 8 ozs.

* And last but not least the Dr's say she's a ROCKSTAR!!

Please keep the prayers coming. We believe in the power of prayer! They are definately helping! Today she has a ultrasound to check for bleeding on brain. So far they have checked her at day 3, week 1 and now week 4. This is routine but we'd still LOVE to have your prayers that everything will go great with this ultrasound like it has the past 2 times!

Thank you all! -Jamie

***CORRECTION: Just looked at Sweet Emry via webcam and seen this little note from the nurses! SO no oxygen hood right now!! YAY!***

What a difference three weeks can make!

Is this not amazing? Look at the difference in her size and skin! In only three weeks!! Blows me away how God can take a single cell and make a human body! The miracles that have to take place in the womb, the miracles that happen in each of our bodies! Just incredible!! Grow Emry Grow!! You are such a miracle!

First Day of Emry's life

3 weeks old

“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.” (Hebrews 1:3a, NLT)

Thank you, Jesus, for being the Sustainer of Life!

(more Emry updates to come soon! -Jamie)

Same ol' story :)





Well I'm sure you all are just dyin for an Emry update! She is doing about the same so I feel like I get on here just to repeat myself if I post everyday! I'm very thankful that she is doing so well that I don't have to get on here everyday to post prayer requests and new problems! Praise God for that! :)









Sleeping beauty







My family and I were finally well enough to take a trip to Little Rock yesterday to see Miss Emry (YAY!)..It was my husband's first time to meet her since he had been sick before. I think Uncle B fell in love instantly! He even placed his chair beside her bed and they "snoozed" together :)



Do you notice the bandaid on her knee? Holly said she is so strong that
she has been pulling up on her knees and pushing herself forward! Strong little girl!!
It was causing little rough spots on her knees so they put them on there to
protect her skin! I think she's just trying to escape that place! ha







Of course, she had to show-off, and had a few brady's while we were in there. I don't know how my sister or those nurses stay so calm! ha Everytime I'd see her heart rate go down my heart would start beating REALLY fast! At one point, her alarms started going off and her heart rate went lower and lower and the nurse was in there moving her stuff around and I just keep looking at Holly (who looked calm and collected) because Emry's heart rate showed a ZERO!! I'm trying not to panic (because Holly isn't) and finally Holly says "Is her heart beating at all? Is she ok????" And the nurse said, "Yeah, her monitors just fell off.." WHEW!! My sister sat down and said her legs were shaking so bad she couldn't move!! Poor thing! HA It's funny now but it scared us both pretty bad at the time!



Pretty girl with open eyes!





We had a great day with everyone (my parents and the Emitt family were there as well) The kids got to play outside a little-because there were tons of kids in the children's play area! And we all went and had breakfast for lunch at IHOP. Great day!!



Emry's big sister- Alli, Cade, Sadie and Laney(my 3) and Julie



Today Emry is still doing good! Still having several brady's (which we need to continue to pray for) and she is now up to 1 pound 8 ounces and he is 12.5 inches long! They also upped her feeding to 9.5 mils. AWESOME!! Speaking of feedings...My sister pumped all of this breastmilk in about 30 minutes!! WOW! I would have had 2 ounces in like an hour! ha She had about 16 ounces here!

And last but not least...does this girl not crack you up?? I caught her picking her nose and she thought it was SOOOO funny! :)

Have a great Monday!! ~Jamie

1 pound 8 ounces!

Good job Emmy girl!! Her brady's were better today too :) Keep the prayers up!

Rollercoaster Ride

Good news first! Emry has gained some weight she is now 640 grams or 1 pound 7 ounces!! GO EMMY my girls call her Emmy) !! :)

Thought it would be easier to just "copy and paste" conversations between my sister and I today instead of trying to explain all of it! HA My brain is tired and I can't think of how to put all of this into words tonight!


Received the following text from Holly this morning:


Talked to nurse. Upping her feeds. Haven't seen drs yet but she is still having bradys. she had more last night than usual and they had to bag her once but the nurse said it was prob from the mucus and that they haven't been suctioning her cause of the secretions in her throat. :(


I asked her what the secretions were caused from and she said:


From them suctioning the drainage. She had 3 bradys while I was in there and one she started turning blue. VERY SCARY!

SO with all of that being said...let's pray for Emry tonight! She needs our prayers. These episodes are "normal" for preemies like we've said before but still it's very discouraging and scary to actually witness them happening to your baby girl. As I told Holly tonight...Do not get discouraged! God's got it under control! It'll be a rollercoaster ride for a while but just hold on! Don't lose faith!! And we need to all agree and believe this together!

Things to pray for:
*For Emry to outgrow the bradycardia problems
*For healing in her nose/throat secretions. She had been doing a lot better with the bradycardia stuff until they stopped suctioning her as much because of the secretions. If those are healed, they can suction with no problems.
*Emry to keep growing and getting stronger!
*Health for our families!! Alli was sick this week which made it really hard for Holly and Jeff and making sure they protected Emry. My family has been battling horrible sickness too and we just all need to be well so we can help with Alli when needed.
*Encouragement and strength for Holly and Jeff and the rest of us too!

Thank you all!
Jamie

Updates

Just wanted to do a quick update on Emry. She is doing pretty much the same. Bradycardia episodes have decreased quite a bit! I think she had 8 or so today. My mom said that one night last week she had FORTY in one night! So big difference! Prayers are working!

They have put this plastic looking bubble over her bed to try and put some moisture in her environment. She has a lot of snot or mucous junk that they are having to suction about every 6 hours. The moisture is helping with the dryness and seems to be helping with the brady's too! She also weighs 1 pound 4 ounces now! She is a little trooper!!

My mom was able to stay the night with her last night and she said Emry had pulled her feeding tube out this morning and was squirming out of her little bed area! Little Stinker! :)

I was able to catch a few photos via Angel Eye webcam! Such a neat thing to be able to watch her 24/7 and still be 3 hours away! :)

PRAISING THE LORD!! :)

Her lights are off so its hard to see..

Sorry for the lack in updates...my little boy is still in the hospital! Hopefully, we'll get to go home tomorrow or the next day! Here is a picture of his sweet little face:



No plans this morning??

Then make plans to head to Emry's Benefit! Some of Holly's wonderful friends are hosting a BIG silent auction and bake sale where proceeds will benefit The Walker Family! Lots of donations from friends, family and people we don't even know including, train ride tickets, photography gift certificates, bows, pillowcase dresses,prayer magnets and bookmarks, tutus, etc etc etc! This event is from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. today at Trinity Fellowship Church (Building B), 1100 E. Rolling Hills Dr., Fayetteville, AR.

Can't make it but still want to help? No worries...they have also set up a Emry Walker Benefit Account with First Security. Please contact Stacey Moore at  stacey.moore@fsbancorp.com for more details!

All proceeds will help with housing and travelling costs, food, hospital bills, and anything they may need during their NICU stay.

We appreciate your help SO much!!

~Jamie

Doing good!

Emry continues to do well! They have started her feedings again and say the issues with her belly are gone! Praise the Lord! Holly said her brady's are still happening but they don't seem as frequent or as bad as they have been. What a little fighter!! We love you "Emmy"!! Keep up the prayers! God is answering them!


Also, please pray for Emry's 1 year old cousin, Cade (my son). He was just admitted to the hospital with some breathing problems and low oxygen..His problems seem so SMALL in comparison to what Emry is going through but I believe God cares about the "small" things too!

Thank you for all the prayers for our family!