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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
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.*
