the jellybeans arrive.

Dear Family and Friends,

On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, God saw fit to walk us down a path neither Lynsey nor I were quite ready for, but were meant to walk.  After a late morning ultrasound, Lynsey and I believed we knew the doctors would be visiting us later in the day due to fact that we saw a pronounced reversal in Baby A’s umbilical cord blood flow.  Sure enough, around 4:00pm we were visited by the entire antepartum team who discussed with us the urgency in making the decision to have a C-section that night to deliver our girls due to the discouraging ultrasound results.  If we waited, Baby A would most likely not make it and it could impact Baby B almost instantly.  If we went ahead with the C-section, both had a fighting chance.  So, at 2136 Lynsey and I welcomed two beautiful girls into this world.  Gracyn Jane (Baby A) and Emersyn Grace (Baby B) weighed in at 1 lb 3 oz. and 1 lb 15 oz. respectively.  Emersyn made her appearance and her voice was heard clear as a bell as they worked to get her  stabilized fairly quickly and whisked off to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  However, due to Gracyn’s small size, they had difficulty inserting her breathing tube.  Following a long hour fight by the NICU team, we said goodbye to our little Gracie Jane.  She came out fighting and stayed with us long enough to give her big sis a fighting chance and is now dancing with Jesus.

Despite the tragic night, we feel tremendously blessed to have been surrounded by such incredible, compassionate and determined doctors and nurses who grieved and celebrated with us right by our side.  They are encouraged by Emersyn’s progress so far today and have told us she is doing very very well for a 26 weeker.   She has already been taken off of the ventilator and is breathing with just a C-pap which impresses the NICU team.  A rockstar already!!  We realize that Emersyn will always be a constant reminder to us of her beautiful sister and so we decided to put part of Gracyn’s name as Emersyn’s middle name in an effort to keep them connected.

We love you all and thank you so much for your continued prayers, support and encouragement.  We feel a peace that surpasses our own understanding right now and we know that it is due in large part to the power of prayer and the number of prayers shouted out on our behalf.  Please know that you each hold a very special place in our hearts and we will continue to keep you posted on little Emersyn’s progress.