Super Trooper

We have come to realize (even though everyone told us) life in the NICU is a daily rollercoaster of ups and downs. We celebrated Emersyn’s two week birthday yesterday which is sometimes hard to believe. Overall, things have been going well since our last update, but Emersyn has experienced quite a few Bradycardias (sleep apnea moments) over the last few days. Due to the increase in these Bradys, the doctors have run a series of tests which included a spinal tap, a full blood culture and a urine analysis to rule out any infection. So far Emersyn’s tests have all come back negative for infection which is GREAT NEWS. We are starting to think that we get more worked up than Emmie does when she has these additional procedures done, but so far she has handled them all like a champ. Lynsey has been able to hold Emmie four times now and do kangaroo care and we cherish every minute we get to spend with her outside the isolette.


Up through yesterday, Emmie’s bowels had been doing well with her tummy drains in and she had her first significant bowel movement a couple nights ago…very exciting in our day-to-day world. However, this morning Emersyn’s tummy started to get puffy and distended again which led the doctors to believe that there was a more serious issue going on. After some discussion, the pediatric surgeons at Children’s agreed that exploratory surgery was our best option to try and address the bowel issue as well as potentially answer some questions as to why she has been so tired lately and having some trouble breathing regularly. They performed the exploratory laparoscopy this afternoon and found a significantly larger hole in her small intestine (primary anastomose) than they had initially thought. In addition, they also found another section of her intestine that was starting to balloon out (Meckels Diverticulum) and so they ended up removing two small sections of her small intestine to eliminate both troublesome spots. She now has a large incision across her tummy with two separate openings (ileostomies) so that her bowel will continue to heal over the next 6 – 8 weeks. Emmie tolerated the surgery quite well and is resting peacefully now as we update this post. The doctors are all quite hopeful that she will remain stable over the next few days as she continues to heal and hopefully gets back on course. If there was a time for prayers of healing, now is the time. We ask that you continue to keep her in your prayers as her little body heals.

Well, that’s it for now. We hope this message finds you all doing well and we continue to feel blessed by the outpouring of support and love we have received throughout this crazy time. Two weeks down, hopefully no more than 12 to go.