Wednesday 4/28 Update!!

Hi Everyone Im Christina Emmas mom!! Welcome to her blog. In addition to Stephanie and Bridget (my sister) I will be updating Emmas day to day info. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for all there love, dedication, prayers and support for my family and I. The past 9 months have been harder than I ever imagined and without everyone I never would have gotten through many days. Emma, her brother (Ryan), her sister (Jasilyn), her dad (Kevin) and me are so blessed to have all of you in our lives!!

As of today Emma is recovering from her setback last week nicely. All of her labs are slowly trending back to normal levels for her and on her latest echo this morning her heart function was slightly better. The drs know that her function will never be what is was before again which is why she has been listed for transplant but they believe it will recover enough that they can maintain her with Dopamine and Milrinone ( 2 heart medications) through her central line. They plan to attempt to extubate Emma on Friday or early next week and let her wait for her heart off of the venilator but with knowledge that at any point she may need to be placed back on life support if her function deteriorates any further.

I pray that Emma can gain more weight which will make surgery safer and a greater success and grow and strive with her family off the vent as she waits for her New Heart! I cannot believe that one day my precious daughter will have a "whole" heart!!

Thanks again for all the support and prayers as we join Emma in her journey while waiting for a heart!!!

WELCOME to Pray for Baby Emma

Hello and Welcome to Pray for Baby Emma as we join together in prayer for this precious little girl. My name is Stephanie and I am a friend of Chrissy's (Emma's Mom) and will probably be doing most of the updates on this page. To start I am posting some of the recent updates from Emma's facebook page so newcomers can be up to date on Emma's condition and progress. Thank you so much for all of the prayers and support for Emma and her family. She is an amazing little care who has been through more than anyone should ever have to endure in an entire life time. She truly is an inspiration as so many have fallen in love with her strength, courage and, of course, her smile that can brighten anyone's day! Thank you for following Emma's journey and God Bless all of you!

Sad Day For Emma (4/16/2010):
Unfortunately, Emma was admitted back to the hospital today and it is not good news. Emma is in heart failure again and there isn't anything else the doctors can do for her. At this point, the only thing left is to list Emma for a heart transplant. Emma will be discussed in conference on Tuesday to make sure everyone is on board and this is the only thing left to do. Until then she will be hanging out in the CCU and being started back on her milrinone. Please pray the doctors come to an agreement on what is the best course for Emma, that the family has strength to endure the upcoming months and most importantly that this sweet girl gets a "whole" heart and can live the life she deserves to live!


Urgent Update (4/22/2010):
(11:45am)Emma is in critical condition at the moment and in full blown heart failure. Currently, the doctors are trying to do some tests and figure out why her condition has deteriated so rapidly. Please keep her and the family in your prayers. We are all headed to the hospital right now to meet with the transplant team. I will update more later when I get a chance.

(6:45pm)Emma is still not doing well. Earlier today the doctors placed a special arterial line to continuously monitor her blood pressure and give her medications in the hope of stabilizing her condition. Her respiratory status has remained stable until now, but Emma is unable to keep up at this point. She currently is acidotic and being intubated (put on a breathing machine) as we speak. Emma also has 2 new clots in her leg that the doctors are now trying to treat and control. Unfortunately, the medication needed to treat the clots make her ineligible for echmo if needed. It is very touch and go right now so please pray Emma keeps fighting and the doctors figure out what to do from here. Thank you and God Bless!


4/23/2010 Update:
Emma is still fighting the good fight right now, but she remains in critical condition. She spiked a high fever this morning and the doctors think it id due to heart failure, but are doing some tests just to make sure they aren't missing an infection. Her heart perfusion has basically stopped and her extremities are cold and blue. They had her in a medically induced coma through the night, but the transplant team has recently woke her up to make sure she is still neurologically intact. They will see how she does while awake to determine if she needs to be put back to sleep. The hope is she will be on the transplant list tomorrow. In the mean time, the doctors are discussing how best to keep Emma alive and what options they have at this point.

I want to express my gratitude for all the prayers and well wishes for Emma and the family. It is amazing how this precious little girl has touched so many lives in her short 8 months of life. She is such an inspiration to so many. Thank you again!

(7:45pm): EMMA IS OFFICIALLY ON THE TRANSPLANT LIST! PLEASE continue to pray a heart becomes available and Emma's condition does not deteriorate any further.


4/26/2010 Update:
Hi everyone! I just wanted to give a quick update to let everyone know Emma is still hanging on. There really aren't any changes in the last few days. She remains on the ventilator and on tons of medications to help her heart. Her next echo will be later on the week to check her heart function. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.