Hi my
name is Meghan and this is my daughter Emily Mae, my little miracle from
God.
Emily was born on January 14, 2001. Birth weight was 1lb 15 oz, she was 13in long. Emily is six months old in this picture.
I was 25 weeks along when I delivered her. There were complications during my pregnancy
that caused me to go into early labor.
Within the first few days Emily went down to 1lb 8oz, and had problems
with her lungs. They had her on a
respirator for the first week of her little life. During her 73-day stay at the Hospital she went though many
things like heart murmurs, respiratory failure, heart failure, dehydration, and
lack of appetite. The doctors told me
at first that she probably wasn’t going to make it. My family, friends, and church prayed for her constantly, and the
prayers were what pulled her though.
I remember one
day, the doctors called me about 8am, and told me her heart murmur had once
again come back, and they were preparing her for heart surgery. I called my parents in tears, and told them
what was going on. Instantly they began
to pray for her. About 2 hours later I
was permitted to see Emily, the doctor was there, and had just finished doing a
second echo of her heart. 
He looked at
me with the most astonished look on his face, and told me that he did not hear
the murmur anymore. “Just 2 hours ago I heard it, but now it’s gone” he
said. I began to cry, knowing that it
was God that reached his strong and mighty hand into my little angel’s body,
and repaired her heart.
When Emily was
released from the Hospital on March 27th she weighed 4lbs 8oz. She came home on a heart monitor, and strict
instruction on how to care for a preemie.
I didn’t sleep for the first week that she was home. I remember just sitting their holding her, and
thinking, “I can’t believe that you are finally home where you belong.”
At that time,
her diet consisted of 2oz of milk every 4 hours, .5ml of vitamins, and a whole
lot of love. She would sleep most of
the day and night away, concentrating on growing and getting stronger. Within weeks she was taking 4oz every
feeding, and was awake a lot more. Our
weeks were filled with appointments with specialists, doctors, and nurses from
special programs. Every other day was
something new.
They told us
that just changing her diaper or her clothes stressed her out, and it took her
a little while to calm down.
Eventually she
got up to 8lbs, then 9, and now she is 6 months old and weighs 11 ½ lbs and is
22 ½ in long. They took her off of the
heart monitor this month, and she rolled over for the first time just last
week.
I laugh when I
see the looks on people’s faces when they ask me how old my baby is and I tell
them almost 6 months. The typical
response is “wow she looks brand new”.
Emily has graduated to 0-3 month clothes, and is the happiest baby you
could ever meet.
When I look
into the face of my little princess I am reminded every day of how wonderful
our Father is. I see how it was He, not
me that created her, gave her life, sustained her, and kept her safe.
Updated: 10/01/2004
Here
is a little update on Emily Mae. Emily
is now 2 ½ years old, and weighs 30 lbs.
She is as healthy as can be. In
the last two years we have gone through our ups and downs, but she has done
wonderfully according to her doctors.
She
had spent quite some time in the hospital up until last March, but since then
she has been healthy. The only
long-term effect from being Preemie that the doctor is foreseeing is asthma,
but we are believe God for the strengthening of her lungs, and the total
healing from asthma.
Right
now she is a normal 2 ½ year old little girl.
Getting into everything that she can.
Asking the question “huh?” all the time, and discovering everything
there is to see in the world. She loves
to sing and clap her hands, and spends her days playing with her young Uncle
Miles and Aunt Hunter. Her favorite
thing right now is chasing the kitties all over the house.
I am so grateful to
God for sending her to me, and for giving me the ability to take care of
her. She has taught me so much in the
past 2 ½ years, but the most important thing I have learned through all of this
with Emily is to have faith in the Lord.
Everything is in His control, not ours.
He went before us, and knew everything I would need to get through these
last 2 years and equipped me for the job.
