Baby Emily graced the Earth for 10 short days. She was born in May of 2010 after a routine pregnancy. Aside from a small heart murmur, which the doctors said was common, she seemed perfectly healthy. When she was 2 days old, while checking on the murmur, doctors found that she had a serious heart condition called Hypo Plastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). This occurs when the left side of a baby's heart stops growing some time between 7 and 12 weeks gestation. Though measures were taken to save her life, including consideration of a heart transplant or other surgery, her heart just wasn't strong enough to hold on.
Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) affect 1 in 100 babies.
HLHS affects 1 in 6,000 babies.
Congenital heart defects are the Number 1 cause of birth defect related deaths.
This year almost 40,000 babies will be born with a congenital heart defect in the US. 4,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday
It was a beautiful thing to do and I think we will do it every year to remember Miss Emily Paige.
Isaac enjoyed his party and got a bunch of wonderful gifts and even ate his egg-free cake! Here are some pictures of him :)
