Announcing the Arrival of our Precious Daughter, Emma Paige!

We got the most exciting call on October 24th. Our little Emma Paige had arrived, and was waiting to meet us! She had been born two days earlier, weighing just 6 lbs and measuring a whopping 20 inches long. Following her birth, Emma faced an uphill battle with several medical complications. She was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and was connected to more tubes and wires than you might imagine. We were able to meet her for the first time on October 27th, and she was just beautiful with a full head of chestnut hair. We signed placement papers on the 29th.

The next day, Emma was moved to Primary Children's Hospital by ambulance. It was at that point that she officially graduated from the NICU to the Infant Unit. Because of the less-restrictive rules of the regular infant unit, she was finally able to meet her awesome big brother. Triston loved her instantly, and immediately assumed his role as protector over his little sister. When a male nurse playfully called her "girlfriend," Triston told him, in no uncertain terms, that she was NOT his girlfriend, but was his SISTER! On another occasion, the nurses told Triston that Emma was going to love him, to which he replied, "She is going to adore me, my mom told me!"

On October 31st, Triston was trick-or-treating in the hospital and having a blast with it. He was the Incredible Hulk, and ran around showing everyone his muscles. It was nice to get him a little bit of attention after the whirlwind arrival of his new little sister. Amy stayed at Emma's side around the clock during her six-day stay at Primary, and Dave and Triston visited often. Finally, on November 4th, Emma was cleared to leave the hospital to come home. She still needed a feeding tube when she was released from the hospital, but literally within hours of coming home, she began to eat enough on her own, and we were able to remove the tube the next day. Since then, she has been great. She eats well and has been gaining weight at a healthy rate.

Emma was born with a congenital heart defect called "Tetralogy of Fallot." This condition is actually a culmination of four things wrong with her heart. A good article about her condition can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00615.html . When Emma is between 5 and 7 months old, she will have open heart surgery to correct the defect.

She was also born addicted to a drug called methadone, which is commonly prescribed to treat addiction to heroin. At birth, Emma's withdrawal symptoms were severe, and if you've ever seen a baby go through withdrawals, you know it is heartbreaking to watch. Every muscle in her body was rigid and tight, and it was almost impossible to pry her legs or arms into a straight position. She had tremors running throughout her body, and severe diarea that burned her skin because it was full of toxins. Other symptoms included rapid breathing, frequent sneezing, and a constant stuffy nose. The one bright spot in all of it was that, unlike many babies going through withdrawal, she was easily consolable, and responded well to being bundled, held, and rocked. Most babies born addicted are unconsolable. As her first few weeks passed, the withdrawals slowly let go of her. It was very much a "two steps forward, one step back" process. At this point, we think she is through the worst of it, and her long-term prognosis looks good. While there is a chance that she could experience challenges later on with such things as ADHD or a slight learning disability, there is just as strong a chance that she could come out unscathed. For now, it's just too early to tell.

It seems like we just met Emma yesterday, and yet already we couldn't live without her. She is such a joy and already gives out precious smiles freely. We are so grateful for her!

A special thanks goes out to our family and friends for all you have done and all you continue to do. We feel like a little piece of Emma belongs to all of you for your love, prayers and help. Thank you for the food, clothes, baby gear and other items you have given us. Those of you that have known us for awhile know we seem to have a pattern of welcoming babies into our family with no advance notice. Without you we wouldn't be able to keep pulling it off!