Emmaline Turns One! {Photo Overload}

Emmaline turned one on April 5th! We celebrated with the family and had a great party! 

Cakes decorated to look like pies to match out Sweet E Pie theme!

My parents have a great backyard and a giant canopy that they set set up for us to have parties under! 

So thankful for them and their willingness to let their kids throw ridiculous birthday parties at their home!

I made most of the decorations {thanks Pinterest} but my big sis actually did most of the decorating! She is my decision maker!

For our pie theme...we had chocolate and lemon pie pops and mini crawfish, sheppard and chicken pot pies!

My my sisters, mom, dad and cousins baked pies and made sure that everything went smoothly! 

Party professionals!

and everything nice.

My Mama and my sweet baby! You would be hard pressed to find a woman that loves her grandchildren the way that this woman does!

Photo Fun!!

Emmaline really enjoyed herself! She clapped while everyone sang to her and had a field day with her cake!!

This girl! She is just hilarious!

She gets so excited! I love seeing her so happy! 

This child had a closet full of BEAUTIFUL clothes! 

I thought this was sweet...she has 2 other Violet toys and she recognized this mini version of her!

Seriously, I think we could have given her a bag of bows!!

This was the most perfect day. 

A beautiful celebration for a beautiful child. 

There was a moment when Emmaline was just weeks old that I thought we were going to lose her.

I thank my Heavenly Father for trusting us with this special life. I thank him for the very happy one year old that has come so very far!

Happy Birthday Sweet E!

History Lesson: A Baby Story

Back Story: (to get straight to the baby part proceed to the 3rd paragraph)



Anyone that knows me at all probably knows that we were having some trouble getting pregnant. We didn't wait to start trying after we got married (we knew we wanted kids and we knew it wouldn't be easy for us). We tried for a year and then sought some help. I had/have (no cure) endometriosis andpolycystic ovaries and a severe case of both. I had surgery and it turned out that some of the cysts had grown on my tubes and they were blocked. Luckily my wonderful doctor was able to repair all the damage and was hopeful that we would be pregnant soon. Long story short...we obviously didn't get pregnant. I did feel good for awhile though. Even lost a little weight and started having regular cycles. This unfortunately, didn't last long. I finally listened to my bff and went to who we lovingly refer to as our Witch Doctor. Email me or comment if you would like to know more, I am happy to share and will probably post more about it late. I do credit nutritional response therapy (NRT) for my being able to finally conceive (that and the fact that I believe it happen exactly when it was supposed to as part of God's plan for us, more on that too).

Anyway...I tell you all of this to say that we still didn't get pregnant right away but we expect as much. This healing approach (unlike surgery) isn't a quick fix. It takes time to heal our bodies naturally. I did again, feel better and have regular cycles again. At any rate, by this time summer was nearing and bringing with it our move to Texas. For the first time in 2 years I was too busy and loving life too much to be thinking about why I still wasn't pregnant. We packed up, vacationed, road tripped and had a blast!

Not long after we arrived in Texas we adopted a puppy (thinking...it's just not our time to have a baby). That same week I realized I was late and this made me sad. I didn't think that I was pregnant rather I thought that because I hadn't been following my treatment plan and was relapsing back to having irregular cycles. On Saturday, July 30th, I took a pregnancy test (first time in a while...which is saying something) and there was a faint second line. The old me would have jumped for joy and ran off to share the news. The me that took that test just could believe it. I decided to dismiss it and go shopping with my Mama! The next morning, Sunday the 31st, I felt like I should really take another test. This one was brightly positive and it didn't even take the recommended 2 minutes. We were speaking that morning in church and I just couldn't bring myself to spill the beans just yet!

After church everyone wanted to nap and my mind was running full speed on how I wanted to tell Will. He was almost asleep when I just couldn't take it anymore. I went to the bedroom (my old room at my parents, we were still living there while we worked on the house) and asked him if we could talk about what I wanted to do to the bedroom that was across the hall from ours (I was constantly droning on about all the plans I had for our home). He sleepily agreed to hear my plan. I started describing how I wanted the room to be arranged with a crib and rocking chair...at first he didn't catch on until I said that we should probably get it done by next spring! We hugged, laughed and cried and it was the most amazing moment that we have shared since we became husband and wife!!

Surgery {5.10.12}

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Emmaline has Hirschspung's Disease.

The only treatment is surgery.

Surgery? On my 2 week old?

I had panic attacks. I cried. I prayed.

But it absolutely had to be done.

Thankfully, we went home for 2 weeks so she could grow a little (still awful sounding, but surgery on my one month old had a slightly less gut wrenching tone to it). During that time we had to irrigate her 3 times a day (her intestines weren't working properly and she couldn't poop but by irrigating her we bought ourselves sometime).

With HD there is a section of the intestines that is absent of some very important nerve cells. That section must be removed. Since the nerves migrate downward the section is often very small and located at the very end of the large intestine (colon).

A biopsy is done just inside the colon to confirm the absence of the nerve cells and more biopsies are done during surgery to see how much of the intestines is effected.

So we couldn't even know before the surgery how much of her colon she would lose.

{Stressed}

Then our surgery day came and I was praying (along with many) that it would just be a very small section.

Hours passed as we (nearly my ENTIRE family) sat nervously in the waiting room until Dr. Brandt came to deliver the news.

"I'm sorry but Emmaline's entire colon and 20% of her small intestines is absent of the nerve cells."

{Heartbreak}

My poor one month old. I don't think I have ever been so sad or so scared.

Dr. Brandt said that she would be fine. He life will be different but she said that she had plenty of intestines left. She said that she would have an ileostomy (small intestines  brought out to the surface of the abdomen and a stoma, opening,  created for waste to leave the body) and we would discuss her pull through (reconnecting the remaining intestines to the rectum) at a later date.

{Wow}

Can we say...overwhelmed?

As if that even covered it.

Seeing my baby after surgery was hard.

Of course, I wanted to...couldn't wait.

I was scared of how I would react to the hole in her belly.

Mom of the year...I know. 

 But it didn't have any effect in me at all. I was so thankful that she was alive and that she could keep living.
 She recovered well and we learned to cover her ostomy and soon it started to work (after gut surgery the bowels need time to wake up and start working).

 My baby could poop! You may find this funny...but we seriously celebrated poop in a bag. Like, my entire family was standing around looking at the poop.

 It. Was. Awesome.

Our sweet girl after surgery...poor baby. 

 Anyway, that is that.
 Very rare disease.
 Even more uncommon to have the entire large intestine affected.
 And the small intestine is almost never involved...
oh and Hirschsprung's is more common in boys.
 Emmaline is quite literally a rare gem...
One in a million (seriously, her aunt did the math)!

4 Months Old

Wow. 

I. Can't. Even. 

Emmaline has been with us for FOUR incredible months!

She is such a blessing to us. 

She has helped me see what I'm really made of.

I've done things that I never dreamed that I could do. 

Emmaline is the sweetest little baby!

She lights up our world with every smile and laugh!

She is genuinely happy all of the time. 

She isn't letting her disease slow her down one bit.

She gets bigger, stronger, smarter and more active every day...

and more beautiful!

She is so alert and inquisitive.

Everyone that meets her falls in love instantly. 

{Can you blame them??}

I look forward to everyday we spend with her. She really is such a good baby. 

{HAPPY 4 MONTHS SWEET EMMALINE!}

Mama and Daddy love you too much!

Labor and Delivery {4.5.12}

I really loved being pregnant.
Obviously, there were some aspects that were quite unpleasant and I did my share of complaining.
But, overall it was pretty enjoyable.

I even enjoyed giving birth.
Call me crazy. It was seriously incredible.

I planned to labor and deliver naturally...not only vaginally but without ANY medication (it is the belief of some that natural birth just means not having a c-section...so just to be clear).
I also planned to go on my own and not be induced.

Here is how it really went down...

I had a very healthy and very uneventful pregnancy. I was doing yoga most everyday, walking with Will a few nights a week and spending an hour on the elliptical 2 times a week. I was determined to be ready for that natural birth!
Until about 30 weeks. I was suddenly hit with gestational diabetes and low amniotic fluid. This meant halting the workouts, strict diet, checking sugars 4 times per day and bi-weekly exams that would include ultrasounds.

Sigh. Not what I had planned for my last 10 weeks...but in doing all of those things the baby and I stayed safe. During those last week's I had 3 hospital stays where the baby and I were monitored due to low amniotic fluid. Many times I feared that I would be have to be induced early.

Yet, after all of the close calls week 40 came and went!

At 40 weeks and 5 days my Doctor convinced me be induced. It didn't appear that the baby was in trouble but it is common for gestational diabetes babies to be very large in the chest and shoulder area and they can get stuck.

Well, I wanted no part in that. There were other risks and benefits laid out for me and in the end we both felt it was time.

Let's timeline this a little...shall we??

April 4th 3p.m. - check in at the hospital .
                  5p.m. - foley bulb inserted (if you are being induced but want as little medical intervention as possible talk to me about this...it basically stretches the cervix to dilate you and some women progress on their own after this)
April 5th 5 a.m. foley fell out and I'm 5 cm dilated
                  6 a.m. Pitocin (drug that mimics the hormone that the body releases to induce labor) Contractions come on almost instantly!
                  8 a.m. contractions coming 3 minutes apart but I can talk through them and handle them with little concentration. Also, Mama and I finished the door hanger...last minute much.
                  9 a.m. Doctor broke my water...
                 11 a.m. Still 5 cm and 75% effaced with longer harder contractions that are requiring more concentration...still about 3 minutes apart.
                 12 p.m. At this point I started losing my concentration with each contraction and getting very tired so I decided that I needed some help. I really didn't want any medication but I was discouraged by my lack of progress and wanted to save up some energy for the final stages so I opted for the I've drug, nubain. The nurse informed me that it won't take away my pain like an epidural but would help me rest between contractions. It was just what I needed. I snoozed between contractions and was able to focus on laboring and letting my body do what it needed to do. I do wonder if I would have needed the nubain if I had been allowed to go into labor on my own. Anyway...
                1:45 p.m. 7 cm dilated and 90% effected and the effects of the Nubian were long gone. Contractions were very close and so very hard. I was beginning to wonder if I could really do it without the epidural. I had decided that I wanted it or wanted the option so the anesthesiologist was called. But when he came in I immediately sent him and his cart full of scary things away! All of a sudden I was sure that my body would break in two and about one second later I knew  that could do it! I believe this is called the transition stage. Suddenly my contractions felt different. Hard and painful but manageable.
                2:15 p.m. Really feeling the urge to push so we called the nurse and she said that I was only a 7 so I had to wait. So I resisted for a while but we called her again and this time she said I was complete!!!! She let me push to see if I could move the baby and just like that she was crowning!
               2:30 p.m. Doctor is in and I'm actually smiling! This part of labor was so amazing! A few pushes later....
               3:07 p.m. 7 lbs 8 oz 20.5 inches of beautiful baby was placed on my chest!

               {Happiest Moment of My Life}

There you have it...how Emmaline Candis Worthen came into the world!!

PS Do ask me about preparing for natural birth...It was a wonderfully hard experience. I know it's not popular but if you are curious I would love to share.

Happiest Girl in the World

Even after 20 days in the hospital...
This is where I find my strength.

Allow me to introduce you...

Sweet Emmaline

This beautiful girl was born on April 5th 2012 at 3:07PM. She weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.
She is the most incredible little baby and we can't even begin to explain what a blessing she is to us.


This sweet little angel also has Hirschspung's Disease.

Hirschsprung's (HERSH-sproongz) (HD) disease is a condition that affects the intestines and causes problems with passing stool. HD is present when a baby is born (congenital) and results from missing nerve cells in the muscles of a portion of the baby's colon (in rare cases, the small intestines is also affected).

Emmaline's first weeks with us were so scary. She had several episodes of vomiting and many trips to the emergency room. 

We were given the "this is all normal newborn stuff" and "sounds like reflux" responses. (Let me be clear...I love our pediatrician and I don't hold him responsible for the weeks of not knowing.) We were certain that it was something more. 
April 17th was the scariest night of my life. Emmaline had started vomiting and we were told again to wait it out and give her pedialyte but this time the vomiting didn't stop. She eventually vomited a brown substance that would send us in a panic to the local ER. 


I thought we were going to lose her.
I really did. 


I had never seen anything like that before and I was terrified. 


We were finally sent to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston where we met Dr.Brandt. Her and her team of eager residents and fellows treated and diagnosed Emmaline with HD. 
In this space we will share all about Sweet Emmaline and all that she has and will go through. Not only with to her illness but in all aspects of her life! We look forward to sharing her with all of you and maybe even finding other families with children who have Hirschsprung's.