I am going to try to save some of the post here:
| About | Lilly's Story |
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| Description | Words cannot even describe Emily’s excitement upon hearing the news that she was pregnant. After 10 years of infertility and adopting 2 sons, Emily was finally going to carry a baby of her own. A few weeks later joy overcame her family once again when she learned she was having twins!!! Although Emily knew there was a chance of her miscarrying the babies she couldn’t retain her excitement and shared her news with every stranger that walked by. Fast forward to 20 weeks and Emily and Rocky learned the gender of their new babies, a boy and a girl. To celebrate, Emily brought gender suckers to all her college classes so all her peers could share in her excitement as she announced her news; Logan and Lilly were on their way. A seemingly perfect twin pregnancy lead to an induction on July 13th, 2011. Emily was 38 weeks and very ready to meet her babies. After over 24 hours of labor Emily was stuck at 8 cm dilated and was faced with the decision to have a c-section or wait it out a few more hours, risking an infection. Her and her husband took it to the lord and felt that a c-section was the best thing for her and her babies. Within minutes of this decision Lilly’s heart rate monitor read 48 and they rushed Emily and the babies into the operating room to perform an emergency c-section. As Emily’s mother and I stood by waiting for the arrival of these new babies seconds turned to minutes as they struggled to get Lilly out. After 6 minutes a limp little girl, gray and lifeless entered this world followed quickly by her brother. A sense of relief came over all of us as we heard Logan let out his first cry but panic continued and we watched to medical staff struggle to revive Lilly. After 17 long minutes they were finally able to get her heart beating again and eventually it was beating by itself. Throughout the morning you couldn’t walk by a doctor or nurse who wasn’t distraught in tears. Lilly is alive but her outcome is unknown. Due to the length of time that it took to revive her it is possible there will be brain damage but we do not know to what extent. She was life flighted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah where she will undergo more treatment. They will keep her on ice for a few days and observe her for seizures that would indicate severe brain damage. After Emily woke up from the anesthesia her husband and doctors slowly broke the news to her of her daughter’s condition. Before taking Lilly they brought her into Emily’s room and allowed her to meet her daughter and say goodbye. Tears streamed down the faces of family, friends, and doctors as we listened to her father give her what will likely be the first of many priesthood blessings. All Emily has asked is that I inform others of her daughter’s condition and ask for them to pray for Lilly. ***For those of you who have inquired about giving a small donation to help Emily and her family stay closer to Lilly's hospital, an account has been setup at America First Credit Union under the name Emily Loveless. Emily has made no request for financial assistance, this is all being setup by family and friends. July 19, 2011: I got more information about the MRI they did on Lilly last night. She has a substantial of damage to both hemispheres of her brain. The MRI shows the brain releasing chemicals consistent with an injury due to a lack of oxygen to her brain, as well. The thalamus(core) of Lilly's brain has evidence of injury, but the left frontal lobe sustained the greatest amount of damage. This is the part of the brain that involves more of the "executive" functions such as decision-making, reasoning, and IQ. July 20, 2011: I spoke with the neurologist today. We went over the pictures of the MRI. He showed me that although Lilly's injuries mi ght have an effect on her motor ability, but shouldn't have that much of an impact on cognition, reasoning, and IQ if any. Now, that doesn't mean that everything will be okay--we are still not out of the woods yet. She also had her catheter removed, a tube from her umbilicus taken out, and a PICC line put in. She is also being fed a small amount of Emily's breast milk. The doctors are also weaning her off of the ventilator. Today was a good day! July 21, 2011: Our little Lilly Bean is doing very well. She got her UAV tube removed last night and a PICC line put in. She is alert and is looking forward to having her breathing tube removed tomorrow. With so much support from friends and family, not to mention prayers and fasting, it is almost impossible not to improve. Her eye color is becoming apparent and is an exact match to her mother's. Lilly received her first bath last night (compliments of Emily), as well. She is still a little groggy from her seizure medication, but hasn't had a seizure or seizure activity in the past 3 days. Please keep sending prayers to our Heavenly Father, because her road to recovery is still going to be a big task for such a little lady! July 22, 2011 Yesterday, we left with the news that Lilly was going to get taken off the ventilator the first thing this morning. Emily, Logan, and I were excited that this was taking place, but were also a little scared due to the fact that she, basically, flat-lined the last time this was attempted. The three of us woke up early this morning, so we could arrive at the hospital as soon as we could. When we got there, I went back to see her first and they were just finishing the procedure. Lilly Bean was wide-eye, alert, and wiggling around in her bed. I heard her hoarse cry for the first time. I will mark this day in my calendar as "one tube closer to home and a cry for joy". July 23, 2011 Today, Lilly Mae had a pretty relaxing time. She got to hang out with her dad most of the day. During their visit together, he was able to hold her for the first time and also feed her, as well. Rocky had her in his arms for almost 4 hours today and is looking forward to getting to do that more often. Emily arrived late, because Rocky forced her to stay home and rest. When she was rested, she was able to be involved in "Kangaroo Care" which is skin-to-skin contact for over an hour. Our little Lilly Bean was able to practice sucking on her pacifier. This was also a day in which dad had to opportunity to change a few dirty diapers(the first of many), with some good and some looking like World War 3. Lilly enjoyed seeing her father struggle in this tricky task. She is ready to go to sleep now and be involved in her first holiday, "Pioneer Day", tomorrow. Today was a good day. Daddy wrote: |
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twins Logan Danger and Lilly Mae.... July 14th, 2011 Logan was born a healthy bouncing baby boy, Lilly was born in a struggle for her life. This is an excerpt from an update from Lilly and Logan's Nana....Emily had been in labor for over 20 hrs. when Lilly's heart rate suddenly took a dive down. They took Emily in for an emergency C-Section. It took them 6 mins to get Lilly out, she was lifeless and had no heart rate. They did CPR and Meds on her for 17 minutes before her heart started beating on it's own. They flew Lilly to Primary Childrens Hospital. They are doing some kind of cold therapy there in hopes that they can slow down any kind of damage to her brain that may have occurred. They will be able to do a cat scan on her in about 5 days and then hopefully we will know more about her condition.... I ask that you send this balloon to your friends so that we keep more and more prayers going up for Lilly!!
7/16/11 Update from Lilly's Daddy....
Our little Lilly Bean was strong enough to get taken off the ventilator, but she has been having some episodes where her breathing and heart rate will immediately drop, so she still has an air tube in her nostrils She also has seizures every once in a while, but they are lessening in number and severity as we go along... Please throw up your prayers. 7/19/11 Another update from Lilly's Daddy.... I got more information about the MRI they did on Lilly last night. She has a substantial of damage to both hemispheres of her brain. The MRI shows the brain releasing chemicals consistent with an injury due to a lack of oxygen to her brain, as well. The thalamus(core) of Lilly's brain has evidence of injury, but the left frontal lobe sustained the greatest amount of damage. This is the part of the brain that involves more of the "executive" functions such as decision-making, reasoning, and IQ.
My little Lilly Bean is so beautiful. She has taught me so much without even saying a single word. If she makes it through this trial without any major long-term effects, that would be great, but if my wife and I have to care for her all the days of our lives, we are up to the task.
7/21/11 A new and promising update from Lilly's Daddy!!....
A Good Day for Lilly!!!
I spoke with the neurologist today. We went over the pictures of the MRI. He showed me that although Lilly's injuries mi ght have an effect on her motor ability, but shouldn't have that much of an impact on cognition, reasoning, and IQ if any. Now, that doesn't mean that everything will be okay--we are still not out of the woods yet. She also had her catheter removed, a tube from her umbilicus taken out, and a PICC line put in. She is also being fed a small amount of Emily's breast milk. The doctors are also weaning her off of the ventilator. Today was a good day!
By: Rocky Loveless
July 23, Another update from Lilly's Daddy...
Today, Lilly Mae had a pretty relaxing time. She got to hang out with her dad most of the day. During their visit together, he was able to hold her for the first time and also feed her, as well. Rocky had her in his arms for almost 4 hours today and is looking forward to getting to do that more often. Emily arrived late, because Rocky forced her to stay home and rest. When she was rested, she was able to be involved in "Kangaroo Care" which is skin-to-skin contact for over an hour. Our little Lilly Bean was able to practice sucking on her pacifier. This was also a day in which dad had to opportunity to change a few dirty diapers(the first of many), with some good and some looking like World War 3. Lilly enjoyed seeing her father struggle in this tricky task. She is ready to go to sleep now and be involved in her first holiday, "Pioneer Day", tomorrow. Today was a good day.
By: Rocky Loveless
July 26, 2011 A new update <3
Today, Lilly got her PICC line taken out and is now feeding on Emily's breast milk only, although she is still being fed through a tube that goes into one of her nostrils and down her throat. We have been talking to the staff and they have determined that Lilly Bean will have a G-Tube inserted into her stomach that we will feed her through due to the fact that she cannot swallow and has no gag reflex. This will be inserted while she learns how to eat orally. Her g-tube may be in for a few weeks or the rest of her life. Please pray for her as she goes through this procedure.
By: Rocky Loveless
8/6/11
Latest update from Lilly's Mommy...
My Lilly Mae is home at last! She shocked the doctors and nurses by doing so well so fast. I know it is because our Heavenly Father listened to all our prayers! Thank you so much. Her twin brother, Logan was so happy to see her. He just keeps starring at her. Even sucks on her fingers! She still has a way to go. She is on oxygen, suction, and a g-tube. But overall is doing well. We LOVE our Lilly Mae!
Back to Prayers for Lilly: (This is not nearly even half the post, but some with it documenting things that happened)
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