Meet our Preemie Hero Emelynn!

Her Mom McKenna was our recent winner of our (Your Preemie Then And Now Photo Contest). Here is their story.

McKenna’s Pregnancy was going wonderfully. Emelynn was nice and healthy and things were going great, then while at Disneyland the unexpected happened. McKenna’s water broke. Labor did not start right away and her Doctors tried keeping Emelynn inside as long as possible. The Doctors finally decided that it was safe to attempt labor and induced McKenna. Things changed quick and before the induction Emelynn’s heart rate kept dropping, she was having decelerations on the monitors. The longest deceleration was 6 minutes long. Doctors and Nurses rushed into the room and tried to correct it, but an emergency Cesarian Section was needed. Emelynn was born on June 4,2014 at just 34 weeks gestation weighing in at 4 pounds 13 ounces. She was small, but healthy.

 The Hospital that she was born at did not have any room in the NICU for her, so she was transferred to a Hospital that had room an hour away. This meant that McKenna was separated from her little girl for around 24 hours. Thankfully Emelynn’s family was able to get into The Ronald McDonald house, so they could be near her and visit her every day in the NICU. Emelynn was a fighter and grew bigger and stronger daily. At 11 days old she was able to go home with her family. Her mother told me they feel so blessed that although Emelynn was born early, she had no complications. They know some families have a much harder preemie journey than Emelynns. McKenna credits expressed breastmilk for helping her daughter grow strong in those NICU days and for continuing to keep her healthy and thriving after.

She has continued to breastfeed for 3 1/2 years. Emelynn has now grown into a funny,vibrant little girl. She is such a character and full of life. Her mom says she is also full of sass. Today you can find Emelynn doing all sorts of girly girl things like dress up, getting her nails painted and playing with makeup. Make no mistake about it, she also is not afraid to play hard and get dirty. Recently Emelynn was promoted to being a Big Sister. She is the best big sister around. Emelynn’s family are so proud of their strong little fighter. We at Lulyboo are proud of her too.