Emma Lea's Remembrance Fund

It has been a long, bumpy road throughout Angela's entire pregnancy and now as their journey continues, it will be filled with so much pain and heartache at the loss of their baby: Emma Lea Valenzuela.

Angela and Joe received the news early on in her pregnancy that their precious baby was diagnosed with Trisomy 18.
"Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, is a condition which is caused by a error in cell division, known as meiotic disjunction. When this happens, instead of the normal pair, an extra chromosome 18 results (a triple) in the developing baby and disrupts the normal pattern of development in significant ways that can be life-threatening, even before birth. A Trisomy 18 error occurs in about 1 out of every 2500 pregnancies in the United States and 1 in 6000 live births. The numbers of total births is much higher because it includes significant numbers of stillbirths that occur in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy." (Trisomy18.org)

Throughout her pregnancy, there have been many trips to the hospital and numerous ultrasounds.  Angela's water broke on Monday, June 20 and was then transferred to UVA's hospital for extra care and to keep away infection.  She spent 6 days in a hospital an hour away from home, where her husband, Joe, had to drive back and forth:  being in Charlottesville with Angela at the hospital and being in Lynchburg at home with their 5 year old daughter, Stephanie.
Daily, the nurses would monitor the baby's heartbeat and make sure all was okay.  But on Sunday, June 26, everything was not okay.  The nurses were unable to find a heartbeat on the doppler or on the ultrasound machine.  Angela was sent back to Lynchburg to deliver their sleeping baby.

Baby Emma Lea was born sleeping on June 27, 2016 at 11:03am having already met the eyes of Jesus, Sunday June 26 at 3:11pm. At 2 lbs 2 oz and 13 ½ inches long, she was welcomed with unconditional love and kisses by her family.

Even though Angela and Joe have had months to prepare for the arrival of their baby, there is no way to fully prepare yourself for the loss of your child.  Now they must grieve, plan a funeral, and pay for the months of medical bills.

This is one tangible way to show your love for the Valenzuela family: to help pay for their medical bills and the funeral costs.  (Once all the bills start rolling in, it will be just another reminder of their loss and then the stress of having to pay for all of it.)

Thank you in advance for your help and support to Angela and Joe.