Emilyn Aulani Perez born on Tuesday, July 26th at 7:54am with a weight of 7 lbs. 2 oz. in what appeared to be a healthy daughter to us and healthy little sister to Kaitalyn.

Concern struck the next morning when her oxygen levels were reading low and she was taken to the nursery for further testing. An ultrasound of the heart was done on Thursday, July 28th and showed possble heart defects. She was transferred to one of the best children's hospital in Wisconsin for further analysis and we were told Emilyn had a coaraction of the aorta and an av canal defect.

Inevitably she would need 2 open heart surgeries, one for the coarctation of the aorta and one for the av canal defect. Her first open heart surgery took place on Fri., Aug. 5th for the coarcation of the aorta, which was succesful. She will undergo the 2nd open heart surgery to fix the av canal in about 4 months at which point the doctors say her heart will be bigger and stronger. This surgery will require another hospitalization with a possible 3-4 week recovery, once again. In which we will once again be living at the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Madison and the hospital. As of August 14, Emilyn is on day 9 of post-op recovery and slowly trying her best to be a healthy baby and go home.

As you can imagine our normal life has been turned upside down and put on "pause" while we are here at the hospital caring for our sweet Emilyn. We thank everyone that has had her in their prayers and everyone that has helped us so far with donations, advice, support and taking care of Kaitalyn.

We are hopeful to go home by the end of September so Emilyn can begin to lead a normal baby life. We pray for a healthy recovery for not only this surgery, but a safe and successful one for the second surgery in the coming months.