Every second of Emmaleigh's short life was priceless for Joey and Jess. But her medical care, along with Jess' hospitalization, came at a high cost.

The Gentrys are a young couple living in Central Virginia with Jace, their 18-month-old son.  When she was 24 weeks pregnant with Emmaleigh, Jessica was diagnosed with Preeclampsia. She was closely monitored and put on a weekly appointment schedule. At her first weekly appointment on October 22nd, the doctor explained that their baby girl was not growing due to a condition called Inter Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR). At this point, hospital bed rest was the plan, to keep Jessica pregnant as long as it was safe.

On Monday, October 26th, Jessica had a follow-up ultrasound and was told that Emmaleigh was the size of a 23-week-old baby even though she was 26 weeks gestation. The umbilical cord was not giving blood to her consistently -- the cord was taking blood from her and giving it back to Mom. During this appointment, the doctor explained that Emmaleigh needed to be born now, by Caesarean, because she had a better chance of survival outside the womb. 

Once the surgery was completed, the placenta was evaluated by pathology, and they found a 40-50% infarction. That is cell death. That is what caused the IUGR and the need to deliver early. Somewhere along the way, the placenta was not able to get enough oxygen, likely due to the preeclampsia. At that point, the doctors assured Jessica she would have miscarried had she not delivered.

 On 10/26/2015 Emmaleigh was born at 6:26 p.m. She was 10 inches long and 1 pound 5 ounces of rock-star fighter, and she spent 10 days on Earth.  During her 10 days here, she was awesome. She progressed very quickly, and at one point, the NICU nurses told her parents that Emmaleigh needed to teach the bigger baby's in the NICU how to "baby" because she was doing so well.

But on November 5th, around 8:15pm, the Gentrys got the call they hoped they'd never get. Emmaleigh had gone from fine to critical condition, and they needed to come to the hospital. She passed away within 2 hours from an acute pulmonary hemorrhage due to extreme prematurity.  

If you can, and if you're moved to, please consider helping the Gentry's with Emmaleigh's medical bills. Jess and Joey will happily work two or three or four jobs to pay the bills - but we don't want them to. They need time to grieve, and to heal, and to love each other and Jace during this difficult time. Let's help give them some financial breathing room.


EMMALEIGH LAYLA GENTRY
October 26th 2015 - November 5th 2015