Emmie's Prayer for a Miracle

This story began on Feb 9th. 2016 when Emmie’s sister Aria was born. Travis and Julia Renfrow were over the moon when they welcomed Aria Savannah Renfrow into the world.  They loved this little girl so much, but little did they know that she would only be with them for a short time. Monday April 18th, 2016 was a hard day for Julia who was returning to work for the first time since the birth of Aria. That afternoon Travis picked Aria up from the babysitter and went home. They did some tummy time on the mat and spent time together before Julia got home. Feeling like something just seemed off they decided to take Aria to the hospital to have her checked out. They never gave any thought to the idea that she would never come home. The following morning Aria passed away, leaving their lives changed forever. It didn’t seem fair that one day she seemed fine and in the blink of an eye she was gone at just 10 weeks old. What made it even worse was the fact that no one had any answers as to what caused this to happen. Everyone was completely blindsided and couldn’t even get a simple answer as to what caused their little girl to leave them so soon.

Months had passed before they finally got the answer in November of what had happened to their sweet little baby girl. Her heart had failed due to a condition called Dilated Cardiomyopathy. This is a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased because the hearts main pumping chamber is enlarged and weakened. Aria had never shown any signs or symptoms of this condition, so no one ever knew that she had it. How could this have happened so quickly without anyone knowing?

Devastated over the loss of their baby girl, they decided to move to South Carolina for a fresh start. After some time, they considered having another baby, but they worried about the possibility of this happening again. They consulted their doctor and were assured that the condition Aria passed away from was not genetic but caused by a viral strain that attacked her heart. Feeling reassured, they decided to begin trying to get pregnant.

 

Emmie’s Story Begins

Emilia Claire (Emmie) was due to arrive on July 5th, 2018.  There were many different emotions that came over them when they found out they were pregnant with Emmie. The excitement of another child but, also the worry that something could happen to her just like her sister. During the pregnancy Julia found out that she had developed Placenta Previa. This complication is caused when the placenta is positioned low in the uterus and covers the cervix. This could be life threating during pregnancy or even during birth due to excessive bleeding. Complications arose near the end of her pregnancy which resulted in Julia being admitted to the hospital.  A C-section was scheduled for the beginning of July just a few days before the actual due date to keep Julia from going into labor on her own. Emmie decided she couldn’t wait for July and Julia went into labor on May 22nd, which was actually her daddy’s birthday. She was born on May 23, 2018 by C-Section weighing in at a 4lb 13 oz.

Due to Emmie being born prematurely she had to spend 3 1/2 weeks in NICU to make sure she was ready to go home. The Doctors had cleared Emmie to go home with no worries but to try and keep her away from a lot of people until her immune system had strengthened. The fears of what happened to Aria were always there, but with caution Emmie was able to met the family, attended her Aunt Morgan’s wedding, and made her first trip to the pumpkin farm.

All the happiness that they had experienced quickly changed on September 25th when Julia noticed Emmie’s breathing was a little off.  She called Travis at work freaking out and ended up rushing her to the ER. Travis met them at the hospital and they waited as the Doctors ran some test on Emmie to try and figure out what was going on.  A few hours later they received devastating news that Emmie has dilated Cardiomyopathy, just like her Sister.  The Doctors believe it to be genetic, and not viral, since both girls were diagnosed with the same condition.  The Doctors told Travis and Julia that Emmie needed to be airlifted 2 hours away to MUSC in Charleston SC. They thought they had to be dreaming, how could this be happening again.

Emmie is very sick, and we don’t know exactly what the future holds. She will eventually need a heart transplant, but the doctors are hoping the medicine they are giving her will keep her heart stable long enough for her to get stronger. They now must deal with the stress of how they will afford to stay close to their baby, while trying to deal with the financial stresses they will endure during this long painful journey. This fund is being set up to help ease some of the burden of the medical and household expenses they will incur while Emmie is receiving treatment at MUSC. They want to spend as much time with her as they can because they do not know what is going to happen short or long term. The thought of losing another child is overwhelming.  We believe in miracles and thank you for your prayers, love and support at this time. God Bless.