Emmalyne’s Miraculous Fight
Donation protected
This campaign is to aid The Spitzer Family financially while they go through this life changing journey with Emmalyne. She continues to beat the odds and fight. She has so many praying for her and her family during this scary time. Thank you for everyone that has sent up a prayer throughout the day in her honor.
As most of you know, Laura is the owner of Indulge Salon and Spa. She has built a great business and has given so many of us a great place to work. She has been unable to work since the end of January because of complications with her pregnancy and Emmalyne’s early arrival. It is crucial for Laura to be with her to help her fight this battle she is facing with fetal hydrops. One major factor in her progress has been Laura holding her daily. She does this every day, since she was 22 days old, for 2 to 4 hours.
Every day I’m at work so many of our caring clientele at Indulge are hoping to hear good news about Emmalyne. Many have asked how they can help. As a community let’s help them focus on not only Emmalyne, but also, Carter, Kennedy and CC. If you would rather donate in person you can do so at the salon. We have a spot where we are accepting donations there as well. Donations will be used towards months of lost wages for Laura, medical expenses, travel, and living expenses while in Minneapolis.
Thank you to everyone for your continuous prayers and support for their family. Faith can do many things. It has brought Emmalyne this far and we pray that it brings her home at some point to live a happy and healthy life with her loving family.
Emmalyne’s story told by Laura:
We will give you some of the back ground on Miss Emmalyne , we have shared with some over the past 8 months that we knew there were complications from the very beginning...
Dreams came true and we were blessed with the news of the 4th little Spitzer was on board, you just know that feeling that your missing something and as soon as we received that positive test that void was completely filled! ❤️
We went to our first check to confirm and they had noticed a little area of concern on me, but nothing serious, just wanted me to come back in 2 weeks to monitor...
I went that day for the next check up and that’s where everything changed.
Obviously, we had gone through many ultrasounds before with our three beautiful babes and as that wand was on me, I could tell something was different. I asked the tech if she could see what I was seeing? It looked like a bubble on her head. I could see her heart fluttering so knew she was in there but then the room became quiet... and those hard words to hear, “I will have the doctor talk to you about it when we are done...” my heart just sank, what was supposed to be a 10 minute appointment turned into much longer. Tom was at work, everything I was just told I couldn’t process or catch my breath. I pulled myself together to get to Tom to let him know that there were complications. In true Tom fashion, his response was “God feels we can do this, it will be ok.” Still makes me cry.
We had our first round of Doctors appointments in the cities to comfirm what they had found with more in depth equipment, I kept thinking they would be wrong. That appointment was very hard. They did confirm she had a Cystic Hygroma that was 11mm (quite large), they also found a heart defect, club feet, and possibly something with her spine. Also, with a CH that usually comes with a chromosomal abnormality (most common Down syndrome, turners, and noonans syndrome). At this point that is when they started to talk about termination, that she won’t make it, many complications. We stopped her dead in her tracks and said termination was not an option.
We continued with appointments every two weeks until Christmas, mind you normally a miscarriage would have normally would have happened at any point but her little heart continued to go strong! Over the course of these appointments her feet healed themselves, her spine looked wonderful, so all that was left was the CH and heart defect, she does have a heart defect but they felt manageable, (her aorta curves the opposite way but still pumps, the doctors described it as many people are right handed and some left, hers is a left handed heart, works just fine just not as common.) We had the option to do a amniocentesis, but we decided against it. It wouldn’t change the way we love her whether she had a syndrome or not ❤️. At that point the doctor gave us a couple months off of going to the cities for at that point there wasn’t anything they could do and it would be up to her at this point. So we just went Day to day always wondering and waiting, whether it was all the Prayers, Faith or Motherly instinct most days we just felt things where going to be just fine We waited for Feb 12th for that was the next appt in the cities with all the specialists again. Two weeks before that appointment I began to become very short of breath, not able to stand, very much not myself and the week before the cities appointment I went to the doctor and said i feel something is wrong, at that point we found out that was having a lot of excessive fluid on me, it is called Polyhydramnios, (normal person has 24 cm and I was up to 29cm, not
crazy but enough to effect day to
day and breathing.)
We headed up on the 11th not knowing what we had in store, we were supposed to have all these appointments and everything changed. They found Fetal Hydrops, this has been a fear since the beginning, Fetal Hydrops is fluid that accumulates in the body in several areas, at this point she had fluid in her lungs, abdomen and skin. This is a very fatal condition, they gave us the statistics on her survival as we were sitting there. We don’t have words to describe this moment, and for fetal hydrops there is not a magic answer or number or anything... Just between her and God at that point. On top of all of that in 5 days my fluid elevated to 39cm, at this point I was gasping for air and couldn’t stand for more then 5 minutes at a time. dangerous for both parties, they said we can try and remove some fluid, there are many risks that come with this and at that point everything went fast. They were able to help me for a while but they main goal and was to give her as much time inside that we could in order to give her a better chance of survival ❤️ we made it through the procedure, went into labor once and stopped it, got a blood clot and took on over 50cm of fluid to keep her in no part of me will regret all of that to give her better odds. On March 3rd I woke up and didn’t feel quite right, Gut feeling was to go in and thank goodness we did, i went back into labor, we were 34 weeks and 2 days... still to early for her organs are not strong enough to pump fluid off her self. They suggested another amnio reduction but that came with major risks since doing a second one. Tom and I decided to try to do another to give her more time. It could cause harm to me and risk her water to rupture also but how do you not try for your child? As we were about to start the procedure, everything went down hill fast her heart rate plummeted and they knew something was wrong with me... All i remember was them running me down the hall...they decided I was starting to have a placenta abruption... very lucky to be there when we were ... i woke up a little while later. Sadly, Tom didn’t get to be in there and he said she was born in a matter of seconds. Then the real hard part started, we knew the greatest test would be when she entered the world
Emmalyne Carol Spitzer
3/3/19
5lbs 9oz
16.5 inches
Lots of Hair
34 weeks 2 days
The sweet little darling entered the world at 2:38 pm! She had many specialists in the operating room waiting for her. They had a plan in place for her to give her the best chance. When I came to, I heard the best words that she was alive ❤️ She was in the NICU and they were getting her stabilized. Tom and his mom went with Emmalyne and stayed by her and my mom and aunt Carol stayed with me
Then the doctors came in and said she was failing and her oxygen levels were dropping and we needed to make some decisions. All options were no guarantee and the final option she would need to be transferred to Minneapolis Children’s We decided that gave her the best chance, she made it through the transfer, we’re able to sustain her with a couple different ventilators, and were able to get her through all the procedures to get her on ECMO (please look up to understand) simple terms they take the blood out of her body reoxygenate it, slowly put it back in her body and gives her heart and lungs a break so she can grow them to help pump off the fluid in her abdomen and lungs. They started her on meds to help drain the skin. They also found a second heart defect that will take surgery at some point, but we need to go in order of what needs to be addressed first... She has a long road ahead of her but has proven how strong she is, and is a miracle all around ❤️ Thank you God for laying your hands on her and on the doctors... We thank you for everyday!
Here is the latest post on her journey:
She has had a couple good stable days, She has been so much more awake and alert ❤️, so nice to see instead of being so heavily sedated. She is still sedated but tolerating that very nicely and also trying to lower more doses daily when allowed. She has been able to wean down some more on her vent still a ways off but atleast heading in the right direction we feel. After our hard day the other day, we had a visit with the doctors to make sure we were on the same page, able to smooth some things over. We are going to have a care conference on Tuesday with all her doctors, nurses and staff to hopefully look at a longer term thought process. It will be nice to have everyone on the same page, but I will not lie I am nervous for this meeting, so any prayers to calm nerves are greatly appreciated. She is making strides but still in critical condition. Worried about her lungs being to wet from the fluid, the over all accumulation of fluid, 3 heart defects that will require surgery some day, and hygroma that we pray won’t constrict her airway, we just hope and pray no more things are added to her table and that this miraculously would just all go away would be so wonderful . Getting her onto the other vent would calm us as well. To our eye she is looking better but still don’t have and at this point probably won’t have answer to the fluid. Believe it or not, she is looking much more pink in her skin, I wish I had her tan, but my camera is not doing her any justice! thank you always for your prayers and we return them all to you.
As most of you know, Laura is the owner of Indulge Salon and Spa. She has built a great business and has given so many of us a great place to work. She has been unable to work since the end of January because of complications with her pregnancy and Emmalyne’s early arrival. It is crucial for Laura to be with her to help her fight this battle she is facing with fetal hydrops. One major factor in her progress has been Laura holding her daily. She does this every day, since she was 22 days old, for 2 to 4 hours.
Every day I’m at work so many of our caring clientele at Indulge are hoping to hear good news about Emmalyne. Many have asked how they can help. As a community let’s help them focus on not only Emmalyne, but also, Carter, Kennedy and CC. If you would rather donate in person you can do so at the salon. We have a spot where we are accepting donations there as well. Donations will be used towards months of lost wages for Laura, medical expenses, travel, and living expenses while in Minneapolis.
Thank you to everyone for your continuous prayers and support for their family. Faith can do many things. It has brought Emmalyne this far and we pray that it brings her home at some point to live a happy and healthy life with her loving family.
Emmalyne’s story told by Laura:
We will give you some of the back ground on Miss Emmalyne , we have shared with some over the past 8 months that we knew there were complications from the very beginning...
Dreams came true and we were blessed with the news of the 4th little Spitzer was on board, you just know that feeling that your missing something and as soon as we received that positive test that void was completely filled! ❤️
We went to our first check to confirm and they had noticed a little area of concern on me, but nothing serious, just wanted me to come back in 2 weeks to monitor...
I went that day for the next check up and that’s where everything changed.
Obviously, we had gone through many ultrasounds before with our three beautiful babes and as that wand was on me, I could tell something was different. I asked the tech if she could see what I was seeing? It looked like a bubble on her head. I could see her heart fluttering so knew she was in there but then the room became quiet... and those hard words to hear, “I will have the doctor talk to you about it when we are done...” my heart just sank, what was supposed to be a 10 minute appointment turned into much longer. Tom was at work, everything I was just told I couldn’t process or catch my breath. I pulled myself together to get to Tom to let him know that there were complications. In true Tom fashion, his response was “God feels we can do this, it will be ok.” Still makes me cry.
We had our first round of Doctors appointments in the cities to comfirm what they had found with more in depth equipment, I kept thinking they would be wrong. That appointment was very hard. They did confirm she had a Cystic Hygroma that was 11mm (quite large), they also found a heart defect, club feet, and possibly something with her spine. Also, with a CH that usually comes with a chromosomal abnormality (most common Down syndrome, turners, and noonans syndrome). At this point that is when they started to talk about termination, that she won’t make it, many complications. We stopped her dead in her tracks and said termination was not an option.
We continued with appointments every two weeks until Christmas, mind you normally a miscarriage would have normally would have happened at any point but her little heart continued to go strong! Over the course of these appointments her feet healed themselves, her spine looked wonderful, so all that was left was the CH and heart defect, she does have a heart defect but they felt manageable, (her aorta curves the opposite way but still pumps, the doctors described it as many people are right handed and some left, hers is a left handed heart, works just fine just not as common.) We had the option to do a amniocentesis, but we decided against it. It wouldn’t change the way we love her whether she had a syndrome or not ❤️. At that point the doctor gave us a couple months off of going to the cities for at that point there wasn’t anything they could do and it would be up to her at this point. So we just went Day to day always wondering and waiting, whether it was all the Prayers, Faith or Motherly instinct most days we just felt things where going to be just fine We waited for Feb 12th for that was the next appt in the cities with all the specialists again. Two weeks before that appointment I began to become very short of breath, not able to stand, very much not myself and the week before the cities appointment I went to the doctor and said i feel something is wrong, at that point we found out that was having a lot of excessive fluid on me, it is called Polyhydramnios, (normal person has 24 cm and I was up to 29cm, not
crazy but enough to effect day to
day and breathing.)
We headed up on the 11th not knowing what we had in store, we were supposed to have all these appointments and everything changed. They found Fetal Hydrops, this has been a fear since the beginning, Fetal Hydrops is fluid that accumulates in the body in several areas, at this point she had fluid in her lungs, abdomen and skin. This is a very fatal condition, they gave us the statistics on her survival as we were sitting there. We don’t have words to describe this moment, and for fetal hydrops there is not a magic answer or number or anything... Just between her and God at that point. On top of all of that in 5 days my fluid elevated to 39cm, at this point I was gasping for air and couldn’t stand for more then 5 minutes at a time. dangerous for both parties, they said we can try and remove some fluid, there are many risks that come with this and at that point everything went fast. They were able to help me for a while but they main goal and was to give her as much time inside that we could in order to give her a better chance of survival ❤️ we made it through the procedure, went into labor once and stopped it, got a blood clot and took on over 50cm of fluid to keep her in no part of me will regret all of that to give her better odds. On March 3rd I woke up and didn’t feel quite right, Gut feeling was to go in and thank goodness we did, i went back into labor, we were 34 weeks and 2 days... still to early for her organs are not strong enough to pump fluid off her self. They suggested another amnio reduction but that came with major risks since doing a second one. Tom and I decided to try to do another to give her more time. It could cause harm to me and risk her water to rupture also but how do you not try for your child? As we were about to start the procedure, everything went down hill fast her heart rate plummeted and they knew something was wrong with me... All i remember was them running me down the hall...they decided I was starting to have a placenta abruption... very lucky to be there when we were ... i woke up a little while later. Sadly, Tom didn’t get to be in there and he said she was born in a matter of seconds. Then the real hard part started, we knew the greatest test would be when she entered the world
Emmalyne Carol Spitzer
3/3/19
5lbs 9oz
16.5 inches
Lots of Hair
34 weeks 2 days
The sweet little darling entered the world at 2:38 pm! She had many specialists in the operating room waiting for her. They had a plan in place for her to give her the best chance. When I came to, I heard the best words that she was alive ❤️ She was in the NICU and they were getting her stabilized. Tom and his mom went with Emmalyne and stayed by her and my mom and aunt Carol stayed with me
Then the doctors came in and said she was failing and her oxygen levels were dropping and we needed to make some decisions. All options were no guarantee and the final option she would need to be transferred to Minneapolis Children’s We decided that gave her the best chance, she made it through the transfer, we’re able to sustain her with a couple different ventilators, and were able to get her through all the procedures to get her on ECMO (please look up to understand) simple terms they take the blood out of her body reoxygenate it, slowly put it back in her body and gives her heart and lungs a break so she can grow them to help pump off the fluid in her abdomen and lungs. They started her on meds to help drain the skin. They also found a second heart defect that will take surgery at some point, but we need to go in order of what needs to be addressed first... She has a long road ahead of her but has proven how strong she is, and is a miracle all around ❤️ Thank you God for laying your hands on her and on the doctors... We thank you for everyday!
Here is the latest post on her journey:
She has had a couple good stable days, She has been so much more awake and alert ❤️, so nice to see instead of being so heavily sedated. She is still sedated but tolerating that very nicely and also trying to lower more doses daily when allowed. She has been able to wean down some more on her vent still a ways off but atleast heading in the right direction we feel. After our hard day the other day, we had a visit with the doctors to make sure we were on the same page, able to smooth some things over. We are going to have a care conference on Tuesday with all her doctors, nurses and staff to hopefully look at a longer term thought process. It will be nice to have everyone on the same page, but I will not lie I am nervous for this meeting, so any prayers to calm nerves are greatly appreciated. She is making strides but still in critical condition. Worried about her lungs being to wet from the fluid, the over all accumulation of fluid, 3 heart defects that will require surgery some day, and hygroma that we pray won’t constrict her airway, we just hope and pray no more things are added to her table and that this miraculously would just all go away would be so wonderful . Getting her onto the other vent would calm us as well. To our eye she is looking better but still don’t have and at this point probably won’t have answer to the fluid. Believe it or not, she is looking much more pink in her skin, I wish I had her tan, but my camera is not doing her any justice! thank you always for your prayers and we return them all to you.
Organizer and beneficiary
Emily Wubbena
Organizer
Fairmont, MN
Laura Spitzer
Beneficiary