Baby Ella and Diagnosis

Hi friends! If you haven't heard yet, Tyler and I were surprised to find out that our little baby is a GIRL! Her name is Marcella Grace (Ella for short), and this name has special meaning for us. We are naming her in honor of our two living grandmothers, my Grandma Marcella (Sally) and Tyler's nanny Ella Nora. Marcella means "little warrior," and she has already proven herself to be a little fighter, kicking and punching mom throughout the day.

While at our routine doctor's appointment, we also received some unexpected information about baby Ella's heart. Because the ultrasound technician still couldn't get good enough pictures of the heart, we were fortunate to see a cardiology specialist who visits the office once a month. It was amazing that we both happened to be in the office on the same day. After more videos, pictures, and measurements of the heart, Ella was diagnosed with a very rare heart defect, which usually is not apparent until after birth. She has a double-outlet right ventricle with transposed great vessels with VSD. I know, it is a long, scary diagnosis. To simply explain, both of the great vessels of the heart (the aorta and the pulmonary artery) are connected to the right ventricle instead of separate ventricles. A VSD is a hole in the wall between the left and right ventricles which allows circulation of oxygen. If you want more information or to see pictures, this is a good web site: http://heart.healthcentersonline.com/congenitalheartdisease/dorv.cfm

The good news is that a heart surgeon can operate after birth to fix this problem, and usually only one operation is necessary. However, there are no surgeons capable of performing this operation here in Grand Rapids, so we are currently searching for a highly qualified heart surgeon.

Please join us and pray for baby Ella. For the surgery to go the best, she needs to continue to grow healthy and strong, especially her heart. It's also important as both vessels grow that they stay the same size. Marcella is our "little warrior" and she will have to be strong and brave to have heart surgery just a week after she is born. We believe that it is by God's amazing grace that she continues to live and thrive. We are trusting her life to our God who is bigger than her heart defect and bigger than the scary surgery. He is in control and wants to continue to bless her life!

Please pray for Tyler and me too as this information becomes more real every day. Being new parents is hard enough, and adding this heart condition makes us need God more than ever! Pray that we would stay focused on God' promises and rest in His great love for us.

-Tyler and Christy Emrick