Emberly Dawn was born on December 27th, 2022, to mom Haley and dad Jeremy.

 

Her heart defect was not acknowledged until her 41-week scan in preparation for her induction.  A couple hours after Emberly was born it was confirmed that she had multiple heart defects and she would need surgery.  Two days after she was born she was flown out to Edmonton with her mom in a medical cargo plane in preparation for her surgery.

 

She was admitted to the David Schiff NICU in the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.  Emberly's dad joined Emberly and her mom in Edmonton as they anxiously waited for her surgery date.

 

On January 3rd, 2023, Emberly had a 7-hour long heart surgery to repair her heart by the exceptionally talented surgeon and staff at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute.  After a lung profusion scan, it was determined that she would require another procedure to further repair the narrowing in her artery and a kink that was unknown to them at the time.

 

On January 19th, she received a follow-up procedure via catheter to complete the repairs to the narrowing in her aorta.  She had two stents placed, one to smooth out the kink and a second to expand the narrowing.  This procedure was successful and a lung profusion scan determined she was receiving almost equal distribution of oxygen to both of her lungs.

 

Emberly was extubated shortly after this procedure and had the opportunity to practice oral feeds for the first time before returning back home to Winnipeg once a bed opened up for her in the PICU at the Health Sciences Center.

 

On January 28th, Emberly flew back to Winnipeg and was admitted to the PICU at the Health Sciences Center.  She recovered incredibly well from her heart surgery and was excelling in her oral feeds that she was moved to the wards later that day.  On February 1st, she unfortunately experienced what was believed to be a positional asphyxiation incident while in the wards.  She was intubated again and brought back to the PICU for observation.

 

She spent a week in the PICU before being extubated and being sent back to the wards.  She was discharged on February 14th and went home for the first time.  On March 3rd, she unfortunately experienced what was believed to be a second positional asphyxiation incident while in her car seat.  She was rushed to the Health Science Center by ambulance and was admitted into the PICU where she was intubated for a third time.  She spent a week in the PICU before being extubated and sent back to the wards.  She was discharged on March 14th, 2023, and has been thriving at home with her parents ever since.

 

She has since been back to Edmonton in September 2023 for a second catheter procedure which resulted in a new stent being placed along the entirety of her left pulmonary artery.  She is being monitored by her team at the Heart Center in Winnipeg to determine when she will go back for her next catheter procedure.  Emberly's parents understand that she will require additional catheter procedures in the future as her heart continues to grow and they are enjoying every day they have with their beautiful baby girl.

 

Emberly has proven that no matter what challenges come her way, she has a fight in her and a fire that undoubtedly cannot be extinguished.  Thank you for reading about our daughters journey so far and we encourage you to learn more about how you can support cardiac kids like our daughter Emberly.