Walk For Emma

Walk For Emma

Emmaleigh & Team Tassin Need YOUR HELP .............


If you don't know me My name is Danielle. I am a 30 year old mother to five wonderful Children. My First two little boys Alexander & Cameron were born in a hospital with your traditional epidural birth. My third, our First little girl, Isabella was a all natural drug free water birth in a hospital. My Forth baby, our third little boy Zackariah was a homebirth. Our last baby Miss Emmaleigh Claire was to be another planned homebirth, but things didn't work out that way when she was born Premature.

Please Keep in mind when reading this blog I do have five children ages 10 and under which include three rumbustious little boys and two and active little girls. With that said there is bound to be lots of mistakes as I can't wrap my mind around my thoughts for long as there is usually a lot going on and never a dull moment.


Emmaleigh was born at 32 weeks gestation, which is nearly two months early. Emmaleigh's premature birth is due to my water breaking prematurely and her placenta becoming detached in which case if it had come completely detached we would have lost her.

I'm doing Everything I can to reach out and let everyone know about a wonderful thing called the march of dimes. If you don't know what the march of dimes does. The March of Dimes is an organization who's mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. We carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health: prematurity, birth defects, low birthweight. I am working hard to help them get the donations they need to help these babies like my daughter and ones who are worse off get the healthy start they need through your help. You may think you don't have a lot of money to make a difference, but a donation as small as $1, $5, $10 really adds up and does make a huge difference for these babies ! With your help we can do more please help give all these babies a healthy start and help with the babies who are sick now and need all the help they can get.

Emmaleigh's personal web page address for donations is http://www.marchforbabies.org/tassindanielle

Here a little story on What Emmaleigh and her Family have been though. My daughter, Emmaleigh Claire "Emma" was born on August 19, 2007. Emma was born nearly two months before her due date. I had a wonderful uneventful pregnancy. I actually enjoyed my pregnancy, growing belly and growing bond Emma and I had so early on. The last few weeks of my pregnancy I was slowing down and my body was feeling done. My heart and brain knew I had a good bit of time left and my daughter still had some growing to do to be ready to be welcomed into this world. I was very excited and had many dreams for the day my daughter and I would finally met face to face as we already knew each other pretty well. Until August 18, 2007 when all my dreams and hopes turned into fears when my water broke almost two months before my due date. 32 weeks is too early for a homebirth. I was crushed. My dreams turned to fears as I was admitted to the hospital. My baby was coming almost two months early. I never felt so much fear in my life. I never felt so helpless. I couldn't even see or dream of the future ahead of me.

I was lucky enough to hold Emmaleigh inside me long enough to get a shot to help mature her imature lungs and we got her out quick enough before her placenta, which is her lifeline became fully detached as that could have become deadly for her.

Emmaleigh did well in the NICU, but she was still so early and the fact remains she still had to be in the NICU, which was heartbreaking for us.

Having a premature baby is nothing like you would expect, not that anyone expects to have a premature baby. When it does happen you think this happens to other people. People who are having more than one baby, young teens who bodies aren't mature enough ready to carry a baby. people on the TLC channel specials with special needs babies, people who drink, smoke, do drugs and don't take care of themselves. This doesn't happen to people like me. It is true teens, people carrying more than one baby, babies with special needs and those who drink, smoke and do drugs are at higher risk for a premature birth it can happen to any mother. It can be your first baby or your 6th baby. It can happen with out warning as it did with me.

The Birth itself should be a moment of great joy when the baby you carried inside you for all these moments is finally coming. Instead of joy in the delivery room there is a lot of fear of the unknown in the room. When your baby is born you should be holding your baby trying to guess who nose your baby has and where did all this beautiful hair come from but,when your baby is born Premature you are lucky if you get a quick peek and kiss before your baby is rushed away to the NICU to be stabilized. After your baby is born you are stuck in bed recovering from the birth when all you want to do is be with your baby, but instead you are brought some snap shots of your baby and all your heart wants to hold your baby and fix everything.

The sense of loss you feel as your hopes and dreams of your baby's birth are quickly turned to fears as you have to wait to even be allowed to visit your own baby. You are left alone to wonder will your baby be okay ? Today ? Tomorrow? and the days after that ?

If you are one of the lucky ones where your baby is okay and does makes it, You still have a long road ahead of you. You can't just go home and enjoy the new life you dreamed of with your new baby. You have to leave your baby behind and go home to an empty crib, empty arms, missing belly and breaking heart. Then you have to explain to your family and friends and worst of all your baby's young siblings how sick and tiny your new baby is and why they can't met your new baby.

If you planned on nursing your new baby that becomes a huge challenge as well. First off because nursing itself isn't easy with a normal full term baby it takes work and dedication. Second because your time with your new baby is limit and a lot of premature babies have feeding issues. You are told to go home and rest. You are told when you can and can not visit your child that you carried inside you for months and gave birth to. You feel helpless don't feel like you have any say in what happens with your child, at times don't even feel like you are your child mother. Your not allowed to mother and nurture your child the way you want and feel the need to. There are even times when you, your baby's mother are turned away from visiting your baby. What is left to do, but go home and cry while your baby is at the hospital trying to survive. You Feel helpless over your ability to do nothing, but pray that your child comes out of this alive.

If you are one of the blessed ones who finally get to bring that beautiful new baby home with you. First off you don't believe it will happen. You see set back after set back. The hospital doesn't want to lead on to much hope "just in case" . Once it happens you are over joyed and you are ready to move on with your life and forget about the countless hospital visits and tears you shed, but that doesn't happen. You can never forget and move on. There is reminder after reminder. The Therapy after Therapy just to get your child caught up and to give your baby the best chance at a normal life. You child get monthly shots that an otherwise healthy fullterm baby wouldn't need. You have to be extra careful of germs, and have to keep a close eye on weight gain. When you child does get sick you have to watch out because a child that starts out small can lose weight and go down hill very fast and it can become a very big deal. You child can end up back in the hospital leaving you to re-live those NICU days.

These are just some of the things I have been though with Emmaleigh. I am grateful and very lucky she is alive. I came close to losing her before she was even born. All the research that the March of Dimes has done over the years have helped babies just like Emma and some much worse off than her to live and live healthy lives ! My husband had a baby sister, Stephanie. Stephanie was born over 20 years ago. Stephanie did not live. We wonder who would Stephanie be today ? What would she have done with her life ? What kind of Aunt would Stephanie be to little Emmaleigh ? We are grateful we had Emma in a time where research has be done to help these babies. We hope in the years to come more babies like Emma live and less Babies end up being born early and having to go what my husband family went thorough when they laid there only daughter to rest.

I ask anyone who can gave even just $1 to sponsor Emmaleigh in our walk for such a great cause please do. You would be supirsed how much good you can do every dollar counts.

How is Emmaleigh today you might ask ? Emma is doing well. She has always been small for her age, but seems to be catching up finally at 3 1/2 yrs old. She is still getting therapy and we think she was catch up there too, but only time with tell nothing is a sure thing which is one hard lesson I have learned though this all.

So please reach into your pockets and give something, anything because you knew know this may be your child, grandchild or someone close to you fighting to survive and needing the help of the march of dimes.

Emmaleigh's personal page for donations is www.marchofdimes.org/tassindanielle or you can email me at tassindanielle@live.com and I can help you get to her page.

I am very excited to be part of march for babies, please support my Particiations by making a donation.

Won't you please help me in this worthy cause? Contributing to my walk online is fast, easy and secure. You can donate directly from my personal webpage with a credit card or PayPal. If you prefer, I can also accept check. Just click the appropriate box on my webpage.
again My personal web page address for donations is...
http://www.marchforbabies.org/tassindanielle Thank You for the kindness in your heart !



Danielle & Emmaleigh