For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

Morgan Jackson Emery was born 1/9/01 8:40pm at 24 weeks (4 months early) weighing 1lb 11 1/2 oz and 12 1/4 ". Morgan was delivered by c-section because of pregnancy complications.

Yes, this is Morgan's footprint in the first few weeks of life.

Morgan was born 4 months early with his eyes closed and very tiny. He was very sick at first. His blood pressure was so low, that the doctors didn't expect him to live. He also had a lung that kept collapsing and was eventually transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Fortunately, through the prayers of many people across the country and Morgan's strength and the care he received, his lung healed on its own and he

was transferred back to West Jersey Hospital. He was in the hospital for about 120 days.

Morgan had a typical course for a 24 week preemie after his blood pressure stabilized and his lung stopped collapsing. He started opening his eyes when he was 3 weeks old. He had PDA surgery for his heart when he was 1 month old. He was on a ventilator for 50 days and successfully weaned from it to CPAP then nasal canula. His eyes developed stage III ROP. He had trouble eating due to reflux. However, through it all he kept progressing forward and growing.

Morgan came home about 1 week after his due date. He came home on May 7th a day before his daddy's birthday. He came home on oxygen and ng tube feeds; weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz and 19 3/4" long. He was the size of a full term baby and we were happy to have him home!

As of 11/3/2002, Morgan is making good progress! He is one very busy boy! He is crawling on all 4's all over the house (we had to buy many gates!). He is also trying to pull up on things and crawl up steps. He has gotten braces for his legs from the knees down to help him with standing/walking (his ankles turn in and he curls his toes from the stiffness in his legs). We are constantly chasing after Morgan. He is our busiest baby and very, very determined!

He continues to try to 'talk' to Nicholas and Nathan and to us. So far, there is no concern with his speech. He eats on good days, when his reflux isn't bothering him but not enough to get rid of the feeding tube.

Morgan still receives physical therapy for his stiffness in his legs and loose muscle tone in his trunk and speech therapy for his feeding issues. But, we are pleased with how far his has come and what he has overcome so far!