In Emersons honor 10 years

Please help us raise funds in honor of Emerson. 

This year marks 10 years since we welcomed our 2 beautiful boys Austin and Emerson to the world 9 weeks early, Austin was 2lbs 14oz and Emerson was 3lbs 3.5oz, they were tiny, but they were strong and doing well. On their 3rd day of life however, Emerson became severely ill and had to be transferred to Seattle Children's hospital. We found out later that same day that Austin was also sick with Sepsis, but they were able to catch it earlier and he did not get as severely ill as Emerson. We will always credit Emerson with saving Austin's life. 

Over the next 8 weeks, we watched Emerson fight through Sepsis, Meningitis, a brain bleed, a massive blood clot in his leg, Meningitis again and nearly constant seizures. Throughout our time in the NICU, we were separated as a family, Austin was at a NICU in Everett, Emerson in Seattle. We traveled daily between the hospitals to be with our babies. Karsten would stay at one hospital and Tara at the other and then we would switch, hardly seeing each other in passing. We took turns sleeping in the tiny family room at Children's, we had a lot of Starbucks and a lot of food and snacks from our friends and family.

Eventually we realized everything he had been through was just too much for Emerson's little body and we made the heartbreaking impossible decision to bring him home on Hospice. At that point Austin was transferred to Seattle Children's so we could be together as a family. In the end, we had 1 week together at the hospital, and 5 days at home. During our time at home we lived as normally as possible with 2 new babies, lots of snuggles, some chaos and little sleep. Emerson passed away on June 18th, 2016 in the most loving, comforting place possible, his mothers arms. He was surrounded by the people who loved him dearly. 

Our story, of course, is really much longer and more complicated than that brief overview, as are the stories many other women and families who face preterm births, pregnancy loss, stillbirths and maternal death. We were so lucky to have the support from our family and community, they allowed us to be present with our babies and not have to worry about things like food. We had Tara's parents, who came and sat with each child for long periods of time so that Karsten and Tara could be together with each other sometimes, or be with one child at a time. Regardless of our outcome, having a child born early and have to be in the NICU is very, very, very hard.

The March of Dimes helps support families who may not have the community that we had, they help these families get their best possible start. Please consider joining our March or donating to this amazing cause. 

Thank you!