When Samantha was 8 weeks pregnant, doctors discovered her baby had a rare birth defect. The baby girl, who would be named Emelia, had a condition called gastroschisis in which her intestines were growing outside her body through a hole in her stomach. Gastroschisis happens when the abdominal wall doesn’t form properly in utero, leaving an opening through which a baby’s organs can exit their body.
Like many babies with gastroschisis, who are often born prematurely, Emelia was born at 34 weeks, not quite weighing 5 pounds. Immediately, she had surgery at Children’s Hospital Colorado to place her intestines back in her stomach. During the procedure, doctors discovered that Emelia had a particularly rare and severe case of gastroschisis.
Emelia began to heal and had a second surgery two months later, in which doctors discovered that her intestines had become untangled. After a third surgery and the placement of a gastronomy tube, which provides nutrients directly into her stomach, Emelia, now 4, has been thriving except for a few setbacks. Emelia, an adventurous toddler, loves Olaf the snowman from “Frozen” and Cocomelon.
