A couple was finally able to bring their baby girl home after spending nearly 200 days in the hospital. To celebrate the joyous occasion, they planned to invite four people over to their home. Little did they know that their family had planned a huge crowd to come over, leaving the wife in tears.
Emily Boedeker, of Central, Arkansas, was already a mom of two boys when she was pregnant with her third child—a girl. She thought everything was going smoothly for her and that she and her husband could bring their daughter, named Eliana Faith (“Ellie”), home by Christmas 2017.
由 Emily Boedeker 发布于 2017年12月4日周一
However, doctors soon found that Ellie’s “breathing was extremely shallow,” and she had to spend Christmas and New Year in NICU, Emily stated on Love What Matters.
After going through many tests to discover the reason for the shallow breathing, Ellie was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS).
CCHS is “a neurological disconnect where the brain does not communicate to the body to sufficiently breathe, especially while sleeping,” Boedeker explained. “Based on what Ellie is doing, she breathes in oxygen just fine but doesn’t blow out the carbon dioxide.”
“There are many different variants of CCHS, and every case is different, ” adding that Ellie was “on the mild side.”
Once the diagnosis was confirmed, Ellie went for a tracheostomy surgery so that she could breathe with a tracheostomy and ventilator. Boedeker and her husband then started learning how to become “trach-trained and certified” in order to care for Ellie at home.
The whole journey was not easy for the Boedekers, as they had to shuffle between the children’s hospital and life at home; learning Ellie’s needs and how to care for her as well as being with the boys.
However, Boedeker also acknowledged the fact that “God has used this experience to change our family for the better,” adding that “we will never be the same after this trial.”
Among the many “highs and lows” the couple experienced, there is one thing that was memorable for Boedeker—the day Ellie returned home.
“After 195 days, my very last trip home from the hospital was riding in the back of an ambulance with Ellie,” Boedeker wrote.
Upon reaching her house, the driver asked the couple to point out their house before stopping mid-sentence.
“Oh… oh never mind, you’ve got quite a crowd waiting,” the driver said.
Standing on the street were “tons of friends and neighbors” holding banners, posters, and balloons, and they were cheering loudly to welcome Ellie home.
由 Emily Boedeker 发布于 2018年7月11日周三
“I looked out the ambulance window and started bawling as I saw the crowd so excitedly yelling for Ellie,” Boedeker recalled.
The couple had wanted to invite four people over to celebrate Ellie’s homecoming but their family planned a “huge surprise” instead.
“As a mom, my heart was bursting with overwhelming feelings of love and excitement and every emotion possible,” Boedeker wrote.
“Seeing all 3 children and our family of 5 all together at our house for the very first time is something I had waited for for [sic] way longer than I ever expected, and nothing could describe how amazing that moment felt!”
What a kind gesture from Boedeker’s family, friends, and neighbors! This story just reminds us that sometimes the smallest deed can end up being the greatest gift for a person in need. Remember, you never really know whose day you are about to light up.
Watch Ellie’s homecoming in the video below:
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