The Story Behind the Seahorse
Project Seahorse was founded in 2006 by Phil and Lisa Roberts (then of Richmond Hill, Georgia; now of Lexington, Kentucky). On November 4, 2005, in Phoenix Arizona Lisa gave birth to quadruplets--Benjamin, Casey, Danielle & Emily Roberts were born at 26 weeks and 6 days of gestation, due to a sudden onset of severe pre-eclampsia. After the pregnancy, Lisa spent a scary week recovering in the adult ICU as we found ourselves suddenly immersed in the frightening world of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There we saw our four under-2-pound children struggle to overcome a myriad of life-threatening prematurity issues. Friends and family flew to Phoenix to take care of us and our older daughter Ashley (18 months old at the time). At the incredible Phoenix Children's Hospital we quickly became experts in the only area of NICU life that we were qualified for: we became hands-on parents, overseers, advocates and encouragers for our four precious babies.
Here's a nutshell account of each of our children's NICU experience:
Benjamin, Casey & Danielle were born at 1 lb. 15 oz., 1 lb. 11 oz. and 1 lb. 10 oz., respectively. Benjamin had a fairly slow and steady course; Casey developed meningitis and medical NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis), but came through with some apparently minor difficulties; Danielle had a very tough start, including a near-death experience on her third day of life, PDA surgery, and a grade 3 & 4 brain bleed which may cause some challenges for her. During their time in the NICU, we took the opportunity to: visit each of them multiple times each day, read to them (The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Guess How Much I Love You, excerpts from The Bible), pray with them, hold them, feed them, smile with them, take countless pictures of them, and tell them about how much we love and treasure them.
Emily was born at 1 lb. 7 oz. and--though the smallest--did remarkably well within her first week of life, even being extubated and put on C-PAP before she was a week old. A week and a half after her birth, Emily suddenly acquired the systemic version of MRSA, a deadly infection defined by its resistance to our best antibiotics. Emily appeared to bounce back within a couple days of her diagnosis, but then took a sharp turn for the worse, with irreversible damage to her heart, brain, kidneys and more. At nineteen days old, our precious daughter Emily went from our arms into the arms of Jesus, where she is now free from pain and enjoying the eternal life promised to those who have been made right with God.
In her Isolette right after Emily was born, and by her side through everything that she went through, and now next to her body in her casket...
...lay a tiny seahorse.
Of course there is a terribly sad place in our hearts after the loss of Emily, but we thank God for the short time that we had with her. During Emily's time in the NICU, we remain infinitely glad that we took every opportunity to: visit Emily multiple times each day, read to her (The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, Guess How Much I Love You, excerpts from The Bible), pray with her, hold her, feed her, smile with her, cry with her, take countless pictures of her, and tell her about how much we love and treasure her.
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There is nothing at all magical about that seahorse, but it came to both of our minds as the perfect symbol, in memory of Emily and in honor of our four surviving children, to represent our two-part hope that...
--your child, regardless of his or her ultimate outcome, would be able to make it all the way through the NICU experience with your constant presence, assurance, love and touch
--you as a parent would consider how a very real, very informed faith could provide you with hope during situations that feel hopeless, and with an extraordinary peace during a time in your life defined by chaos
Thank you for being a part of Project Seahorse. We invite you to read more of our story and give us feedback or ask us anything by visiting www.expandingrobertses.com or by e-mailing us at roberts99@insightbb.com. And of course, it is our great desire that your child would thrive, that this project would make a meaningful difference in your experience, and that--when the time is right--you would help us to pass this encouragement on to another family or families by funding a packet and by telling your child's story.
