Emma Barry
March 9, 2004-October 26, 2010
Emma joined our family on Memorial Day weekend of 2004. It was two weeks after I found out I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. We picked Emma out the weekend before I found out I was pregnant.
The day we picked her out
Emma or "Emma Bean" as we nicknamed her, was our baby before we had Kaitlyn. She layed on the couch with me and/or Chris and tried to lick away our stresses of the day after we had a long day at work. Emma enjoyed playing with her toys, learning to fetch, rollover and speak and even got to play in the snow her first year with us.
Lounging with Dad
Snow Day
When Kaitlyn joined our family we nicknamed Emma "Sister Emma". Mom and Sarah brought home the blanket from the hospital used to wipe Kaitlyn off when she was born to let Emma know she was going to have some company. Emma took right to her new baby sister and loved to smother her with slobbery wet kisses, whenever she got the chance, so much so that one of Kaitlyn's first phrases when she learned to talk was "No, No Emma!" to keep Emma from licking her in the face.
Emma testing out the bassinet
Emma & Kaitlyn at Mee Mee's
Emma was diagnosed with a heart murmur approximately 2 years ago. One of the most common conditions associated with heart murmurs is mitral valve disease (MVD), sometimes referred to as mitral regurgitation. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are particularly prone to MVD, and it is often earlier in this breed than in others.
Emma was evaluated by a cardiologist and started on medications to help slow down the progression of her MVD. Emma had been taking medications for the past 2 years but when she was evaluated in February of this year the X-rays showed some enlargement of her heart. When Emma was evaluated again in August, her heart had grown substantially since February and we added even more medications to her regimen.
In recent months, Emma was having breathing attacks closer and closer together due to the size of her heart. We were consulting with the cardiologist every couple of weeks to adjust her medication and keep her comfortable, but she started to develop fluid build up making it more challenging for her to breath properly. Emma was still playful and was still happy to wake up every morning and do her barking routine while we were preparing her breakfast and her pill pocket with her medication, but she was starting to have nights where she really struggled to get comfortable.
On Monday night, Emma developed alot of fluid both in her lungs and main airway. I could tell she was not comfortable and I couldn't get her to come to bed. I gave her some more medicine hoping it would kick in and she would be comfortable. After an hour and a half, she still was not comfortable, so I told Chris that we had to do something for her. Since it was late at night, she had to be taken to the emergency vet; and Chris and I had to make a hard decision because the vet said she may or may not recover from this particular event.
It was a really hard decision to make, especially since she was only 6 years old, and we were not ready to lose her but we didn't want her to suffer.
We had to tell Kaitlyn the difficult news after school on Tuesday. She made cards for Emma and signed them from all of us and I bought balloons which we released with the cards tied to them to send them to Emma.
It has been a difficult week for all of us. We keep coming home expecting her to be waiting for us in the front entry hall like she always did. I keep looking for her in her usual spot outside our bedroom door when I walk into or out of my bedroom. In the morning, I keep thinking "I need to feed Emma". Kaitlyn got really upset when she saw that Emma's food and water bowls were no longer in their usual spot.
Even though Collin won't remember her, he will be able to see these pictures of Emma that were taken when his newborn pictures were taken by Laura. We will tell him how his face would light up when he saw her and how he laughed when she licked him on the hands.
We all miss Emma tremendously!
