Emma's Story of Hope

Emma Rayne Temple was born on June 25, 2011. She is truly our miracle child. When I was pregnant at about 16 weeks we went in to the doctor and had our first ultrasound. It was an exciting time that quickly became one of nerves and concern. We were told that she had the same thing that our stillbirth daughter, Emily, had which was fetal hydrops with a cystic hygroma. We went into this thinking we were looking at the same outcome we had with Emily. We quickly had an amniocentesis which diagnosed our baby girl with Turner Syndrome- not the heart defect that our Emily had.

We knew nothing about Turner Syndrome and the research online about this was heartbreaking. At this point, due to the severity of the hydrops and hygroma, the specialist told us to prepare to have this baby not make it. So we went to the funeral home and started making arraignments for a funeral. However, something kept nagging at me. This baby, that we decided to name Emma, had a wonderful heartbeat. I just could not phantom why she would not make it.

I started to research this further, and came across the Facebook support group of Cross Healed Hearts. In this support group I met other women that were facing difficult times. It was also through other women that had (and were pregnant with) Turner Syndrome children that helped me have hope. It was through them, that I learned this wasn't necessarily a death sentence for my daughter. Emma did indeed have a good chance of survival...if she could make it to week 28. These women started praying for Emma and me, and I started to believe that there could be a miracle in this.

After going to the cardiologist, who stated that Emma’s heart appeared normal at that time, I went back to the specialist to see how my girl was otherwise. At week 28,the hydrops had almost completely disappeared, but by week 29...my miracle happened! The hydrops was completely gone!! There was no fluid in her heart, abdomen, or anywhere else. My girl was hydrops/hygroma free! I am a true believer if it had not been for these women who gave me hope and prayed diligently my Emma would not have made it. I would not have had the faith to believe that my Emma could be part of a miracle. Our miracle did happen and now I am sitting here, typing this, celebrating my baby girl’s 2 month birthday!







Thank you everyone that was and is consistently part of my family’s life. I feel this support has been instrumental in my miracle, Emma Rayne Temple, being here with me.

~Jennifer Temple


A note from Emma's Daddy:
Emma is doing so well and I am so proud of her. I would like to take this chance to thank a few of my wife’s friends. All of our friends and family played a pivotal role but a couple people provided a unique perspective. All of Emma’s doctors were giving us such bleak news some of them even went so far as to tell us to make plans for ...her funeral. However, when my wife started to talk to Jillian, Laura, Emma, Megan, Caitlin, and Courtney things began to change. Emma’s hydrops began to resolve, and Jenn finally found a doctor that was positive and not so doom and gloom. Now Emma is almost a week old and taking great strides to being able to come home. I believe that it is the result of everyone’s prayers and the positive attitude of her friends that change our lives for the better. THANK YOU!!!


If you ever wonder what your prayers mean to someone in need, I hope this story gives you some perspective. While the world seems to teach us to look after ourselves, the Bible clearly states, we are to look out for one another in love. In situations like Jennifer's, people from across the country (and from other countries) shared their hope, love, and prayers with her through a connection God created on Facebook. He can use you in big and small ways to enrich and further his kingdom- don't ever think he can't! A very special thank you to the Temple Family for sharing this amazing story! ♥ Megan