Alex's Sick Baby Needs Her Mom
Donation protected
On or before January 22, Alex and Alvin's baby girl will be born at Women's Hospital with CDH, a serious birth defect. It stands for "congenital diaphragmatic hernia" and means that she has a hole in her diaphragm where bowel has grown up through, pushing her heart over and restricting the growth of one lung. CDH affects 1 in 25,000 babies. Half of them do not survive. No one knows the cause of CDH but it's for sure nothing Alex has done/not done. They think it's a weird combo of certain genetic traits.
Baby Bois-Bonifacio is "lucky" that her hernia is small and only bowel - not liver, stomach or spleen are into her chest cavity. She has one perfect lung and the other one appears to be full-size but it may still never inflate properly. Despite this, she is in for some tough times and she needs her mumma with her.
Once born, Baby B-B will have to be intubated and placed on a respirator until she is stable enough for surgery. The surgery is a major one and she will be on several drugs including morphine which she will eventually have to withdraw from (a particular kind of hell for a small, helpless infant). She will be considered in "critical condition" until she is breathing on her own. She may therefore need to spend several months in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit).
Once home, she will have trouble feeding as these babies "forget" how to suck and experience mouth aversion from all the tubes down their throats. She is at high risk for hearing loss associated with this condition. She will go home with a feeding tube and Alex and Alvin will need to feed her consistently all through the night while battling with her during the day to take a bottle, or something off a spoon. She will suffer from reflux and may need medication or further surgery for that. She will be behind in her motor development from lying sedated in bed for so long, so she will need constant care, physio appointments, zillions of checkups, etc. She cannot just be left with the nanny or brought to the bakery for grandma to look after - Alex will need to be there with her for her entire first year helping her, teaching her and caring for her special needs. After the baby survives all of this we are told she will be able to lead a fairly normal life.
This brings me to the request for financial help. Baby B-B will not need these funds. In Canada, all of her health care is covered. HOWEVER, unlike women who are employed (vs. self-employed) Alex has no "maternity leave". Canadian women are normally entitled to one year off with benefits. Self-employed women may be entitled to 35 weeks of benefits but ONLY if they've earned an income - so Alex doesn't qualify.
So in order for our bakery to continue to grow and provide the same great product with super customer service, Alex will need to hire a professional cake decorator. I (Anna) will continue to bake everything and/or supervise our apprentices with the prepping and baking. So you'll get the same great quality there. But in order to meet an increasing demand for decorated cakes we're going to need to hire a proper pastry chef at about $18 or more per hour for a full year. So Alex doesn't need this money for herself, the business needs the money to hire a replacement for her for one year. She will continue, with me, to manage and monitor the business.
Our bakery is doing well - sales have increased from $100,00 in year 1 to $140,000 in year 2 to $176,000 in year 3. We're going in the right direction and we have no one but our GREAT customers to thank for it! But so far Alex is not taking any of that money for herself. We pay most of it to expenses and staff, as Alex has had a young toddler at home and a high-risk pregnancy to manage. The business therefore has no extra cash to pay a pastry chef in Alex's absence. So on top of expecting a very sick baby, Alex is looking at having to close the business, which is just heartbreaking after 3 years of blood, sweat and tears that is now just set to take off and make a profit for her.
Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated. Any amount raised over the target that is not therefore used for this chef's salary, hence Alex's mat leave, will be donated to the CHERUBS foundation for CDH research.
If you'd like to help, please donate what you can, according to your means. We have provided some great rewards at each level of donation. EVERY donation, no matter how small, will help. Every $20 gives Alex one more hour with her precious yet very very sick little baby.
If you're uncomfortable putting your credit card number online, you can issue a cheque to Spiritual Ingredients Bakery or add to the cash jar at the bakery. Rewards still apply.
If you can't afford to donate, PLEASE PRAY. Prayer is powerful. If you don't believe in it, that's ok. Send positive thoughts and vibes baby Bois-Bonifacio's way. She's going to need a lot of support and strength in the coming months.
Finally, if nothing else, SUPPORT us with your business, just as you always have. Come for coffee on cold days, ice cream on hot days and order your birthday and cakes from us again this year. Your continued business will ease the stress on Alex as the year progresses.
I will update the baby's story here as we know more so subscribe if you can or check our Facebook page for daily updates.
YouTube Video about CDH
Baby Bois-Bonifacio is "lucky" that her hernia is small and only bowel - not liver, stomach or spleen are into her chest cavity. She has one perfect lung and the other one appears to be full-size but it may still never inflate properly. Despite this, she is in for some tough times and she needs her mumma with her.
Once born, Baby B-B will have to be intubated and placed on a respirator until she is stable enough for surgery. The surgery is a major one and she will be on several drugs including morphine which she will eventually have to withdraw from (a particular kind of hell for a small, helpless infant). She will be considered in "critical condition" until she is breathing on her own. She may therefore need to spend several months in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit).
Once home, she will have trouble feeding as these babies "forget" how to suck and experience mouth aversion from all the tubes down their throats. She is at high risk for hearing loss associated with this condition. She will go home with a feeding tube and Alex and Alvin will need to feed her consistently all through the night while battling with her during the day to take a bottle, or something off a spoon. She will suffer from reflux and may need medication or further surgery for that. She will be behind in her motor development from lying sedated in bed for so long, so she will need constant care, physio appointments, zillions of checkups, etc. She cannot just be left with the nanny or brought to the bakery for grandma to look after - Alex will need to be there with her for her entire first year helping her, teaching her and caring for her special needs. After the baby survives all of this we are told she will be able to lead a fairly normal life.
This brings me to the request for financial help. Baby B-B will not need these funds. In Canada, all of her health care is covered. HOWEVER, unlike women who are employed (vs. self-employed) Alex has no "maternity leave". Canadian women are normally entitled to one year off with benefits. Self-employed women may be entitled to 35 weeks of benefits but ONLY if they've earned an income - so Alex doesn't qualify.
So in order for our bakery to continue to grow and provide the same great product with super customer service, Alex will need to hire a professional cake decorator. I (Anna) will continue to bake everything and/or supervise our apprentices with the prepping and baking. So you'll get the same great quality there. But in order to meet an increasing demand for decorated cakes we're going to need to hire a proper pastry chef at about $18 or more per hour for a full year. So Alex doesn't need this money for herself, the business needs the money to hire a replacement for her for one year. She will continue, with me, to manage and monitor the business.
Our bakery is doing well - sales have increased from $100,00 in year 1 to $140,000 in year 2 to $176,000 in year 3. We're going in the right direction and we have no one but our GREAT customers to thank for it! But so far Alex is not taking any of that money for herself. We pay most of it to expenses and staff, as Alex has had a young toddler at home and a high-risk pregnancy to manage. The business therefore has no extra cash to pay a pastry chef in Alex's absence. So on top of expecting a very sick baby, Alex is looking at having to close the business, which is just heartbreaking after 3 years of blood, sweat and tears that is now just set to take off and make a profit for her.
Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated. Any amount raised over the target that is not therefore used for this chef's salary, hence Alex's mat leave, will be donated to the CHERUBS foundation for CDH research.
If you'd like to help, please donate what you can, according to your means. We have provided some great rewards at each level of donation. EVERY donation, no matter how small, will help. Every $20 gives Alex one more hour with her precious yet very very sick little baby.
If you're uncomfortable putting your credit card number online, you can issue a cheque to Spiritual Ingredients Bakery or add to the cash jar at the bakery. Rewards still apply.
If you can't afford to donate, PLEASE PRAY. Prayer is powerful. If you don't believe in it, that's ok. Send positive thoughts and vibes baby Bois-Bonifacio's way. She's going to need a lot of support and strength in the coming months.
Finally, if nothing else, SUPPORT us with your business, just as you always have. Come for coffee on cold days, ice cream on hot days and order your birthday and cakes from us again this year. Your continued business will ease the stress on Alex as the year progresses.
I will update the baby's story here as we know more so subscribe if you can or check our Facebook page for daily updates.
YouTube Video about CDH
Organizer
Anna Christie
Organizer
Richmond, BC
