Baby Teigan
Donation protected
Dear Friends and Family,
I have started this campaign for my "sister" and best friend Taryn, her husband Max, and their new baby girl Teigan. I want to share with you my story and experience. I ask, from the botton of my heart, that even if you can't dontate, you pray for this family.
I have known Taryn since the 3rd grade. We grew up together and I've been through just about everything with this girl, so naturally I flew out to CA to be at her side for the birth of her first child, Teigan.
Teigan's Birth - Taryn began feeling regular contractions and started going into labor around 3:30 am on December 30th. The doula and midwife arrived shortly after and the very long 18 hour labor began. I was there along with Max and Taryn’s mom. I helped support Taryn in anyway I could and took photos to document the birth. It was a very painful and difficult process for Taryn, as I am sure any natural, in-home birth is. Teigan's heartbeat was monitored every 15 minutes and everything was progressing slowly, but good.
However, when Teigan was born, she was not breathing, didn't have a heartbeat and she was black and blue. The Midwife immediately started CPR and Teigan was resuscitated within a few minutes. The ambulance and paramedics arrived almost immediately. Teigan and the midwife were rushed to the hospital where Teigan was placed on a ventilator to help keep her breathing. She was transported to Children’s Hospital Orange County shortly afterwards.
I have been at the hospital with them now for about two weeks, with many many ups and downs...Many different opinions as to what to do next, what exactly happened to cause this (which is unknown), not to mention the unfathomable shock of this entire experience.
Doctors said Teigan's organs were damaged...heart, lungs, blood and kidneys... She started seizuring and was on all sorts of anibiotics, anti-seizure meds, morphine, a respirator, and a feeding tube. However, over the past week she has made vast improvements. All of her organs and vitals slowly started to improve and she even, miraculously, started breathing on her own. We were in good spirits, despite all this truama. We stayed positive, prayed, and gave Teigan so much love.
After waiting for the MRI results and a team of Neonatal professionals to give their final consensus yesterday, the exhausted and overwhelmed couple got some devestating news. This is what they said...
"Teigan's basic brain stem (first level / involuntary life functions) does have some damage and she appears to be coping with that. However, the entirety of the rest of her brain has severe damage and may not be able to sustain life or stability. Seizures are still a possibility, requiring constant medication. Her next physical test will be her ability to swallow and maintain sustenance. These functions are related to her second level of brain ... voluntary motor skills. We will have this information in the coming days. However, the most severe damage Teigan has suffered has been to her upper level brain... her intelligence, action, memory, attention, perception, awareness, language and consciousness."
As I'm sure you can understand this was extremely hard news to digest for Taryn, Max, and their families. The options they have from here on out are not easy, nor black and white. Everything must be taken day by day, one step at a time. No matter what they decide to do or what happens with their sweet baby Teigan, they have a long road ahead of them.
On top of all this, they will be getting hit with an insane medical bill of about $26,000. Since Teigan's birth date is December 30th, they have to pay the deductable for 2016 and 2017. Moving forward, depending on Teigan's condition, her specific and delicate health needs will not all be covered by insurance. They are going to acquire many extra expenses that cannot be forseen. My hope here is to make "money", one less thing that they have to stress about in this painful time for them. Donations of any amount are beyond appreciated and anything will help tremendously.
Despite all the sadness, Taryn and Max have been warriors throughout this entire journey. The love they have for each other and their baby girl has made them strong and unbreakable. I know that together; with love, trust, and time, these two will get through this and together they will heal.
My sweet "niece" has made me realize what is truly important in this life. She has touched my heart in ways I didn't even know it could feel. She has made me love in a way I had never known before. She has me living in the present, and she has brought so much love to all the people around her. This angel has changed my life forever.
Thank you for listening to my story...Thank you for your contributions, prayers, and compassion.
I have started this campaign for my "sister" and best friend Taryn, her husband Max, and their new baby girl Teigan. I want to share with you my story and experience. I ask, from the botton of my heart, that even if you can't dontate, you pray for this family.
I have known Taryn since the 3rd grade. We grew up together and I've been through just about everything with this girl, so naturally I flew out to CA to be at her side for the birth of her first child, Teigan.
Teigan's Birth - Taryn began feeling regular contractions and started going into labor around 3:30 am on December 30th. The doula and midwife arrived shortly after and the very long 18 hour labor began. I was there along with Max and Taryn’s mom. I helped support Taryn in anyway I could and took photos to document the birth. It was a very painful and difficult process for Taryn, as I am sure any natural, in-home birth is. Teigan's heartbeat was monitored every 15 minutes and everything was progressing slowly, but good.
However, when Teigan was born, she was not breathing, didn't have a heartbeat and she was black and blue. The Midwife immediately started CPR and Teigan was resuscitated within a few minutes. The ambulance and paramedics arrived almost immediately. Teigan and the midwife were rushed to the hospital where Teigan was placed on a ventilator to help keep her breathing. She was transported to Children’s Hospital Orange County shortly afterwards.
I have been at the hospital with them now for about two weeks, with many many ups and downs...Many different opinions as to what to do next, what exactly happened to cause this (which is unknown), not to mention the unfathomable shock of this entire experience.
Doctors said Teigan's organs were damaged...heart, lungs, blood and kidneys... She started seizuring and was on all sorts of anibiotics, anti-seizure meds, morphine, a respirator, and a feeding tube. However, over the past week she has made vast improvements. All of her organs and vitals slowly started to improve and she even, miraculously, started breathing on her own. We were in good spirits, despite all this truama. We stayed positive, prayed, and gave Teigan so much love.
After waiting for the MRI results and a team of Neonatal professionals to give their final consensus yesterday, the exhausted and overwhelmed couple got some devestating news. This is what they said...
"Teigan's basic brain stem (first level / involuntary life functions) does have some damage and she appears to be coping with that. However, the entirety of the rest of her brain has severe damage and may not be able to sustain life or stability. Seizures are still a possibility, requiring constant medication. Her next physical test will be her ability to swallow and maintain sustenance. These functions are related to her second level of brain ... voluntary motor skills. We will have this information in the coming days. However, the most severe damage Teigan has suffered has been to her upper level brain... her intelligence, action, memory, attention, perception, awareness, language and consciousness."
As I'm sure you can understand this was extremely hard news to digest for Taryn, Max, and their families. The options they have from here on out are not easy, nor black and white. Everything must be taken day by day, one step at a time. No matter what they decide to do or what happens with their sweet baby Teigan, they have a long road ahead of them.
On top of all this, they will be getting hit with an insane medical bill of about $26,000. Since Teigan's birth date is December 30th, they have to pay the deductable for 2016 and 2017. Moving forward, depending on Teigan's condition, her specific and delicate health needs will not all be covered by insurance. They are going to acquire many extra expenses that cannot be forseen. My hope here is to make "money", one less thing that they have to stress about in this painful time for them. Donations of any amount are beyond appreciated and anything will help tremendously.
Despite all the sadness, Taryn and Max have been warriors throughout this entire journey. The love they have for each other and their baby girl has made them strong and unbreakable. I know that together; with love, trust, and time, these two will get through this and together they will heal.
My sweet "niece" has made me realize what is truly important in this life. She has touched my heart in ways I didn't even know it could feel. She has made me love in a way I had never known before. She has me living in the present, and she has brought so much love to all the people around her. This angel has changed my life forever.
Thank you for listening to my story...Thank you for your contributions, prayers, and compassion.
Organizer
Natalie Mishell Martinez
Organizer
Fullerton, CA
