Help Support Baby Waverly

On August 20th, 2023 Taylor and Dilan found out they were having a baby girl (Waverly). Audrey is getting a sister and Taylor and Dilan are growing their family. The last few weeks have brought joy, excitement and confusion to their new family. Their baby girl has now been diagnosed with congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)- she has a hole on the left side of her diaphragm that had allowed her stomach, small intestine and a part of her liver to move into her chest. Her left lung is considered to be collapsed due to the overcrowding of space in her chest. She will have 38% lung capacity when she is born.

This is when Taylor & Dilan were referred to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Taylor has had multiple visists at the Children's Hospital so far.

Amniocentesis (A needle is put in the uterus to draw out amniotic fluid to see if the baby had other problems)- Results came back normal.

They have met with doctors and staff to learn more about surgery and the tests that need to be run. During this time, they learned baby Waverly's spleen is now in her chest cavity- she now has a 20-30% chance of survival after birth with a collapsed lung and a right lung at 19-23%capacity.

Taylor has qualified for a test surgery where they will operate on Waverly in Utero, placing a balloon in her trachea to try to fill her lungs with up with fluid in order to help at least the one lung grow.

Taylor, Dilan and Audrey will be packing up everything and moving to Philadelphia on November 14th so they can be prepped for her surgery on November 16th.

The surgery is called Feto- Fetoscopic Endotracheal Occlusion. The Feto procedure involves placing a balloon in the baby's airway for several weeks which allows the lungs to grow: however, this can cause preterm labor, So Taylor will have to be on bedrest until it is time to take the balloon back out.

With the timeline of the stay, Taylor is having to close down her daycare. Over the last few years, Taylor has worked day and night to have a space for kids to learn and grow. She is taking care of herself and her family and is unfortunately not able to keep the daycare up and running.

Dilan also owns his own company and is having to move down to three days of work a week to be able to be with Taylor and Audrey in Philadelphia. He will be driving back and forth between Philadelphia and Virginia weekly to maintain his current customers.

At all times Taylor will need someone with her to help with meals, Audrey and overall just having someone help with the everyday necessities while she is on bed rest for the next 6- 8 weeks.

They are in need of assistance with gas, a place to stay, and medical expenses. They are hoping they will be approved to stay at the Ronald McDonald House during this time, but they will not know until the day of if they have been accepted. So this leaves housing unknown at this time. If they are not accepted, they will have to find a place to stay close to the hospital to make appointments and in case there are any complications after the surgery.

I will be receiving updates weekly to stay up to date on on appointments and next steps. For those of you who know Taylor, you know she does not accept handouts and would literally do anything for a stranger if they needed something.

Please share and support their family during this unimaginable time.

Thank you!