My name is Emily Gavina, and I have created this fundraiser to support my friends Nicole and Ricardo Cruz.

Nicole and Ricardo have been on a long road with their IVF journey, and after many months of appointments and prayers, they found out they were pregnant with a little miracle baby girl!

On January 1st of this year, Nicole’s water broke at 17 weeks while at work. She has been admitted to Kennestone since then and has many more weeks of observation inpatient on their antepartum unit. They will also have a lengthy NICU stay after she is born.

Nicole is obviously unable to work until her little girl is born, and then she will need to be on leave while she recovers.

Being a NICU mom myself, I know the pain and frustration of having to use your maternity leave to visit your baby in the hospital, and being left without any time when your baby finally comes home. Fortunately, I received financial support from a GoFundMe to be able to take 4 months off of work to be at home with my daughter after she came home from the NICU.

The goal of this fundraiser is to be able to do that for Nicole and Ricardo, and to be able to lift some of the financial burden off of them while they spend the foreseeable future in the hospital. Ricardo has been staying with Nicole every night in the hospital and going to work the next morning. I am hopeful that this fundraiser will also take some of the weight and worry off of his shoulders so that he can continue to be such a huge support for Nicole.

Your generosity in any amount is helpful and sharing this fundraiser is also greatly appreciated. Thank you all for supporting this wonderful family!