I'm Rochelle, and I am reaching out on behalf of my 19-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, and myself. On August 13th, her water broke at 33 weeks. She was taken by ambulance to Barnes-Jewish and admitted to keep her pregnant as long as possible. On August 18th, while on the baby monitor, the baby's heartbeat was dropping. Doctors rushed in and said she would have to deliver today and took her back for a C-section. Baby Aurora was born at 4 lbs 2 oz and taken over to the NICU, where she currently still is. But the story doesn't stop there, unfortunately.

Kenzie was released on the 21st. She came up to the NICU over the weekend to visit the baby and started noticing a rash. So, I called up there, and doctors said to use cream and Benadryl, which should help. By Monday the 25th, her body was covered, so I rushed her to Barnes-Jewish. They were unsure what was going on and admitted her. I asked them to check her incision because she had two hard spots on each side, but they said it was good. As for the rash, first, they admitted her and gave her medication, thinking she had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. Then they said, no, we think it's from the epidural, but they released her on Tuesday.

Wednesday night, she came out white as a ghost and terrified. Her C-section was oozing, and you could smell the infection. She was rushed back to Barnes. By the time we got here, it was just draining profusely. She was rushed to surgery, where they opened her back up and cleaned out the infection. That leaves us to today. She is still in the hospital with her whole C-section open, and it's a deep, large wound. The plan will be to vac seal it and have it heal from the inside out. This has been one of the scariest situations for her and myself. Seeing your child laying there split open and gauze being stuffed inside the wound, causing pain, is terrible. She is struggling with her postpartum depression because it's been one thing after another.

I unfortunately have had to take off a lot from my new job, and I can't take FMLA since I haven't been there for a year and may very well not be able to keep my job at this point due to my time off. But I have to help her get up, sit down, go to the bathroom, everything. Kenzie had a job cleaning she was going to start but is not going to be able to now since her wound will be open for several weeks, if not months. The NICU says Aurora is doing great and could be released Monday, at which point she will have to be here with Kenzie in the hospital, and she will need help with her considering she can't lift her or anything. She has basically been in the hospital this whole month.

The hospital bills alone are going to be insanely expensive, but with me missing so much work, it has been hard on my home life and bills. We are reaching out for help through this horrendous situation. We would appreciate any help during this time. Please and thank you.