Baby Amelie's medical costs
Hello,
We have created this Gofundme to help cover Amelies medical equipment, medical costs and additional therapies not covered by insurance.
Our Story:
After I developed pregnancy induced heart failure in 2016, I was told I could never have another child. When I found out I was pregnant again in 2019, I was told to terminate immediately as the risk of relapse was too high.
Despite my immense anxiety I chose to continue with my pregnancy. Thankfully, my heart seemed to be keeping up and my pregnancy remained pretty uneventful. Unfortunately at our anatomy scan the doctor discovered Amelie had the most severe form of Spina Bifida. We were advised to terminate yet again, the doctor callously stated she was not worth risking my life for.
Later that week our high risk O.B reached out, she had heard about an experimental surgery happening just 45 minutes away. At the time just one other mother had undergone the procedure leaving us with very little information. After a great deal of testing on both my heart and Amelie the surgeon concluded we qualified to take part in the trial. At 25 weeks pregnant Amelie and I became the 4th mother and baby in the U.S to receive this innovative new surgery. It went perfectly, just 2 days later Amelie was already showing improvements!
Unfortunately, 3 weeks later my placenta abrupted and we were rushed to the hospital, where an emergency c-section was performed. We both nearly lost our lives in the process.
Amelie was born July 9th, 2019 at just 28 weeks gestation. She weighed only 2 pounds! After her unexpected arrival she was rushed to the NICU and several hours later transferred an hour away to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I was moved to ICU where received several blood transfusions.
4 days later I was discharged from the hospital and reunited with my sweet Amelie. We could not believe how tiny she was!
Amelie spent 3 very long months in the NICU, she endured quite a lot during her time at the Children’s Hospital. She contracted N.E.C (a very serious illness that causes severe inflammation/damage of the intestine.), she needed multiple blood transfusions, she caught a cold and her lung collapsed. It felt as though she would never come home. Then just one day prior to her original due date, Amelie was discharged and finally came home!
Amelie is the strongest little girl I know. She had limitations set on her life before she was ever even born but at 1 year old she is doing better than we ever could have imagined. She is so happy, full of adventure and meeting milestones left and right!
You can follow our journey on Facebook or Instagram by following the links below:
(2 months old)
(Meeting Amelie for the first time in the ICU.) 
(4 weeks old, one of my favorite photos!)
(3 days old, so tiny!)
(She is a wildflower, strong willed, independent and beautiful.)
