Baby Ezekiel "Zeke" Coarctation of the Aorta

My daughter visited her doctor last fall not feeling well and the doctor said "Despite your IUD, Surprise! You win the case of the decade!"

Unplanned as it were, she and her husband welcomed this news and were thrilled for a 4th baby to join their family. Things would be tight, but they would make it work and clearly, this baby was meant to be theirs. The doctors quickly removed her IUD and they began to prepare.

The next surprise was not as easy to accept. Arissa was experiencing a lot of bleeding and was diagnosed with Placenta Previa, a condition where the placenta attaches over the cervix, which can cause severe and serious complications, even death for her and the baby if she were to go into labor on her own. She was moved into the high risk category and plans were made to take the baby early via c-section and to watch her carefully for further complications.

While monitoring her for the placenta previa, they discovered yet another very severe complication. The baby was diagnosed with interrupted aortic arch, which meant his little heart would not be able to pump the blood through his body upon birth.

As we have moved through this journey, some great miracles have already been received. They found his aortic arch is attached, but the aorta is still too narrow. The diagnosis has been changed to Hypoplastic Aortic Arch/Aortic Stenosis. He will still require open heart surgery very soon after birth in order to correct this problem. They will take some tissue from another portion of his heart, make a slit in the aorta, and patch the new tissue in so the aorta will be the appropriate diameter.

The placenta previa along with the congenital heart issues will make this very tricky to navigate, and Arissa will need to travel to Salt Lake City, nearly 4 hours from her home, to deliver the baby and for the baby to receive the necessary life saving care.

She and Baby will need to be in Utah for 2 months or more, which will be extremely challenging since her husbands job is in Idaho and 2 of her 3 children are in school there.

We are putting this fundraiser in place to try and lessen the financial burdens of medical bills and travel expenses during this time.

Any amount you can spare would be very much appreciated and will help. If you are unable to give monetarily, please send your prayers for them as they move forward through these complications. We pray that the doctors will be guided to give them the best possible care and that all will be well when this beautiful new soul joins our family next month.

Many Many Thanks.