As most of you know on December 19th, 2021 our family was excitedly waiting for the scheduled birth of Irene's & Charles’s first baby! Christopher Liam was born weighing at 7 pounds 10 ounces! Chris was born with a birth defect called, “Bladder Exstrophy” which doctors didn't catch at the anatomy scan. Christopher’s birth defect will surely come with an extremely high medical price-tag. He will have to have multiple surgeries. This first surgery is going to be the most important one, will be an extensive 12 hour surgery, scheduled between 3 to 6 months of age, and result in baby Chris being casted from the chest down will have his bladder closed and put back inside of him, some reconstructive work as well as have work done on his pelvis. They will essentially take a couple of wedges out of his pelvis and form it to grow inwards like it needs to be. (There is a possibility that they could combine the second surgery with this one, but they will not know that until he is on the operating table). With all that being said, his healing window will be 6-8 weeks because he will have external fixators attached to his pelvis to prevent any shifting. He will need continuous monitoring to make sure there is no shifting, infections, and that he is not in pain.. I encourage you to look up “bladder exstrophy ” to understand the extent of what baby Chris will have to go through in upcoming months. With these surgeries on the horizon, we know to expect hefty medical bills along with loss of income. I will not be able to go back to work in order to care for Christopher, and especially be there during the 1-2 month recovery time needed after the first surgery in the hospital. This leaves Charles as the sole provider for a family of 3. Reason why we have elected to reach out to the community via Go Fund Me for financial help for this family in hopes to ease some financial hardship. Any amount helps! <3