Our precious girl, Eliza Ripley Clark, joined us earthside on September 8th at only 28 weeks gestation weighing 1lb 15oz. Her early arrival was unexpected and the result of severe preeclampsia. I was admitted to the hospital on Sept 4 and we were lucky to be able to postpone the delivery until after steroid shots were administered but by the 8th, the situation was critical for Eliza and myself and an urgent c-section was performed. She was immediately whisked away to the NICU and thus began our unexpected NICU journey.

We are so lucky to live within an hour of a level IV NICU at Erlanger. However, I unfortunately do not have access to short term disability through my job and my maternity leave will be unpaid. This was something I knew in advance and had planned to give birth in December, when she was due, and only take a couple of weeks off. But it’s very important to me to be able to be with her and be present during this time so plans have gone out the window for now

Eliza is loved more than words can describe and we believe with all our hearts that she will thrive and come home to us but in the meantime, any assistance to the relieve the financial stress would ease a lot of anxiety.

All money donated will go toward gas, food and living expenses while our little warrior is preparing to come home.