Hey, y’all! We are Chad and Katie Tatum. We are the proud parents of 3 year old Bonnie and 4 week old Everett. When Everett was born on November 9th, there were various stressors during his delivery that led to Meconium Aspiration Syndrome. He has been hospitalized as a result. At this time, there are some questions about why it’s taken so much longer than the usual recovery time (5-7 days) for Everett to be able to breathe adequately on his own. Doctors are running tests and trying different medications to combat this. In the meantime, Chad has had to return to work and at least one of us is making daily trips from Jesup to Savannah to try to establish a bond and support Everett’s recovery in the only way that we can - by being as active as possible in our son’s care so he knows that we haven’t abandoned him there. Due to financial restraints, we can’t afford to keep our household running on one income, and Katie’s paid maternity benefits ending would require her to return to work on January 4th. At this point, the earliest that Everett could come home would be mid-December, but there are no guarantees that this will happen. We are hoping to raise funds to help cover medical, travel, and household expenses to extend Katie’s maternity leave and Everett’s opportunity to get the bonding experience that he’s not had with his family thus far. Our community has been a powerhouse of support and continues to ask what they can do for us, so we wanted to create this fundraising campaign to facilitate that desire to help. We couldn’t be more grateful for the prayers, gifts, and contributions that we’ve received already! We understand that everyone is experiencing some form of financial strain with the current economy and it being the holiday season, so we would appreciate a share if you aren’t able to contribute monetarily. Thank y’all!