Baby Kalea's Hospital Expenses

Hi, my name is Kale'a Keli'ikaluaomailani Carvalho.  I was born on February 19, 2014.

Before I was born my mommy had an ultrasound and the doctors told her that I had some abnormal swelling in my intestines but they were not quite sure what they were dealing with at that point.  Then all of a sudden my mommy Maile started having contractions so she was Medevaced to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu where I was born at just 34 weeks. I weighed 5lbs 11oz and was 19.49 inches long.

After I was born the nurses and doctors wisked me off to the Neonatal intensive Care Unit (NICU) so they could stabilize me. The next day I had lots of procedures and tests done so the doctors could figure out what was happening in my tummy. After all the procedures and tests were done they found out that I had a blockage in my jejunum which is in the middle of my small intestines. So when I was just 2 days old I had a big surgery on my tummy where they successfully took 10 cm of my small intestines out. My mommy thought the operation was going to be the hard part but she soon learned that the operation was the easiest part of our journey because recovery has been rough! 
  
I spent the first 126 days of my life in the NICU with my mommy by my side. We've faced LOTS of set backs since my operation, I even had to have a blood transfusion because my tummy started bleeding after my feedings were increased.  

After 2 months of slowly increasing my feedings I was finally eating enough to keep my body healthy and the nutrients I was getting through my IV was stopped!  Just when we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel........another big set back!  My feedings were no longer being given to me in small amounts continuously throuout the day, instead I was eating larger amounts periodically throughout the day like a baby without a tummy problem and once again my tummy started to bleed!  So back to square 1 we went....all over again!  

With no end sight, we are still living at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.  The ONLY DIFFERENCE is that I was moved from the NICU to a pediatric unit.  

Here's a message from my mommy:
When I tell people of my story and my experience of being in the hospital going on 5 months now I hear words like nightmare, horrible, sad... but when I have this little girl in my arms I think of words like blessing, perfect, beautiful, amazingly strong little girl.

Please help us raise money to pay my hospital bills and fly my daddy, brothers and sister between Maui and Honolulu to visit me and my mommy.  We humbly thank you for your donations, thoughts and prayers..... every little bit helps!